Rafael Benitez

[Tiresias]

Ashley is still a cancer on this club and can't help feel he will sabotage this all at some point.

 

But come on back in premier league with rafa wooooo gotta enjoy these moments while they're here 

[shintonsghost]

Ashley is still a cancer on this club and can't help feel he will sabotage this all at some point.

 

But come on back in premier league with rafa wooooo gotta enjoy these moments while they're here 

 

 

or maybe he just didnt understand football? he won't be the first chairman to fuck it up, look close to home, and nationally look at Blackburn.

 

whatever you thought of Ashley we are in a healthy position NOW, yes he failed many times with crap appointments and many will never trust him but do you seriously think he wants us to fail? really?

 

the vast majority of chairmans want the club to make money, period, Ashley is the same but lets give him a bit of credit now ...

 

£80 million he sanctioned to SM and co recently £50 million to Rafa and more to come so whatever his stupid meddling with daft stuff at the club got us all riled with he is NOW attempting to put it right.

 

Rafa is here, he's staying, Ashley is gonna back this manager again NOW and is slowly learning that football up here is not just about business, its passion.

 

i for one hated Ashley at one point but the bloke is turning it around when so many clubs are run by tossers, credit where it's fucking due i say 

[SEMTEX]

Absolutely ridiculous that people are chastised for being cautious while we're still owned by Mike Ashley. We're desperate to fall for the same shit over and over.

 

In response to being chastised for being happy during one of the peak periods of the vast majority of people's support.

 

In response to being referred to as "thick as fuck" and being told what if we're not happy now, we might as well not bother. (I feel like we could do this bit for some time)

 

Honestly, I see positive signs, it's much better than it has been, but I will never be anything other than massively cautious until the owner is no longer the owner. Or at the very least, he's managed a prolonged period (2-3 years) of sensible behaviour.

[Figures 1-0 Football]

Some people just love an opportunity to moan

 

Literally nothing going wrong at the minute and all people can do is throw in "what ifs" and "in the past..."

 

Rafa's happy, I'm happy.

[Scoot]

Some people just love an opportunity to moan

 

Literally nothing going wrong at the minute and all people can do is throw in "what ifs" and "in the past..."

 

Rafa's happy, I'm happy.

 

Fickle.

[Tiresias]

Ashley is still a cancer on this club and can't help feel he will sabotage this all at some point.

 

But come on back in premier league with rafa wooooo gotta enjoy these moments while they're here 

 

 

or maybe he just didnt understand football? he won't be the first chairman to f*** it up, look close to home, and nationally look at Blackburn.

 

whatever you thought of Ashley we are in a healthy position NOW, yes he failed many times with crap appointments and many will never trust him but do you seriously think he wants us to fail? really?

 

the vast majority of chairmans want the club to make money, period, Ashley is the same but lets give him a bit of credit now ...

 

£80 million he sanctioned to SM and co recently £50 million to Rafa and more to come so whatever his stupid meddling with daft stuff at the club got us all riled with he is NOW attempting to put it right.

 

Rafa is here, he's staying, Ashley is gonna back this manager again NOW and is slowly learning that football up here is not just about business, its passion.

 

i for one hated Ashley at one point but the bloke is turning it around when so many clubs are run by tossers, credit where it's f***ing due i say 

 

As much as it'd be nice to believe people can change, this is just nutty. Ashley is a wanker and he's not going to become a saintly owner over night, indeed he has a history of ruining things jsut when stuff is looking up. Almost certainly he has made the decision that considering Sports Directs reputation being drawn through the mud of late he wants some good publicity from a football club enjoying some sun. He isn't investing any money in transfers he's just letting the club run itself on it's own incomings so it's little skin off his back. He will one day come back with renaming the stadium, sticking joe kinnear back or something. He has not had some see the light moment of genius, he maybe has adapted his strategy as a smart enough businessman like but I will never trust him unless we can look back on 3 or 4 years of solid investment, support and fan-centric decision making. Then maybe.

