Rafael Benitez

[Zero]

The LB situation is strange.  To me it seems like we don't want to spend any money for a cover.  In other words, we are more than satisfied to have Dummett as our starting LB, contrary to most people belief here.

 

 

Ashley is. Rafa wanted players ffs.

 

For other position yes.  I ain't that sure for LB.  Rafa seems to rate Dummett highly.

[Hhtoon]

I think Rafa will keep us up and reasonably comfortable, in spite of the squad and dependent on injuries etc. Won't be enough for him unfortunately and the last 2 windows will see him leave.

[TRon]

Even though i saw this coming it doesn't make me any more dissapointed or angry.  It's very clear now that Ashley and his cock slaves are trying to force Rafa to resign.  Rafa thought he had a good relationship with Charnley but i'm sure he realised today that the little worm has been leading him along the whole time.  Getting rid of Carr and putting the new "head of recruitment" was purely to try and appease Rafa in the short term after we failed to get any early transfer work done, i wouldn't be surprised to see him get the boot once Rafa is gone.  This Justin Barnes c*** that's been brought in is only there to make sure Ashley doesn't get taken to court again and to make things awkward for Rafa, they're hoping Rafa won't be able to take any more and walk, or just as good he takes another job and the fat man scores for some compo.  If these rodents all die a slow, painful and humiliating death i'd be ok with that. ?

 

Mike Ashley feels threatened by anyone who is popular with the fans - Keegan, Shearer, Hughton and now Rafa all forced out and treat like s***.  Even popular players with an opinion get shown the door (Nolan, Barton etc.). It's much easier for him to appoint a yes man and use him as s*** deflecter, no matter how useless he is.  Thinking about who our next manager is gona be genuinely makes me feel sick.  Whoever it is, i won't be "giving him a chance" i'm afraid!

 

If Ashley wanted rid of Rafa because he's popular, then why not get rid after promotion when talks were held to persuade Rafa to stay? He could, in theory, have parted ways with Rafa and brought in a puppet with barely a murmur of discontent (most of us would have considered it a real possibility that Rafa would leave after what happened in January). Could have put out news stories about Rafa wanting to move on or wanting different challenges compared to what NUFC can offer to placate fans.

 

Obviously we don't know if contract clauses would have affected those discussions, though if Rafa was unhappy with the discussions what other option would he have had other than to leave? And whilst I imagine Rafa allegedly communicating his unhappiness with the transfer situation through the media during the summer may have irked Ashley, Rafa did the same in January, so it's nothing new.

 

Nothing makes sense with Ashley. There's many possibilities, but one of them that I won't rule out just yet is that this is all to do with not wanting to spend until the money is actually received and banked. Wishful thinking probably, but it's still a possibility.

 

I disagree, Ashley will still want rid of Rafa. Not because he's being forced to spend more money than he'd like, that clearly hasn't happened, it might as well have been Pardew asking for more players. But because Rafa is not the type to take it lying down. Ashley was blatantly stung by the veiled criticism of the running of the club, and that led to his propaganda video on Sky. I reckon he'd be delighted if West Ham came in and bought up Rafa's contract. He'd much prefer going back to a yes man who would fall in line with less trouble.

[Zero]

Ashley is playing fire if he wants to wait for West Ham approach.  If I am Rafa I won't walk but try my best to lose every match from now on.  Only relegation can hit the fat cunt hard again.

[cp40]

Even though i saw this coming it doesn't make me any more dissapointed or angry.  It's very clear now that Ashley and his cock slaves are trying to force Rafa to resign.  Rafa thought he had a good relationship with Charnley but i'm sure he realised today that the little worm has been leading him along the whole time.  Getting rid of Carr and putting the new "head of recruitment" was purely to try and appease Rafa in the short term after we failed to get any early transfer work done, i wouldn't be surprised to see him get the boot once Rafa is gone.  This Justin Barnes c*** that's been brought in is only there to make sure Ashley doesn't get taken to court again and to make things awkward for Rafa, they're hoping Rafa won't be able to take any more and walk, or just as good he takes another job and the fat man scores for some compo.  If these rodents all die a slow, painful and humiliating death i'd be ok with that. ?

 

Mike Ashley feels threatened by anyone who is popular with the fans - Keegan, Shearer, Hughton and now Rafa all forced out and treat like s***.  Even popular players with an opinion get shown the door (Nolan, Barton etc.). It's much easier for him to appoint a yes man and use him as s*** deflecter, no matter how useless he is.  Thinking about who our next manager is gona be genuinely makes me feel sick.  Whoever it is, i won't be "giving him a chance" i'm afraid!

 

If Ashley wanted rid of Rafa because he's popular, then why not get rid after promotion when talks were held to persuade Rafa to stay? He could, in theory, have parted ways with Rafa and brought in a puppet with barely a murmur of discontent (most of us would have considered it a real possibility that Rafa would leave after what happened in January). Could have put out news stories about Rafa wanting to move on or wanting different challenges compared to what NUFC can offer to placate fans.

