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Rafael Benitez

Jesse Pinkman

by Jesse Pinkman
in Football

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Carlito

Carlito

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Posted

When we signed Sissoko I remember how energised he was for the club. Burning Ashley Cole and scoring that winner against Chelsea were f***ing amazing moments and the fans loved him, serenading him with that song that didn't really make sense. Pardew specifically said he'd come in and was desperate to single-handedly drag the club up to where it 'belonged'.

 

Compare that to how he plays now. That same process can be seen in all the other players that started off well and went downhill, the most obvious recent example being Wijnaldum. They were all sold a kipper and eventually it shows. Players being 'Pardewed' wasn't just his s**** coaching, it was also them realising the club wasn't going anywhere. They were almost certainly told they could get a bigger move by playing well (and some got it) but ultimately that losers mentality finds its way throughout the whole club and players end up having to perform better and better individually in a rubbish team to earn their move.

 

I'm not saying they're blameless, certainly not. But after a while they all find out exactly what the fans knew, that the real aim was nothing more than to survive. Just look at their managers, what should the most important person at the club. Pardew, Carver, McClaren. Uninspiring dross, designed to do nothing but tread water and avoid European competition and silverware.

 

There was no ambition at all, and any player's passion to do their best for the club disappears with that realisation. With Benitez we have a genuine chance to change all that.

 

Good point. Should be interesting to see what happens to Gouffran in that case :lol:

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BlueStar

BlueStar

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The difference in stature to McClaren is startling.

 

He has a "I will sort it" attitude.

 

He's obviously very intelligent.  The answers to the question about how it's a new experience for him to be in a relegation battle alone was a lot more insightful than the usual meaningless waffle from the likes of McClaren, Pardew, Allardyce etc.

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Deuce

Deuce

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Happy ending?

 

Arguably our most significant and impressive managerial appointment since Bobby Robson in 1999, the capture of Rafa Benitez is certainly a high point in what is almost a decade of Mike Ashley ownership.

 

Given what came before him, the appointment of Rafa Benitez is completely unprecedented and would seem to indicate a total policy rethink, acquiring someone who could be deemed an asset rather than the results of a managerial scrapyard challenge.

 

As the dust begins to settle on a remarkable day, the temptation to believe that the club have had a light bulb moment and renounced previous transgressions becomes almost overwhelming.

 

The need for something to go right is acute - days after our latest onfield humiliation, the use of the word "Manager" in a press release was the cause for instant celebration across Tyneside and beyond.

 

Seeing Rafa clutching a black and white shirt with Lee Charnley though, our unending cynicism brought to mind the plain looking bloke stepping out with the stunning beauty - ie what is (s)he doing with him?

 

Calling this the ultimate marriage of convenience would in itself be progress here though, suggesting that pleasant memories would be produced - rather than a brief dalliance quickly regretted by both parties.

 

Maybe something like this appeared on match.com:

 

Manager who rues the length of previous absence from dugout seeks foothold in Premier League, location not important. One could imagine appealing to a lonely heart on Barrack Road  - after all, that's how we've sold the club to players during this owner's tenure.

 

Fears that this was merely a 'take the money and run' type posting that the likes of Harry Redknapp would accept were slightly eased by Rafa's first interview, but that could be that he's just more PR-savvy than his predecessors - he didn't have much to beat.

 

Rafa may have seen his contractual demands met (exploiting our weak negotiating position) but does he really know just what he's signed up for, aside from something with a lot of zeroes on the end of it?

 

Away from the Premier League since May 2013, his last first-hand experience of the Magpies was our 3-2 home win over his Chelsea side that January, when Moussa Sissoko bagged a brace on his home debut.

 

Much has changed here since then - not much of it for the better - with our transfers a particular cause for concern, culminating in the inexplicable acquisitions of Henri Saivet and Seydou Doumbia  - from the people who brought you Facundo Ferreyra.