 

ANYWAY. I am hugely happy at teh state of the club right now and didn't want to be this negative, it's all looking good and I'm enjoying it and looking forward to next season 

[shintonsghost]

Ashley is still a cancer on this club and can't help feel he will sabotage this all at some point.

 

But come on back in premier league with rafa wooooo gotta enjoy these moments while they're here 

 

 

or maybe he just didnt understand football? he won't be the first chairman to f*** it up, look close to home, and nationally look at Blackburn.

 

whatever you thought of Ashley we are in a healthy position NOW, yes he failed many times with crap appointments and many will never trust him but do you seriously think he wants us to fail? really?

 

the vast majority of chairmans want the club to make money, period, Ashley is the same but lets give him a bit of credit now ...

 

£80 million he sanctioned to SM and co recently £50 million to Rafa and more to come so whatever his stupid meddling with daft stuff at the club got us all riled with he is NOW attempting to put it right.

 

Rafa is here, he's staying, Ashley is gonna back this manager again NOW and is slowly learning that football up here is not just about business, its passion.

 

i for one hated Ashley at one point but the bloke is turning it around when so many clubs are run by tossers, credit where it's f***ing due i say 

 

As much as it'd be nice to believe people can change, this is just nutty. Ashley is a wanker and he's not going to become a saintly owner over night, indeed he has a history of ruining things jsut when stuff is looking up. Almost certainly he has made the decision that considering Sports Directs reputation being drawn through the mud of late he wants some good publicity from a football club enjoying some sun. He isn't investing any money in transfers he's just letting the club run itself on it's own incomings so it's little skin off his back. He will one day come back with renaming the stadium, sticking joe kinnear back or something. He has not had some see the light moment of genius, he maybe has adapted his strategy as a smart enough businessman like but I will never trust him unless we can look back on 3 or 4 years of solid investment, support and fan-centric decision making. Then maybe.

 

ANYWAY. I am hugely happy at teh state of the club right now and didn't want to be this negative, it's all looking good and I'm enjoying it and looking forward to next season 

 

 

 

look he's BEEN  a wanker but right NOW it appears he has learnt, i'm not forgiving him just pointing out that theres bigger muppets out there ruining their clubs big style.....clue, SAFC 

[Dinho lad]

Some people just love an opportunity to moan

 

Literally nothing going wrong at the minute and all people can do is throw in "what ifs" and "in the past..."

 

Rafa's happy, I'm happy.

 

Love is blind.

[Dave]

Absolutely ridiculous that people are chastised for being cautious while we're still owned by Mike Ashley. We're desperate to fall for the same shit over and over.

 

In response to being chastised for being happy during one of the peak periods of the vast majority of people's support.

 

In response to being referred to as "thick as fuck" and being told what if we're not happy now, we might as well not bother. (I feel like we could do this bit for some time)

 

Honestly, I see positive signs, it's much better than it has been, but I will never be anything other than massively cautious until the owner is no longer the owner. Or at the very least, he's managed a prolonged period (2-3 years) of sensible behaviour.

 

Minor point but the thick as fuck reference was for those people who DON'T think the Ashley tenure has largely been a disgrace. There are still a few.

[Menace]

We're like a battered wife who has met someone new but we're still living in the refuge.

 

We won't move on until we've got a divorce.

 

fucking hell

[Mick]

 

Yes, and? Ashley is still here, no?

 

Or have you already forgotten what he was he's like?

 

Embarrassing, to be honest.  Just fickle and conformists.

 

 

You're using words you clearly don't know the meaning of.

[mighty__mag]

Probably already been mentioned. But funds were mentioned in relevance to every last penny.

So will this include the whole of the new sponsorship if paid in full or per annum? Along side player sales and revenues gained from tv and promotion etc.

[madras]

Probably already been mentioned. But funds were mentioned in relevance to every last penny.

So will this include the whole of the new sponsorship if paid in full or per annum? Along side player sales and revenues gained from tv and promotion etc.

Does it include wages as paid out for the full length of the contract ?

