Tiotes Witch Doctor

Shelvey has been nothing special for quite a while now but we've went from a team with little creativity to a team with no creativity without him, we're relying on Diame having the game of his life in a deeper role, I think that suits him better though according to Hull fans. That partnership of Hanley & Lascelles doesn't fill me with much confidence either, Chancel would have been a better choice. We should still have enough to beat these though, would say 2-1 us. P.s Glad Murphy is starting, correct choice, think Gayle has been rushed back far too quickly.

Please start Murphy. Hayden back yet?

The good thing is we've already beaten them all apart from Sheff Wed.

There's a good 6-7 players I'd rather see upgraded before Shelvey including the other options in CM before him as you say and the bottom 5-6 teams in the premier league are in my opinion on a similar level to the top 3-4 in the championship, but I still think if we don't upgrade on him we'll struggle again, as we are this season to an extent in the midfield area, we're top and we're well on course but our midfield is regularly played off the park and over ran, that would only get worse in the top division.

Would certainly keep him as an option, but if hes still our best CM if we're in the prem next season then we will struggle massively, Rafa or no Rafa.

We should be aiming for no less than 9 points from our next 3 IMO, if we do that, someone is bound to slip up and I think things would look a lot more rosy.

Youri Tielemans? Or is that just a pipe dream now hes progressed so much?

I really hope its one of those scenarios where we're all laughing at the emotional rollercoaster we've been on in this thread at the end of the season when we've won the league at a canter.

7

It's honestly like you're talking about a different player whenever you talk about Shelvey. I just don't see what you seem to see as his deficiencies at all, I've never seen anything to back up what you're saying in this league or the PL. When he can be arsed, he's been one of the better midfielders in the Premier League, that happened. And it's the him being able to be arsed that's the weakness in his game for me. 3 v 2 in midfield would be a problem for most midfields that are the 2, but put him 3 v 3, 2 v 2, or 3 v 2 with him in the 3 and him being out-muscled etc wouldn't be something I'd particularly worry about tbh. One of the better players in the Premier League? Seriously? He's bang average at that level with fleeting glimpses of his ability and this is what we have seen here at Newcastle since he signed. He's played very well this season at times, but given his ability he has kind of disappointed in general and in many games he goes missing or is too easily marked out of the game to the point where it seriously effects us. It has nothing to do with being arsed either, he just doesn't have that natural athleticism and stamina nor the mentality needed to go with such assets to dominate a game, to grab it by the scruff of the neck and to impose himself. Space and time and he will play lovely passes and generally look very good on the ball. Cut that off though and he's just an empty shirt floating around with his arms outstretched and his gormless head looking left and right wondering just how he can get into the game. You can't Jon Jo because you don't have it in you and never will. We need to seriously upgrade on him in the summer if we are to do more than plod on. That goes for a few others too, btw. Have to agree with all of this.

His first touch makes me want to throw myself off a cliff.

It isn't about Rafa can do no wrong, for me I have doubts about whether these players are equipped to the job if they were set up differently. To go more attacking would need more pace and energy in midfield, ruthless strikers and a defence which can pass the ball out and cope with playing a high line. A defensive midfielder who can cover the ground quickly to close down the spaces would also be essential. Is Colback that man? Absolutely not, and I agree I think the biggest limitation this season is the players, both ability and mentality in certain situations, I also think complacency has been a big factor across the season but lets not forget, Rafa was given 50-60 million to spend in the summer and has brought in a fair chunk of this team, hes done alright but I can't help but feel hes missed a trick by not bringing in extra or different players especially in the midfield department. It appeared early in the season that Shelvey wasn't going to be a nailed on starter, so did he really think Colback and Hayden would work for quite a large part of the season? Yes he should have been allowed to spend again in January but we shouldn't have even started the season with the limited midfield options we did IMO. Whatever people may say when challenged on here, there's a fair few who think we shouldn't criticise anything Rafa does because we've had it worse, hes one of the best managers we've had or likely to have but if he makes a mistake or does something wrong its OK to talk about it, its not like its being screamed in his face.

I'm of the thinking that hes the best thing to happen to us since Sir Bobby but can also see that he is not without his flaws (as no manager in world football would be) I would be interested though to hear what peoples views and opinions would be if we went on a bad run and missed out on automatic promotion, would the Rafa can do no wrong crowd still be as accommodating?

Nothing short of awful for 75% of the games hes been involved in.

Don't think hes looked particularly head and shoulders above anyone else since he came back from that ban barring the Birmingham cup game and I've said this for weeks. Didn't see any of today but he needs to finish the season strongly because hes not been great for a fair chunk of it.

Dont Rafas teams usually finish the season strongly? Would be nice to go unbeaten for the rest of the season, think it was 17 unbeaten under Hughton would be nice to top that with 21 unbeaten.

If he does go the Happy clappers will be out in force if we manage a point in our first game tbh, still don't think even the Rafa situation would be enough for even 50% of the fan base to take some kind of action.

We've got a manager like Benitez saying he has a determination and a vision to make us a success, has built an incredible relationship with supporters, and has probably made Ashley a fortune in increased revenue and its entirely likely he will mess this up again and we'll lose him, probably over the sake of the same amount of money that was afforded to a fucking dunce like McClaren and some fat old pub team coach in Carr. The worst part of it is though even if somehow Ashley does agree to Rafas demands he could still fuck him over at any given time, no matter how it plays out we'll always have that worry at the back of our minds, Rafa will know this too.

9 for promotion 7 for 1st

Hes not a scapegoat because there's nothing that much to scapegoat when you're on an 11 game unbeaten run. Hes chronically limited with the ball while being good defensively in this league, will be found out again in the prem though much like he was last season, for the most part I think people just point this out, and now its trendy to be outraged if anyone criticizes him.

No one else think that that's pretty much the writing on the wall? I don't want to hark on about it because I'm trying to enjoy it while we have him, but that section is pretty telling imo. I think that bit pretty much sums up and proves what everyone already thought that the sticking point is obviously the decision making and process regarding transfers and scouting and such. That's the sticking point and if Ashley doesn't agree to his way then he will 100% be off. It sounds like hes still willing to negotiate though, hence why he wont talk about staying on until it is. it's going to be a nail biting summer, I hope they sort it out very quickly either way, if he does go though I think that will be just about it for me, and I would suspect a fair few others.

0-1.

Also claims the current team would stay up this season but we would need to strengthen our spine to finish above the relegation places next season hmmm.

https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/the-saleable-assets-of-safc.1337783/

They got 16 points from their last 11 last season, so its still possible, but they also had 4 points more by this stage, no new manager to change things up though and isn't likely to be either.