bowlingcrofty Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 Costs him £5m to walk away. Costs him nowt if the Brady bunch fork up to take him darn sarf Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toon25 Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 I'd imagine the porn barons will be looking at a 'pretty football' manager who's more likely to play 'the West Ham way', whatever the fuck that means. Wouldn't surprise me if they went after Tuchel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiresias Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 West Ham are way too similar to us in some ways, the owners at least spend money etc but that squad is terribly assembled much like ours. Years of accumulating bargains, loads of 3 goal a season strikers and just no clear thinking. Thing is they have also tried to be patient with Bilic and sort this out through some consistency but he seems to have let them down for their trust hugely. I can possibly see Rafa liking that faith in the manager and thinking since they are willing to spend maybe he could clear out and build a squad with them sadly. The downside is a shit home stadium, albeit one which will taxpayer funded give him money to spend. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmojorisin75 Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 The thing that sticks with me about Rafa's quotes this summer, albeit vaguely, are the ones where he mentioned players coming to the club because of him and him repaying that faith. Kind of suggests that it'll take something special to push him to the edge now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 Article is by John Richardson, the one whose tweets are sometimes posted on here and who is supposedly close to Rafa. He was at the match for the Mirror yesterday. So I'd say it's probably true, given that it's happened before. Fuck them, I hope he keeps saying whatever is the truth. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Geordie Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 Ashley's PR campaign beginning to show cracks, IMO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raconteur Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 Surely nothing Rafa has said could be considered grounds for dismissal? (On one level) it would be amusing if Ashley sacked Rafa because he wouldn't shut up, and Rafa took him to court like King Kev did... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stifler Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 In all fairness to Rafa, he's not said anything other managers haven't. It's just at this club we know there are other reasons why transfers arn't coming in as we'd like it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chopey Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 It will be interesting to see what happens if we get a big offer this week for one of the players Rafa wants to keep. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sho Time Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 The media I listened to and read last week seemed absolutely sure that we're going down. It sounded like we were the new Derby, after only 180 minutes of football. No chance that we might improve as games go on or that mixed bag results are pretty common in the first few games of the campaign. Nope, going down. Fucking thick. Coming back to the league, I've not missed this bollocks at all. If it weren't for us, I wouldn't ever bother watching the Prem. Likewise, I was barely watching any games on Sky or even watching MOTD last season. Tbh I feel like the situation over here has just made me fall out of love with football altogether - what Mike Ashley has done/is doing is definitely eating away into my enthusiasm for the game. And he wants to produce Andy Carroll's with home-grown youngsters with the cloud he's brought over the club? Bloke is seriously a fucking idiot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Howaythetoon Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 My mate has a box and he says Rafa is definitely staying. Its only a cardboard box mind, but its a big one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LV Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 The thing that sticks with me about Rafa's quotes this summer, albeit vaguely, are the ones where he mentioned players coming to the club because of him and him repaying that faith. Kind of suggests that it'll take something special to push him to the edge now. I think it's also something about our fans that he likes. He mentioned us as being similar to the fans at Liverpool. I'm not sure if West Ham would hold the same charm for him. Depends how intolerable he finds the Ashley situation though I guess. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stifler Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 I'd imagine the porn barons will be looking at a 'pretty football' manager who's more likely to play 'the West Ham way', whatever the fuck that means. Wouldn't surprise me if they went after Tuchel. One of the papers today says they are after Fulham's manager. It's not the first time that they have been linked with him either. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 Can't wait for the transfer window to shut and all of this turbulence to settle down. A few wins under our belt and everything will feel a little rosier. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