 

It's not like we can say we have "X" amount to spend this year on running the club while ignoring the year after, any figure given to Rafa will ge a guesstimate, may end up higher, maybe lower.

[Paully]

Too many people seem to be worried about what his kitty actually is!

 

If Rafa is happy then we all should be too!

 

Chill out and enjoy what's coming!

[Darth Crooks]

Ashley can expect his share of credit when he has us a stable and competitive club. The shoots of that are there and the signs are that under a happy Rafa that they'll be nurtured. We've seen these shoots stamped out before though. It's undoubtedly a positive time at present though.

[Dinho lad]

 

Yes, and? Ashley is still here, no?

 

Or have you already forgotten what he was he's like?

 

Embarrassing, to be honest.  Just fickle and conformists.

 

 

You're using words you clearly don't know the meaning of.

 

Okay, whatever.

 

If you're happy clap your hands....

[relámpago blanco]

Too many people seem to be worried about what his kitty actually is!

 

If Rafa is happy then we all should be too!

 

Chill out and enjoy what's coming!

Exactly,  if Rafa didn't think he had a platform so that over time we can challenge for cups etc he would have fucked the fuck off.

[TRon]

Absolutely ridiculous that people are chastised for being cautious while we're still owned by Mike Ashley. We're desperate to fall for the same shit over and over.

 

In response to being chastised for being happy during one of the peak periods of the vast majority of people's support.

 

In response to being referred to as "thick as fuck" and being told what if we're not happy now, we might as well not bother. (I feel like we could do this bit for some time)

 

Honestly, I see positive signs, it's much better than it has been, but I will never be anything other than massively cautious until the owner is no longer the owner. Or at the very least, he's managed a prolonged period (2-3 years) of sensible behaviour.

 

Welcome to the world of shit football club owners. We've been run too cautiously which no one will argue with, but on the other hand at least we are still relatively financially stable as a result. The biggest problem I had with Ashley was never the amount of money he put in anyway, it was the cheap shit managers he kept putting in charge. That's been fixed it seems so I'm relatively happy. Obviously things still could be better re sponsorship and the deal with SD, but that's murkier water. At least on the pitch it's been better for the last 12 months.

[Mole_Toonfan]

I like to think you can be both still unhappy with Ashley and happy NUFC has Rafa Benitez as manager.

 

For once we have the possibility of separating the football side from the financial/ownership side. At least enough to enjoy the coming season.

 

You can, some people are just incapable of separating the two though sadly.

 

 

[shintonsghost]

Absolutely ridiculous that people are chastised for being cautious while we're still owned by Mike Ashley. We're desperate to fall for the same shit over and over.

 

In response to being chastised for being happy during one of the peak periods of the vast majority of people's support.

 

In response to being referred to as "thick as fuck" and being told what if we're not happy now, we might as well not bother. (I feel like we could do this bit for some time)

 

Honestly, I see positive signs, it's much better than it has been, but I will never be anything other than massively cautious until the owner is no longer the owner. Or at the very least, he's managed a prolonged period (2-3 years) of sensible behaviour.

 

Welcome to the world of shit football club owners. We've been run too cautiously which no one will argue with, but on the other hand at least we are still relatively financially stable as a result. The biggest problem I had with Ashley was never the amount of money he put in anyway, it was the cheap shit managers he kept putting in charge. That's been fixed it seems so I'm relatively happy. Obviously things still could be better re sponsorship and the deal with SD, but that's murkier water. At least on the pitch it's been better for the last 12 months.

 

 

as i pointed out, he tried it, it failed, he learnt, he put it right 

[Consortium of one]

Ashley is still a cancer on this club and can't help feel he will sabotage this all at some point.

 

But come on back in premier league with rafa wooooo gotta enjoy these moments while they're here 

 

 

or maybe he just didnt understand football? he won't be the first chairman to f*** it up, look close to home, and nationally look at Blackburn.

 

whatever you thought of Ashley we are in a healthy position NOW, yes he failed many times with crap appointments and many will never trust him but do you seriously think he wants us to fail? really?

