last_monetarist

We'd have won by two or three if the King was in the dugout today. :'(

Ah, but his brand of football is bleak and sombre. He deliberately sets the team to defend in second halves at St. James'. The man is an utter genius.

'When you’re the king, you can do anything.'

I think it's partly down to how they underperformed in Europe during those two years. First year they failed to get out of the group - admittedly a hard one against Arsenal and Dortmund but Rafa with all his tactical acumen would have backed himself to progress - and more pertinently failed to qualify for the group stages in the second year. That failure was compounded by league form during that season where they failed to finish in the Top 3, albeit there were the mitigating factors you mention and they were in with a shout till the last day when Higuain contrived to miss the penalty that would have allowed them to qualify.

Sadness is the last emotion that comes to mind when I think about how things have unraveled for Mourinho over the past twelve months. It's down to the detestable air of squalid smugness that he carried around him during his years at the top: may it be the constant unseemly baiting of decent men such as Ranieri, Wenger, Vilanova & Rafa; the sordid hounding of referees; the shithouse bus-parking tactics across the years; taking cheap shots at Unicef or the NHS to deflect attention from his own inadequacies; the tiresome establishment conspiracy claims; or the abominable treatment of Eva Carneiro last year. I for one am utterly satisfied that the chickens have come home to roost. Long may this spiral into the abyss continue. The odious cretin.

Depends who you sign next summer, but I really don't see why not. Who in the PL has a better manager, like? Manchester United. :'( Worse record than Moyes at Manure That remark was stated with tongue firmly in cheek. In all honesty, the only one I'd swap Rafa for would be Pep.

Depends who you sign next summer, but I really don't see why not. Who in the PL has a better manager, like? Manchester United. :'(

He might have mellowed in recent years but here's what Carragher had to say on his methods earlier this year:

Reckon we need to get used to seeing a Newcastle United team that will be rigorously set up to be defensively organized with players trained to be positioned in a compact shape. You often hear Rafa use the word "compact" in his interviews and he has historically stressed that his training methods are calculated to repetitively drill both offensive and defensive positioning patterns and pressing triggers into the players heads so that it becomes almost second nature in a real game. Thus, you have tended to hear so much disgruntlement from certain players at Rafa's previous clubs that after a while training becomes monotonous and uninteresting as it leaves little scope for spontaneous creativity. That's not a slight on Rafa in any way as it shows that the guy believes in a methodology that aims to minimize reliance on individual players in deference to the collective. I've often seen Rafa being described as a drill sergeant on the training ground as he doesn't trust players to think for themselves too much; the corollary problem with this is that at a certain calibre of club - such as Real Madrid where the superstars have utmost autonomy - that is not necessarily a recipe for success. Newcastle United have no such problem of course: the club has actually been susceptible to dysfunction because the players have been tactically undisciplined and often been given too much leeway in the name of creative expression by weak-willed managers. To be honest, two of our more successful managers, King Kev and Sir Bobby, suffered because there wasn't too much structural protection on the pitch. It's refreshing to see a manager take a vastly opposite approach for once.

Interesting little nugget from that useful piece: It sort of underscores the fact that Rafa needed this club to rejuvenate his career, probably less so than we needed him to be honest, but I think he realized that he wouldn't have gotten this kind of support at any other English club, including Liverpool. It also reassures me that if we get promoted this season there's limited probability that he will be lured away by anyone else.

Doubt he'd be sold for less than 25 million quid, i.e. the same price we got for Wijnaldum. Seeing as Sissoko's the better player, Rafa won't bow down to anyone and will set a marker to both players and other English clubs that Newcastle won't be trifled with as long as he's in charge. In the unlikely event that Sissoko is here after the international break, I reckon he'll seamlessly slot into central midfield. So there's no way we lose out on this deal.

This run of games under Rafa is the best I've felt supporting Newcastle since 2002 when we finished in the top 4 under Bobby. Should always be thankful to Rafa for taking the chance with us, honestly can't think of any other top manager who would have done the same with a team in our position.

Still think we need 6 points to be absolutely safe due to our goal difference.

Fear it's nailed on now. Sunderland's point against Arsenal and their remaining fixtures put them firmly in the box seat. Newcastle would have to win 3 on the trot to actually have a reasonable chance of staying up.

Yeah, I'd be interested to hear this as well. I seem to remember reactions among Liverpool fans were fairly mixed with some being disgruntled that he'd choose to work for that classless lot, while others were pragmatic enough to realize that Rafa couldn't twiddle thumbs sat at home waiting for the right offer. He had not worked for two years before that opportunity came along and he'd have been mad to decline it. The Chelsea job gave him a risk-free audition in the shop window so to speak, as he didn't really have much to lose by going there. I reckon he actually came out with it with his professional reputation enhanced in the face of the squalid treatment meted out by the Chelsea supporters.

Oh absolutely, I'm sure. Bit of a rare breed in football. Incidentally, Jerzy Dudek has come out with some colourful barbs about his time with Benitez, including how he felt the urge to punch Rafa after being refused a transfer: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/ex-liverpool-boss-rafa-benitez-7805330

Ah, not judging or anything but seriously I would have thought the charity was spending more money than that. Anyway, you know what I meant. Football managers like Benitez expect to earn about 3-4 million per annum, so that 7 million would have tided over nicely for a "year or so".

I reckon he'd be nagged upon to support his wife's charities - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/how-rafael-benitezs-wife-earned-11028441

Yeah, he got 7 million quid from Real as part of his severance package, which would reasonably have allowed him to put his feet up and not work for another year or so. Somewhat similar to his settlement from Inter in 2010, after which he didn't work for two years. Something that he didn't want to repeat as so much time out of the game would have probably killed his career after what happened at Real. Fact of the matter is Rafa would have had other offers, but he wouldn't have contemplated taking them just for the money. He realizes that there are only a handful of clubs in England which offer the potential that Newcastle possesses. I'm sure he wouldn't have accepted the Stoke or Swansea jobs if they had offered him more money than we are paying him.

He'll be sold this summer regardless the outcome of this season. We can't afford to pay those wages in the Championship, and Rafa won't want him here if we stay up.

Still feels a bit surreal that this guy is our manager. We were unrecognizable today, so compact and organized. Let down by having no quality up front, of course, but the signs were there of a stable base to progress long-term. Alas, time's running out.

I envisage Rafa using him in the Yossi Benayoun role if he's here next year. Start him on the wing and giving him the flexibility to float behind the main striker. If he's as effective as Benayoun was for Liverpool between 2007 and 2010, I'll be satisfied.

I'm only worried about the last scenario with Ashley taking his ball home. His interview a couple of weeks back filled me with dread when he said he hasn't even bothered to meet Rafa. Don't think Rafa wants a job in Spain right now if he has decent options in England. He's definitely not at a stage in his career where he'll be satisfied coaching in international football.

They'll play a second string like the one at Bournemouth. Klopp won't be taking any chances before the Europa semi-final. Reckon Rafa will have us up for the occasion too: predicting a tense 2-1 away win.

Desperately trying to convince myself not to imagine how it'll be if we stay up. That Wijnaldum miss could may well come to haunt us at the end. Feel we need 10 points from the last 4 matches, implying that we either have to beat Liverpool away or Spurs at home in the final game.