 

Has he performed due diligence on his new employers - or just spoken to acquaintances happy to trot out the "Mike's a good guy" / "the fans are deluded" patter and point the finger at the individual failings of messrs Pardew, Carver and McClaren for their failures. 

 

While Charnley will be the first point of contact, how relations between Benitez and Graham Carr play out will be of greater interest - particularly if the Manager has his own scouting network and contact with agents and fixers who aren't on our list of preferred suppliers.

 

That's for the future though, in the short-term we appear to have stopped the rot and the mood among supporters has lifted without a ball being kicked.

 

Let's hope the players follow suit.

 

PS: Benitez shares at least one thing with Steve McClaren if these comments in 2010 are a guide:

 

"We were trying to bring in British players with passion - players who could feel what Liverpool means.

 

"**** is one of these and we have two or three names ready so we will try to do the best for the club.

 

"We have this long-term plan in place and we will try to follow the plan."

 

And who was ****? None other than Jonjo Shelvey.

 

Genuinely didn't realise when I was writing the post above btw. :laugh:

 

Sissoko certainly was energized that match...for Rafa. He knew.

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Dave

Dave

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In that interview with Lowes he clearly states that he's come here to be manager, not just a coach. Promisingly he also says Charnley knows something has to be different, presumably from this 'head coach' wank we've been persisting with.

 

Can only hope that's the case.

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TRon

TRon

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Just watched all of that press conference and was so impressed. He was thrown the curve ball, that we have a defence which concedes too many goals and strikers who don't score goal so what can he do about that?

 

No messing or attempt to deflect or blag his way out with some vague feelgood answer, for the strikers he say we can give them confidence to make them effective in front of goal, and with the defence we can make them compact and organised as a unit to make them harder to break down. None of the usual bullshit that we hear like the manager can only prepare the players, once they are on the pitch it's down to them.

 

Benitez is from a different school of thought where he knows exactly what his team should be doing and he won't accept those who can't follow the blueprint.

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TRon

TRon

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When we signed Sissoko I remember how energised he was for the club. Burning Ashley Cole and scoring that winner against Chelsea were fucking amazing moments and the fans loved him, serenading him with that song that didn't really make sense. Pardew specifically said he'd come in and was desperate to single-handedly drag the club up to where it 'belonged'.

 

Compare that to how he plays now. That same process can be seen in all the other players that started off well and went downhill, the most obvious recent example being Wijnaldum. They were all sold a kipper and eventually it shows. Players being 'Pardewed' wasn't just his shite coaching, it was also them realising the club wasn't going anywhere. They were almost certainly told they could get a bigger move by playing well (and some got it) but ultimately that losers mentality finds its way throughout the whole club and players end up having to perform better and better individually in a rubbish team to earn their move.

 

I'm not saying they're blameless, certainly not. But after a while they all find out exactly what the fans knew, that the real aim was nothing more than to survive. Just look at their managers, what should the most important person at the club. Pardew, Carver, McClaren. Uninspiring dross, designed to do nothing but tread water and avoid European competition and silverware.

 

There was no ambition at all, and any player's passion to do their best for the club disappears with that realisation. With Benitez we have a genuine chance to change all that.

 

It's a fair point. Yes when we are paying good wages then players should always give 100%, but when you buy them under the premise we are only a stepping stone, then that's how they'll treat us. Benitez arriving should have sent shockwaves through this squad. especially the internationals, and if they aren't motivated to put everything on the line now, then they will rightly be shipped out. Already we are seeing supposedly injured players answering the call for training on their day off. The next few weeks will certainly tell us a lot about the players we have here.

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sbnufc

sbnufc

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About his family, I can't see them moving from the Wirral, them being "happy" there is all I keep hearing.  But he cannit commute from Liverpool to Newcastle every day so how's that gonna work :lol:

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Klaus

Klaus

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About his family, I can't see them moving from the Wirral, them being "happy" there is all I keep hearing.  But he cannit commute from Liverpool to Newcastle every day so how's that gonna work :lol:

Roflcopter

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