 

the vast majority of chairmans want the club to make money, period, Ashley is the same but lets give him a bit of credit now ...

 

£80 million he sanctioned to SM and co recently £50 million to Rafa and more to come so whatever his stupid meddling with daft stuff at the club got us all riled with he is NOW attempting to put it right.

 

Rafa is here, he's staying, Ashley is gonna back this manager again NOW and is slowly learning that football up here is not just about business, its passion.

 

i for one hated Ashley at one point but the bloke is turning it around when so many clubs are run by tossers, credit where it's f***ing due i say 

 

If he can stay out of the way and let a football man make the decisions I'll start to give him props.  He's got to prove he can do it over an extended period of time, though.

[mrmojorisin75]

If he can stay out of the way and let a football man make the decisions I'll start to give him props.  He's got to prove he can do it over an extended period of time, though.

 

arguably a little wobble in january but he's more or less had a year of not actively sabotaging things

 

good times

[Paully]

Scroll down to his programme notes from last Sunday!

 

What a man!

 

 

http://www.nufc.com/2016-17html/2017-05-07barnsley-h.html

[Willow]

Scroll down to his programme notes from last Sunday!

 

What a man!

 

http://www.nufc.com/2016-17html/2017-05-07barnsley-h.html

 

 

Full text in spoiler tags:

 

 

Rafa Benitez match programme interview:

 

He began talking about alterations at Darsley Park in pre-season:

 

"We changed the colours. In general, there’s more light, with more colours, and more space if we can for people who normally work here.

 

"We had to give another impression when the players came back from relegation, for them to see something different, more relaxed, with more space, and they would appreciate that it is new and fresher. It was to change the mood, starting with the colours and little things like that.

 

"We changed the synthetic pitch in the indoor tent, the showers, the dressing room for the staff, some offices. We had to give them, the players, space if they wanted to stay and play ping pong or with the PlayStation. It’s something they will appreciate is different and a little bit better.

 

"We had a lot of things to do. We’d just arrived earlier that year, and we had to try to do our best to stay up. We couldn’t do it but little by little, we were analysing things.

 

"This season was more about fixing things and doing things the way we wanted to do it. We had so many things – academy, scouting department, players coming, players leaving, the facilities we were trying to improve – and I think we did well. Thanks to all the people in charge in each department, we were progressing and improving, and I’m quite happy with what we did."

 

"It’s not difficult when you have good players and good professionals. The relationship between them was quite good, and because the team was working well and hard, the relationship with the staff was also quite good. Little by little, the bond was improving.

 

"When the team is winning and you have nice people – people who are hungry and want to improve – then it’s easier. You try to choose the right players, and after, try to talk with them and tell them what you are expecting from each one and from the group.

 

"I will give credit to the players in this case, because you can try the same with different players, and maybe it doesn’t work.

 

"We have a way to do things. Our methodology is working with the ball all the time, so they enjoy that, and changing the exercises but keeping the same objective – things that we have done for so many years. For some players, they are new things.

 

"We have the analysis department, and then we have clips for every single player, for the team. We try to give them some feedback in terms of what they do. They appreciate that, and are keen to learn and improve, so that, in the end, is what creates a very good atmosphere.

 

"As a manager, you have ideas, but you need people helping you because if not, you don’t have time to do everything. If you have an expert in a specific part of the job then you have to use them. Everyone has their job and everyone is helping me to save some time by doing something specific.

 

"Everybody has their role in the team, and here they can feel that they are part of the success. I think it’s important to realise that a lot of things you have achieved is because of them. People say ‘well this is just the manager’, but you have a lot of people working very hard every day, and thanks to them, things are going well. Everyone has to do their job, and they have to feel that their job is appreciated.

 

“Normally, you realise in pre-season, when you start training with players you can see how they react and how keen they are to spend more time practising, or learning and listening to you. We could see from the beginning that this group was a good group.

 

"I had confidence in the team, and I was always talking about April as a crucial month. I thought that we could start April even worse (than we did) and after we could react, but we started really well and after we made a couple of mistakes, so it was the opposite.

