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Rafael Benitez

Jesse Pinkman

by Jesse Pinkman
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Andy84

Andy84

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It's pretty simple imo, we are missing Shelvey.  He started his ban on Boxing Day and since then we've looked a bit flat footed and lacking a spark.  Let's be honest, it took Forest to go down to 10 before we got a grip of that game and even then it wasn't great.  Benitez and his tactics have won us the most games and we've scored the most goals, I think people over complicate things.  Shelvey is back soon and we will bring in at least one addition to midfield to help drive us forward.  I think we will be absolutely fine come May.

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AyeDubbleYoo

AyeDubbleYoo

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It's pretty simple imo, we are missing Shelvey.  He started his ban on Boxing Day and since then we've looked a bit flat footed and lacking a spark.  Let's be honest, it took Forest to go down to 10 before we got a grip of that game and even then it wasn't great.  Benitez and his tactics have won us the most games and we've scored the most goals, I think people over complicate things.  Shelvey is back soon and we will bring in at least one addition to midfield to help drive us forward.  I think we will be absolutely fine come May.

 

This is my overall feel but it's a pain to have these games where we struggle so much.

 

Slightly worried about the striking department as well, if Mitro is surplus to requirements then we definitely need a high-quality signing.

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Scoot

Scoot

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We're getting promoted like. First real kink we've had let's be honest.

 

Totally agree. People need to calm down a little bit. We were always going to hit a dodgy patch in the season. Brighton will as well between now and the end of the season.

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YNGLEGIONNAIRE

YNGLEGIONNAIRE

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Yeah , I think 99% of us realise what we have now is way beyond what we could ever have wished for in probably the most miserable period in this club's history as we experienced under the 3 previous incumbents . We all feel frustration at debatable decisions made by Rafa affecting results , but there can't be many amongst us who don't have total commitment and belief in his long term planning.

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TRon

TRon

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It's pretty simple imo, we are missing Shelvey.  He started his ban on Boxing Day and since then we've looked a bit flat footed and lacking a spark.  Let's be honest, it took Forest to go down to 10 before we got a grip of that game and even then it wasn't great.  Benitez and his tactics have won us the most games and we've scored the most goals, I think people over complicate things.  Shelvey is back soon and we will bring in at least one addition to midfield to help drive us forward.  I think we will be absolutely fine come May.

 

I think that is what has annoyed me most about our last couple of games, while Shelvey is obviously going to be a miss, I think we could have done a better fist of replacing him rather than try and get by with two defensive midfielders, one of who can't defend for his life in reality.

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Jayson

Jayson

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It's pretty simple imo, we are missing Shelvey.  He started his ban on Boxing Day and since then we've looked a bit flat footed and lacking a spark.  Let's be honest, it took Forest to go down to 10 before we got a grip of that game and even then it wasn't great.  Benitez and his tactics have won us the most games and we've scored the most goals, I think people over complicate things.  Shelvey is back soon and we will bring in at least one addition to midfield to help drive us forward.  I think we will be absolutely fine come May.

 

Agree with that. Ignoring the sending off, he's missed 5 other games this season. We've scored in just 2 of them & one of those was just that deflected free kick before they went down to 10 men. The other was 1-0 against Bristol city. Shelveys our ball player & gets us moving, we have no one to do a similar job when he's out and clearly struggle for goals.

 

Getting another ball playing midfielder as back up to Shelvey would help a lot.

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TheDonis

TheDonis

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Put simply - there are games you might have won or got a point had Rafa played more openly or differently. But there also games you might have drawn or lost which you won if he had not. You are where you are, still in a very good position, and without Shelvey you are not as good. Other teams will have a sticky patch too, especially when they lose key players or tire as the season progresses. The championship is an insanely long season, games come thick and fast and what looks good/shit can look the exact opposite two weeks later.

 

Remember: it's always a ride with Rafa. Don't expect it to go smoothly -  expect drama, and expect good results and some great times.

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Elliottman

Elliottman

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Put simply - there are games you might have won or got a point had Rafa played more openly or differently. But there also games you might have drawn or lost which you won if he had not. You are where you are, still in a very good position, and without Shelvey you are not as good. Other teams will have a sticky patch too, especially when they lose key players or tire as the season progresses. The championship is an insanely long season, games come thick and fast and what looks good/s*** can look the exact opposite two weeks later.

 

Remember: it's always a ride with Rafa. Don't expect it to go smoothly -  expect drama, and expect good results and some great times.

 

Great post.

 

We're not used to trusting managers round these parts, not recently anyway. Although some of the bed wetting - albeit generally online, has been a little embarrassing.

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54

54

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http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/newcastle-free-to-dream-big-again-under-benitez-sqplnq0pc?shareToken=c99afc4350ac78ef263920ca9a93d7e4

 

Tradition tells us to look back and to gaze forward, the calendar prompts us for resolution. As Newcastle United supporters contemplate what they were and who they are, it is worth recalling their club’s long, apathetic slide towards relegation, the arrival of Rafa Benítez and the change which has spread from the manager’s office towards every corner of the club. They are stronger now than they have been for years.

 

Second in the Sky Bet Championship and with four defeats in their last eight league matches, this is not a moment for bravado or complacency, but resolution is worthwhile. Resolve. If this is a blip, then it has beauty; six points clear of third in the table, 17 wins behind them, more than any other side, scouting players in the loan market and with a manager whose record places him amongst the elite.