 

Obviously we don't know if contract clauses would have affected those discussions, though if Rafa was unhappy with the discussions what other option would he have had other than to leave? And whilst I imagine Rafa allegedly communicating his unhappiness with the transfer situation through the media during the summer may have irked Ashley, Rafa did the same in January, so it's nothing new.

 

Nothing makes sense with Ashley. There's many possibilities, but one of them that I won't rule out just yet is that this is all to do with not wanting to spend until the money is actually received and banked. Wishful thinking probably, but it's still a possibility.

 

I disagree, Ashley will still want rid of Rafa. Not because he's being forced to spend more money than he'd like, that clearly hasn't happened, it might as well have been Pardew asking for more players. But because Rafa is not the type to take it lying down. Ashley was blatantly stung by the veiled criticism of the running of the club, and that led to his propaganda video on Sky. I reckon he'd be delighted if West Ham came in and bought up Rafa's contract. He'd much prefer going back to a yes man who would fall in line with less trouble.

 

yep- Pardew- his dream ticket.

[Andy84]

https://twitter.com/CaulkinTheTimes/status/903481810306252800

 

Good thread from Caulkin this morning

[mrmojorisin75]

Ashley is playing fire if he wants to wait for West Ham approach.  If I am Rafa I won't walk but try my best to lose every match from now on.  Only relegation can hit the fat cunt hard again.

Are you seriously suggesting Rafa should or will aim to lose games?

[High Five o]

Ashley is playing fire if he wants to wait for West Ham approach.  If I am Rafa I won't walk but try my best to lose every match from now on.  Only relegation can hit the fat cunt hard again.

Are you seriously suggesting Rafa should or will aim to lose games?

It such a mental thing to say.

 

As long as Rafa is here I have hope.

If he leaves we can crash and burn.

[Zero]

Ashley is playing fire if he wants to wait for West Ham approach.  If I am Rafa I won't walk but try my best to lose every match from now on.  Only relegation can hit the fat c*** hard again.

Are you seriously suggesting Rafa should or will aim to lose games?

 

I won't blame him to do so if the aim is just to fuck off the fat cunt

 

Seriously no one will match the fat cunt asking price and we are stucked till his death if we continue like this. The only way to cut the tie is to hit him hard, either by continuous relegation, restarting the Ashleyout campaign, or start some kinda boycotting to his Sports Direct business.  The fat cunt simply won't get any harm by continue this way and we are the only one who suffer - and why should we?

[Zero]

I always say the Ashleyout campaign needs to restart.  Just like what we did 10 years ago.  Why is the fat cunt allowed to sit calmly in St James?

 

Look back if we was sold 10 years ago after relegation, imagine where we are now? 

[Sean]

The LB situation is strange.  To me it seems like we don't want to spend any money for a cover.  In other words, we are more than satisfied to have Dummett as our starting LB, contrary to most people belief here.

 

 

Ashley is. Rafa wanted players ffs.

 

For other position yes.  I ain't that sure for LB.  Rafa seems to rate Dummett highly.

 

Yes he's happy for Dummett to play. Doesn't mean he didn't want competition for his place (you know, like he's been saying all summer). Or are you trying to imply that Rafa's thinking is in line with the clubs? 

[ToonTastic]

Rafa doesn't have to quit. He just has to wait for a club to come and take him from us who at least has a little more interest in success than Ashley. I'm sure West Ham will come knocking.

[Menace]

I was reading last night about his time at Napoli. Fuck me he bought some cracking players.

[mrmojorisin75]

Suppose I could have missed it but hoping Rafa is pretty candid whenever he speaks next. He's obviously not going to come right out and slag Ashley off but he's a master of saying what he wants without explicitly saying something.

 

He could turn a lot of fans against Ashley with the right words.

[cp40]

West ham/Arsenal- any club that has ambition to play in Europe, and is willing to fund it, he is a viable candidate- probs what Ashley wants tbh, now Rafa stood up to him, he is a Bully who can not tolerate people standing up to him.

[Wallsendmag]

He should just resign. He's better than this.

[lovejoy]

Rafa doesn't have to quit. He just has to wait for a club to come and take him from us who at least has a little more interest in success than Ashley. I'm sure West Ham will come knocking.

 

this is what will happen. give it 4 weeks or so, west ham will be at the door and he'll go.

[Ketsbaia]

Caulkin's thread is both encouraging and worrying. Because it sounds like he'll stay but doubt he will beyond this season. Sounds like he's rapidly losing all passion for the club, all the things which attracted him to us in the first place.

[Andy84]

Justin fucking Barnes deciding not to sanction deals man 

[taxfree]

What actual experience does Justin Barnes have of football transfers in a market that's ever evolving?