duo Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicane Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 fuck Ashley man Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cp40 Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 Giggs? Pete Graves. There's something that's worried me since the day Rafa Benitez arrived at Newcastle United. Something that has always been at the back of my mind. A nagging fear that one day a certain club might come in for him, and believe it or not - that club was West Ham. My heart sank a little last night. The news reached us at Sky Sports News that West Ham were considering the future of Slaven Bilic and that Rafa Benitez would indeed be top of their potential list of suitors. Furthermore they were aware there was a clause, a fairly significant one (more than £5m) but ultimately a way to effectively buy Benitez out of Newcastle United. But why are West Ham the club that I've feared so long?? Why did I not blink when the links with China and even Arsenal were reported in the national press? Well the reason is, because Rafa has always maintained privately that he feels indebted to West Ham and would have to consider any approach from the Hammers if it should ever materialise and here's why; In 2015 Benitez was on the brink of becoming West Ham's manager. He'd spoken with the owners and was planning for life at Upton Park. However at the eleventh hour Real Madrid offered him the opportunity to move to the Bernabeu and it was too good an offer to turn down. What impressed Rafa so much was the way the West Ham board accepted his decision. They understood that the opportunity to manage Real Madrid was too much for a Spanish manager to disregard and they gave Rafa their blessing and subsequently appointed Slaven Bilic. The rest as they say is history and now we are where we are... Bilic on the brink and Rafa in their thoughts. Now let's throw into the mix that Rafa has grown increasingly frustrated at Nufc this summer. He wanted more investment and he's stood and watched while even fellow 'promotees' Brighton and Huddersfield have spent significantly more. Meanwhile West Ham have signed Joe Hart (a player Rafa wanted) and also submitted a bid of close to 40m for William Carvalho (another Rafa target). Let that sink in... A 40 million pound bid for ONE player, that's more than Newcastle have spent on six new arrivals so far. That's financial muscle. Only this week Rafa said that he no longer viewed Nufc as a long term project... Not my words, the words of the manager, while he's also said that he's "signing the players he can, not the ones that he wants". Needless to say, the positivity of last seasons promotion has disintegrated. And Rafa is clearly frustrated AND not afraid to tell the world. Now let's consider West Ham as a potential long term project. They have the Olympic Stadium, they're based in London, in my opinion with the right manager at the helm they could be challenging the 'big boys' in the next 3-5 years both on and off the pitch. It's an attractive proposition on paper. Now, from a personal point of view, I was gutted to be roundly criticised by lots of fellow Nufc fans for reporting the story both on air and online last night. Let me say that there's absolutely no agenda from me, so to be accused of stirring things up or creating stories to disrupt the club is absolutely ridiculous. I love Newcastle United and have done all my life. As a family we've still got our season tickets and I travel home and away as often as I can. Not in the press box, but with the fans... I pay for my tickets. I write a column in the Newcastle United program and let me clear this up once and for all, I recieve no money for this column at all and am not "on the payroll" as has been thrown at me in the past. I fully understand that rumours of other clubs circling Rafa are not easy to stomach... I know this because I feel exactly the same, but sadly this story has legs and as someone who works as a sports reporter, but is also acutely aware that the majority of my 'followers' etc are Newcastle United fans, I felt it was my duty to keep you informed with the very latest concerning our manager. Although I'm sorry that in this instance the news was slightly concerning. Finally this is anything but a done deal and there is still a massive reason why Rafa Benitez could very well stay at Newcastle United for years to come and continue to fight for the club.... and that reason is quite simply you lot; the fans. Rafa Benitez could manage for the next one thousand years and he'll never ever receive the adoration that he currently receives on Tyneside. He knows that and his family knows that! He can walk on water in Newcastle and rightly so. Subsequently it would really hurt him to walk away from those loyal geordie supporters that he's grown so fond of and this will be forefront in his thinking. His love for the fans is so strong that I believe it could be enough to make him stay, but he needs more support financially. Yesterday's brilliant 3-0 win and the atmosphere in the ground will also help! As we stand today, Slaven Bilic remains West Ham manager and Rafa Benitez very much the manager of Newcastle United. However if I was the owner of Newcastle I'd be giving Rafa everything that he wants starting with more financial muscle in the remaining days of the transfer window... However sadly I'm not. Thoughts welcome. HWTL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 Don't believe for a second that Rafa will go to West Ham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest firetotheworks Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 I think people are kidding themselves if they don't think it's a possibility tbh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 I don't think it is, i genuinely don't. Usual media scaremongering, because he's a fan doesn't change that so i don't buy it. I don't fear it at all, if West Ham won yesterday this wouldn't even be reported. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happinesstan Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 It seems West Ham showed him more respect for turning them down, than Ashley is prepared to for sticking around. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
duo Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 I think people are kidding themselves if they don't think it's a possibility tbh. same It's a big few days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanshithispantz Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 It's obviously a possibility he'll leave but I doubt Rafa has some weird moral code that will lead him to the hammers like. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
astraguy Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 If news broke that West Ham have asked us for permission to speak with Rafa, you know Ashley would fucking agree with it and say Rafa forced the move Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chopey Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 Cracking from Graves that, I hope Ashley has one of his minions read it to him Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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