 

"Still, I had confidence – it would be hard, it would be difficult, but we would do it (win promotion).

 

“We changed half of the squad, sold players, and then we had to rebuild everything.

 

"To go up, I think it is a real achievement. But I always say, we have to give credit to these players. It’s important to be proud of what we have done in the end. Players, staff and all the people here have been together with the fans behind us. We have had a whole city behind the team, and that is so good and the feeling is so good that it’s something we have to build from.

 

"Every time that I go to a restaurant or something around the city, you have someone telling you how they appreciate what we are doing. We can feel it every day. You can see that, you can feel that.

 

“It’s always important to feel that the people appreciate what you have done. A lot of times in my career, if (fans) talk about one of my trophies, they say ‘you gave me the best day of my life’. I say it’s a pleasure for me, because it’s something I wanted to do and I enjoy that.

 

“I like to do my job properly and I like to win. Sometimes I’m really, really upset when we cannot. But at least now, experience has given this calm; that you know sometimes you cannot, but still you have to try the next time.

 

“When I was younger, I was always upset because we were losing or I was very happy because we were winning. Now, you can manage the emotions a little bit more.

 

"I started my career as a coach in the Real Madrid academy, and we were winning maybe 80% of the games. You didn’t used to lose too much, but then when you leave and you realise that the other teams are quite strong and you can lose, that’s when you start learning. It’s quite difficult, but that is the way.

 

"You have to lose some games to realise how important it is to do things well – the little details, the small things that can change a game. You have to have balance.

 

"If you lose a game, you are disappointed, but at the same time, what the people – your players especially, and your staff – expect from you is a reaction, a positive reaction, a solution. You have to be calm, keep your composure and then analyse what is going on to give a solution or an idea at least, and they can follow this idea.

 

"I wave to them (the fans) and I say thank you very much. It is my responsibility to stay focused on my job, but I can be very happy because they are singing my name. I’m really pleased, but at the same time, it’s more responsibility for me too, because I want to do well for them.

 

“As a professional, I have always done the same. I was trying to do my best in every single team I was managing. But when you have the love of the fans, then you try even harder, because I think that they deserve that.

 

"They (the players) were trying to catch me (to spray with champagne) – they caught me a little bit, but not as much as they wanted!" 

 

"I have sometimes the feeling that I did my job, and I’m really proud for that, but I am not very emotional externally.

 

I don’t get carried away with the emotions too much, but inside, I am really proud of what we have achieved, so then I try to stay with my staff or my family and friends and enjoy it with them.

 

"I’m not someone who will be jumping around the streets or whatever, but I will try to enjoy it with my people.

 

"I think it was a mix of emotions, because everybody was a little bit anxious with the results before and a little bit nervous about what can happen. So there was a little bit of relief, but at the same time, pride, because it was a great achievement. Everybody was….you could see, playing against Cardiff, the team was playing with more freedom. You could see the real team.

 

"In terms of the preparation (for the Premier League), it’s more or less the same. What you have to be sure now is that you choose the right players and you do the right things, because you have to change things and try to improve. That is my responsibility.

 

"I think as a manager, when you achieve something and then you start preparing for the next challenge, you have to be excited. I’m thinking about every single detail that I can improve, and then seeing my staff, everyone, and trying to get feedback from them and seeing if we can make less mistakes.

 

"It’s important for me to be excited and it’s important for my staff and the people around us to be excited too. It’s a challenge for everyone. We know that it will not be easy, but at the same time we know we have the ability to change things around and to try to do good things.

 

"After the Preston game, I said ‘OK, we have achieved what we wanted’. I didn’t expect Brighton to lose the other game. Now, we have another opportunity. We were really pleased (after Cardiff), because we won and it’s the record (for away wins in a season), but at the same time now we have a chance to fight for the title, and we’ll try to do it."

 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Genuinely nearly wept reading that

 

Thank fuck for a manager like this, honestly a miracle he's here.