Rafael Benitez

[Mick]

'I could see in the two training sessions and after talking with the players face to face that they want to do well, they want to impress the new manager, they want to do things the right way for the fans, for the club. But they need a little bit of confidence. So some of them, that was my impression, you need to tell them 'listen, that is the direction' and they will follow you in this direction.'

 

Ambition, ladies and gentlemen. The players aren't the best in the world by any stretch but they're better than this, and it comes down to believing the club is going somewhere. We now have that.

 

It'll also help that they're not going to be asked to do what they've been asked to do all season and failed at.  It must be absolutely shite if you're losing games and trying the same things all of the time.

 

It's no wonder the players weren't looking as if they were being coached.

[Hanshithispantz]

'I could see in the two training sessions and after talking with the players face to face that they want to do well, they want to impress the new manager, they want to do things the right way for the fans, for the club. But they need a little bit of confidence. So some of them, that was my impression, you need to tell them 'listen, that is the direction' and they will follow you in this direction.'

 

Ambition, ladies and gentlemen. The players aren't the best in the world by any stretch but they're better than this, and it comes down to believing the club is going somewhere. We now have that.

said it the otherday but players like sissoko coming out in the press and talking about wanting to move on like we're a 2nd rate club was fucking disgusting.  Was clear they never bought into us as a club at all.

[Andy84]

'I could see in the two training sessions and after talking with the players face to face that they want to do well, they want to impress the new manager, they want to do things the right way for the fans, for the club. But they need a little bit of confidence. So some of them, that was my impression, you need to tell them 'listen, that is the direction' and they will follow you in this direction.'

 

Ambition, ladies and gentlemen. The players aren't the best in the world by any stretch but they're better than this, and it comes down to believing the club is going somewhere. We now have that.

 

[midds]

Interesting he said he only found out after the first training session that quite of few of those players had been injured up until yesterday!

 

That doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Firstly that they're cowardly enough to duck out of things by hiding behind an imaginary injury and secondly that he's come in and transformed their attitude immediately and commanded a bit of respect. McClaren was undoubtedly shit but his squad let him and the fans down horrifically.

[nemtizz]

'I could see in the two training sessions and after talking with the players face to face that they want to do well, they want to impress the new manager, they want to do things the right way for the fans, for the club. But they need a little bit of confidence. So some of them, that was my impression, you need to tell them 'listen, that is the direction' and they will follow you in this direction.'

 

Ambition, ladies and gentlemen. The players aren't the best in the world by any stretch but they're better than this, and it comes down to believing the club is going somewhere. We now have that.

 

[Mick]

Interesting he said he only found out after the first training session that quite of few of those players had been injured up until yesterday!

 

That's quite damning on the players and former coach but it does seem to happen a lot at clubs.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Interesting he said he only found out after the first training session that quite of few of those players had been injured up until yesterday!

 

That doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Firstly that they're cowardly enough to duck out of things by hiding behind an imaginary injury and secondly that he's come in and transformed their attitude immediately and commanded a bit of respect. McClaren was undoubtedly shit but his squad let him and the fans down horrifically.

 

TBH, I don't think there are many players strong enough to be 100% professional through what we have become over the last few years. It's easy enough to say "they get paid loads, they should do everything", but human beings don't work like that.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

We have appointed one of the best in the game who has won it all. If the players cannot get excited or motivated by that they ought to retire now. They should be fucking buzzing, especially the better players.

 

The deadwood or lazy bastards will be dreading it because he is ruthless. First causality will be Sissoko IMO, just based on what I've heard about him in training and his attitude off pitch.

 

If we stay up and funds are sufficient, I can see a good number being peddled like, the entire defence with the exception of Dummet perhaps, Rafa will like him.

 

I can see players like him and Colback, although shite, becoming integral squad players. They will do as he says and will run through brick walls for him while accepting they wont ever be regulars. He will improve their games by making them tactically aware for a start.

 

I fear for Mitrovic as well.

[Scotty66]

Doesn't Rafa like a hold up man though,Mitro is excellent at that

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I would think Sissoko would be one of the players to benefit the most.

 

If Colback becomes important I'm setting up rafaout.com.