 

If it is a test then it should be welcomed. Newcastle need to be tested, from the stands, to the pitch, to the boardroom, where relationships are still melding and corrosion is still being chipped from the stanchions. If they are to return to the Premier League, better to do so battled-scarred and hardened, having bitten and clawed and fought for every point, rather than via a lofty procession which teaches them little.

 

Newcastle are still learning how to win, still learning what it means to be united. They have the deepest squad in the division, but it is not the most streetwise or experienced. Their previous demotion in 2009 came with a context of no manager, the club aimless and up for sale and from that character and determination were born. Kevin Nolan knew how to win free kicks, to tread on the toes of defenders. They knew the tricks.

 

By contrast, their latest relegation was relatively serene. Benítez was already in place and the confirmation of his staying brought momentum. There was money to spend last summer and a profit made, too. The process of reconnection between club and support began in unlikely circumstances and has continued, but the recalibration of an institution is not a matter of pressing a button and resetting. It takes time, work, tests.

 

There can be no guarantees, but what would be the point of football if there were? And yet Benítez is the closest to certainty that Newcastle could have, with a garlanded history, an obsession over minute details. His attraction to Tyneside was partly emotional, a feeling of restless potential, the possibility of doing something which, after years of truncated ambition and being told they could not compete, was a form of validation.

 

Benítez never said that this would be easy and he was right. There have been episodes when Newcastle have looked far too good for their surroundings but on Boxing Day against Sheffield Wednesday, they were knocked from their rhythm, fouled and mugged and Benítez spoke about their game management afterwards. They have missed the suspended Jonjo Shelvey who, with a bit more intelligence, would be by far the best player in the division, but they need resolve, too.

 

A year ago, Steve McClaren was head coach. He had postponed his dismissal with victories over Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, but there would then be a run of six games without a win, including a 1-0 defeat to Watford in the FA Cup. They were 18th. Ask McClaren about the club’s hierarchy, persuading directors to do things differently, and he would squirm and explain that, thanks to him, journalists were now offered tea and biscuits at press conferences.

 

This grand old club in the heart of the city were cold and aloof, defined by their smallness, by their limitations. Benítez reverses that. They may not be in the Premier League, but they have been given a rare opportunity to start again, free, by and large, of financial restraint and with no lingering atmosphere of rancour. If they go up, Benítez will challenge the club to seek more than safety, but this is what all good managers do.

 

A couple of months ago, a senior figure at St James’ Park said something which would once have been unsayable: that he was glad Newcastle were relegated with Benítez in charge. Money is not everything and the Premier League is not worthy of the hyperbole it generates, particularly in the bottom half, and this was a heartfelt, footballing response at a club which had morphed into a works team for Sports Direct.

 

Newcastle have already cleared their biggest hurdle. With the important caveat that Mike Ashley’s ownership has never lost its capacity for self-defeating decisions, they have ripped up their rulebook and recognised their own role as a sporting entity. Promotion would bring another one, hard conversations about finance and ambition, but that is how it should be. And is it not better to stand for something and fail, to be a club again and fail, than relive what came before?

 

Four defeats in eight games is a test and one that Benítez will pore over; how best to manipulate tactics, personnel, formations, who to bring in, what to do better. Some players may not stay the course. But four defeats in eight games is also a chance for Newcastle - a rejigged Newcastle, a new Newcastle - to show what they are made of. To be stronger, to be tougher and, as far as their stadium is concerned, to be louder. For resolution.

 

By George Caulkin

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mrmojorisin75

mrmojorisin75

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A year ago, Steve McClaren was head coach. He had postponed his dismissal with victories over Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, but there would then be a run of six games without a win, including a 1-0 defeat to Watford in the FA Cup. They were 18th. Ask McClaren about the club’s hierarchy, persuading directors to do things differently, and he would squirm and explain that, thanks to him, journalists were now offered tea and biscuits at press conferences.

 

:lol:

 

This grand old club in the heart of the city were cold and aloof, defined by their smallness, by their limitations. Benítez reverses that.

 

perfectly put

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Mattoon

Mattoon

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An excellent piece by Caulkin, as usual, but this will have the Mackems fewmin:

 

Money is not everything and the Premier League is not worthy of the hyperbole it generates, particularly in the bottom half
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mrmojorisin75

mrmojorisin75

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An excellent piece by Caulkin, as usual, but this will have the Mackems fewmin:

 

Money is not everything and the Premier League is not worthy of the hyperbole it generates, particularly in the bottom half

Haven't read the piece. And while all of that is true... the Championship is x100 worse.

 

The point he is trying to make is that being in the Premier League is not the only way to enjoy football.

 

I'm loving this season (barring a few bad results over christmas), because you go to a game (which 9 times out of 10 we actually compete in) and enjoy it for the most part. Something that does not happen in the PL, at least not for us in recent years. I would, genuinely, absolutely prefer to stay in the Championship and compete every week if someone tells me we are going to struggle to get out of the bottom 4 or 5 in the PL for the next few years. Life is short. Fill it with fun things. Losing is no fun.

 

funny that, i was watching the spurs chelsea game last night and it really struck me that we're almost playing a different game to them both in terms of quality like :lol:

 

it's going to be a long slog if we get back up imo, unless we literally go and spend £150m filling the squad up with better players and shipping out the garbage

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STM

STM

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We are comfortably more organised than Sunderland, Hull and Swansea. Yes we would need to spend,in order to compete any higher than that, but it's a fine margin from 6th to about 16th.

 

Like Rafa said, let's just do things right, other clubs will make mistakes.

 

 

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