I hope the cost of these deals is more than another year in Championship, as that's the sort of call he's balancing this against.

 

Silly question really, we all know Barnes has been brought in to stifle money being spent so he takes the heat and Ashley doesn't so much.

 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/06/15/mike-ashley-drafts-trusted-abrasive-lieutenant-help-run-newcastle/

Barnes has helped Ashley make a series of acquisitions for Sports Direct and is part of his notoriously publicity-shy inner circle, but has never worked in football before.

[TRon]

Caulkin's thread is both encouraging and worrying. Because it sounds like he'll stay but doubt he will beyond this season. Sounds like he's rapidly losing all passion for the club, all the things which attracted him to us in the first place.

 

You could read between the lines for the past few months anyway. Rafa's too honourable to resign, plus it would cost him a lot of money. I'm not even convinced he'll leave for West Ham because I'm sure he'd rather be here in anything approaching decent circumstances. But he's not going to be played for a fool so the emotional pull is only going to hold so long. Tthe clock is ticking, if we are lucky West Ham won't come asking and we might get a season out of him.

[mozy]

I'm less worried about Rafa leaving for West Ham, going from working for Mike Ashley to working for David Gold / Sullivan is like Sophie's choice.

[Bimpy474]

While I wouldn't blame Rafa for walking I hope he doesn't. In the hope we do get bought out like say Everton have, and whoever the new owner is they might just value out manager and us.

 

I'm ill as feck so maybe I'm delusional but its the only faint hope I have left.

[Zero]

No.  As much as I love Rafa, we don't need to.  The faster we sinked to the bottom the better, the faster we get rid of the fat cunt, and if we are back to a "normal club" we will be able to attract someone like Rafa again.

[Away Day Gadgie]

Even though i saw this coming it doesn't make me any more dissapointed or angry.  It's very clear now that Ashley and his cock slaves are trying to force Rafa to resign.  Rafa thought he had a good relationship with Charnley but i'm sure he realised today that the little worm has been leading him along the whole time.  Getting rid of Carr and putting the new "head of recruitment" was purely to try and appease Rafa in the short term after we failed to get any early transfer work done, i wouldn't be surprised to see him get the boot once Rafa is gone.  This Justin Barnes c*** that's been brought in is only there to make sure Ashley doesn't get taken to court again and to make things awkward for Rafa, they're hoping Rafa won't be able to take any more and walk, or just as good he takes another job and the fat man scores for some compo.  If these rodents all die a slow, painful and humiliating death i'd be ok with that. ?

 

Mike Ashley feels threatened by anyone who is popular with the fans - Keegan, Shearer, Hughton and now Rafa all forced out and treat like s***.  Even popular players with an opinion get shown the door (Nolan, Barton etc.). It's much easier for him to appoint a yes man and use him as s*** deflecter, no matter how useless he is.  Thinking about who our next manager is gona be genuinely makes me feel sick.  Whoever it is, i won't be "giving him a chance" i'm afraid!

 

If Ashley wanted rid of Rafa because he's popular, then why not get rid after promotion when talks were held to persuade Rafa to stay? He could, in theory, have parted ways with Rafa and brought in a puppet with barely a murmur of discontent (most of us would have considered it a real possibility that Rafa would leave after what happened in January). Could have put out news stories about Rafa wanting to move on or wanting different challenges compared to what NUFC can offer to placate fans.

 

Obviously we don't know if contract clauses would have affected those discussions, though if Rafa was unhappy with the discussions what other option would he have had other than to leave? And whilst I imagine Rafa allegedly communicating his unhappiness with the transfer situation through the media during the summer may have irked Ashley, Rafa did the same in January, so it's nothing new.

 

Nothing makes sense with Ashley. There's many possibilities, but one of them that I won't rule out just yet is that this is all to do with not wanting to spend until the money is actually received and banked. Wishful thinking probably, but it's still a possibility.

 

That's a fair point but my thinking is that Ashley felt it was within his interests to keep Rafa here short term.  Like you said, before those discussions there was a lot of suspicion amongst supporters over what was gona happen with Rafa, that statement put a lot of people at ease and had them looking forward to the new season under the best manager we've had for 13 years.  I would imagine that statement secured quite a lot of season ticket sales and renewals.  Remember Mike Ashley's sole aim is to advertise his brands (s*** Direct and Flannels) and those boards look a lot more attractive in a full stadium than a half empty one, especially at a club like Newcastle that is known for packing the stadium out.

 

  He would've also been aware that there's a small possibility that Rafa might stay on a while and have us in a healthy situation by the time he leaves so it was worth pissing him around for a few months.  Some journalists are already saying Rafa won't go until there is a scenario that suits him personally, we don't know when that will be, it could be next week or it could be the end of the season, either way it looks like the fat man will get some compensation for him.  He'll be very chuffed with himself when that happens no doubt.