[sbnufc]

just seen this

 

Apparently Rafa created and uses this

 

http://www.rafabenitez.com/web/in/interviews/globall-coach-welcome-the-next-evolution/1469/

 

 

Guess our players will be getting familiar with it then

[Ritchie]

My nipples are hard. I'm excited.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

I would think Sissoko would be one of the players to benefit the most.

 

If Colback becomes important I'm setting up rafaout.com.

 

f***ing cheek after your man signed him...

 

 

Sissoko's attitude behind the scenes if true will see him shipped out by Rafa. He doesn't like anyone who thinks they are better than thier own team-mates or who who thinks they should be at a bigger club.

 

I've been chatting to a few LFC fans in recent days and I'm told that when we bought Owen, he spoke to Rafa and LFC as well which we all know about and although their offer was less, we all know Owen wanted to move back to Anfield.

 

Anway, he met Rafa and after the meeting Rafa told LFC to stop pursuing him much to their astonishment. Owen made it out like he was going to be a returning hero, that he was this and that and Rafa thought no you ain't.

 

I can imagine he did a gesture similar to what he did when LFC faced Big Sam's Blackburn - game over. Maybe some of of the LFC lads who have signed upto the forum can verify this?

[Guest Howaythetoon]

My nipples are hard. I'm excited.

 

Rich?

[Ronaldo]

He wasn't saying 'game over', he was saying 'don't listen to me again, then'.

[cubaricho]

The deadwood or lazy bastards will be dreading it because he is ruthless. First causality will be Sissoko IMO, just based on what I've heard about him in training and his attitude off pitch.

 

This stood out to me in the photos from the first training:

 

http://i.imgur.com/Qec7q7a.jpg

 

Obviously it could be a bad moment captured with a camera, but seeing how he has played all season and with the quotes that have come out, I think he's the first out the door this summer. He's the personification of what's wrong with how our club and how it has been run the past few years.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I dunno, for me Sissoko is an example of signing a great player and then wasting him. Obviously he might have mentally checked out completely if he's already leaving, but he is the type of player that could be key to us staying up if Rafa can inspire him.

[ED209]

Bit disappointed with the press conference to be honest, thought he would at least put a fake geordie accent on.

[Klaus]

He isn't the only player we have who couldn't give a fuck recently tbh. But now we have a manager who probably won't put up with anybody who isn't up for the fight. 

[Dave]

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.

[Sima]

The deadwood or lazy bastards will be dreading it because he is ruthless. First causality will be Sissoko IMO, just based on what I've heard about him in training and his attitude off pitch.

 

This stood out to me in the photos from the first training:

 

http://i.imgur.com/Qec7q7a.jpg

 

Obviously it could be a bad moment captured with a camera, but seeing how he has played all season and with the quotes that have come out, I think he's the first out the door this summer. He's the personification of what's wrong with how our club and how it has been run the past few years.

 

Same with me. At least he's mimicking Yaya Toure in one aspect.

[KaKa]

Excellent article on Rafa's tactics below. The bit about the midfield balance is particularly interesting. Highlights how clueless our midfield pairings have been. Rafa's emphasis on balance based on each midfielder's attributes is going to be key.

 

http://eplindex.com/30418/chelseas-tactical-progress-benitez-in-depth-analysis.html

[Dave]

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.

[Klaus]

The deadwood or lazy b******s will be dreading it because he is ruthless. First causality will be Sissoko IMO, just based on what I've heard about him in training and his attitude off pitch.

 

This stood out to me in the photos from the first training:

 

http://i.imgur.com/Qec7q7a.jpg

 

Obviously it could be a bad moment captured with a camera, but seeing how he has played all season and with the quotes that have come out, I think he's the first out the door this summer. He's the personification of what's wrong with how our club and how it has been run the past few years.

 

Same with me. At least he's mimicking Yaya Toure in one aspect.

 

Racist

[Varadi]

Excellent article on Rafa's tactics below. The bit about the midfield balance is particularly interesting. Highlights how clueless our midfield pairings have been. Rafa's emphasis on balance based on each midfielder's attributes is going to be key.

 

http://eplindex.com/30418/chelseas-tactical-progress-benitez-in-depth-analysis.html

 

Really good read. Especially encouraging was this bit:

 

Some of the problems were basically resolved from day one, given the nature of Benitez’ tactical style and what was expected of him to introduce as playing philosophy, defensive and offensive patterns of play.