Foluwashola Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 FWIW, not getting players in isn't really the issue. The issue is Rafa explicitly saying that we need players and the club once again failing to get them. It's not too much of a concern when we're still left with the best team in the division . Sure Rafa will realise this too. If it happens again in the Summer, then aye. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 FWIW, not getting players in isn't really the issue. The issue is Rafa explicitly saying that we need players and the club once again failing to get them. But, Townsend aside (as we don't truly know who/why the plug was pulled on that one), should the club pay over the odds for players, just because the manager says he wants/needs players in? I'm sure Rafa would understand this - that while promotion is still far from certain, there are some players and fees the club cant realistically justify paying. Or the flip side being, we sign (more) average squad filler, just so we can say the manager wanted them, so we got them?? January is a crazy window to be buying players, as selling clubs know the buyers tend to be desperate, so the prices are artificially inflated. Everyone has to pay over the odds for players now. it's the new norm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmojorisin75 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 FWIW, not getting players in isn't really the issue. The issue is Rafa explicitly saying that we need players and the club once again failing to get them. It's not too much of a concern when we're still left with the best team in the division . Sure Rafa will realise this too. If it happens again in the Summer, then aye. i saw the pre-game presser with rafa and he seemed fairly relaxed about it all, until i see or hear something that suggests otherwise i'm fairly relaxed as well tbh Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK-421 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 FWIW, not getting players in isn't really the issue. The issue is Rafa explicitly saying that we need players and the club once again failing to get them. It's not too much of a concern when we're still left with the best team in the division . Sure Rafa will realise this too. If it happens again in the Summer, then aye. i saw the pre-game presser with rafa and he seemed fairly relaxed about it all, until i see or hear something that suggests otherwise i'm fairly relaxed as well tbh ^ This. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paully Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 i saw the pre-game presser with rafa and he seemed fairly relaxed about it all, until i see or hear something that suggests otherwise i'm fairly relaxed as well tbh He was very relaxed but he was also very confident of bringing someone (Townsend) in! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nufc4eva Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Not sure im bothered anymore what happens. If they piss Rafa off he will leave and tbh I would jack it all in at that point, however hopefully it's not what it looks like and Rafa was on board with it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest firetotheworks Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 FWIW, not getting players in isn't really the issue. The issue is Rafa explicitly saying that we need players and the club once again failing to get them. But, Townsend aside (as we don't truly know who/why the plug was pulled on that one), should the club pay over the odds for players, just because the manager says he wants/needs players in? I'm sure Rafa would understand this - that while promotion is still far from certain, there are some players and fees the club cant realistically justify paying. Or the flip side being, we sign (more) average squad filler, just so we can say the manager wanted them, so we got them?? January is a crazy window to be buying players, as selling clubs know the buyers tend to be desperate, so the prices are artificially inflated. Ashley's 'over the odds' usually means below the going rate, so yes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSC26 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 The worst thing about having Rafa at NUFC is the fans obsession with when he will leave. He won't be here forever, enjoy it while he is and stop speculating that he's about to leave or will definitely leave on this date. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peder Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 The worst thing about having Rafa at NUFC is the fans obsession with when he will leave. He won't be here forever, enjoy it while he is and stop speculating that he's about to leave or will definitely leave on this date. Nope, the worst thing is to see him not getting backed up. Because I belive if he would be backed 100%, he would stay here for an long time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSC26 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 The worst thing about having Rafa at NUFC is the fans obsession with when he will leave. He won't be here forever, enjoy it while he is and stop speculating that he's about to leave or will definitely leave on this date. Nope, the worst thing is to see him not getting backed up. Because I belive if he would be backed 100%, he would stay here for an long time. How do you know he wasnt backed up? Rafa might have said "I want Townsend, I'd say he's worth £13m no more" and Charnley might have went in with £13m and Palace said no. Charnley might have went back to Rafa who said don't up the offer and we'll go back in the Summer. If NUFC were mugging him off, he'd just get up and leave now. He wouldnt have to sit around waiting for another job for long. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovejoy Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 the tf podcast twitter timeline makes interesting reading, they met rafa in december. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minhosa Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Rafa has used an interesting term over the last couple of weeks when asked about transfer activity..........'Balance'. Seemingly indicating that he see's the current squad as unbalanced. He's clearly got concerns over CM as everyone can see the reliance on Shelvey. He must have had some encouragement to say publically, as late as yesterday PM, 'possibly two incoming'. For that two to end up being zero, there's no doubt he'll not be happy. He's a man of integrity and I think he'll be a bit fucked off that he's publically stated 'possibly two' for that not to happen and I don't think he'd be inclined to give out positive vibes for the sake of it. There's a chance he may feel mislead here. I can't help but hark back to the KK period with the Milner sale and the false promises about replacements and think that the fat cunt may have lead Rafa up the garden path a bit with this window. There's no question though, any hint of Ashley having a greater involvement, is a negative and puts the Rafa position at risk and that's always going to be our problem. Nobody will have more power at NUFC than Ashley and when these two collide (which is completely inevitable) there will only be one winner/one outcome. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlin Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 FWIW, not getting players in isn't really the issue. The issue is Rafa explicitly saying that we need players and the club once again failing to get them. We have a mint team man, I don't know what is going on here. A mint team...? That's already LOST 7 matches with only half a season gone and no team strengthening after we blatantly struggled when Shelvey was out..? Not my description at all - promoted sides hardly ever lose more than 5 or 6 games in a season. I agree with what you're saying to an extent, and I too am worried about automatic promotion but having said that its worth mentioning that we are currently 2 points better off now than we were after the same amount of games played in the last promotion season. It does irk me massively that there's a fairly good chance we could be into double figures for losses by the end of the season but if we make up the points with the wins how much does it really matter? It is something Rafa is yet to solve though, why do we seem incapable both mentally and tactically of coming back into a game we go 1-0 down in? We needed two new faces in, decent quality CM cover in case Shelvey is crocked, and a solid winger, and it looks like we've missed out on both, I pray it doesn't come back to bite us. P.s your previous post is bang on, and sadly exactly what I think will end up happening down the line. Thanks for that TWD - I sincerely hope that I'm wrong about Rafa but I wouldn't be at all surprised if he goes in summer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bimpy474 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 The worst thing about having Rafa at NUFC is the fans obsession with when he will leave. He won't be here forever, enjoy it while he is and stop speculating that he's about to leave or will definitely leave on this date. Nope, the worst thing is to see him not getting backed up. Because I belive if he would be backed 100%, he would stay here for an long time. How do you know he wasnt backed up? Rafa might have said "I want Townsend, I'd say he's worth £13m no more" and Charnley might have went in with £13m and Palace said no. Charnley might have went back to Rafa who said don't up the offer and we'll go back in the Summer. If NUFC were mugging him off, he'd just get up and leave now. He wouldnt have to sit around waiting for another job for long. That's perfectly ok, but you will be called a fool, naïve, gullible and a down right moron for believing it though. It's best to just accept the club fucked him over. Past evidence would say he was stitched up, to believe otherwise really isn't worth stick is it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDonis Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 As a seasoned Rafa watcher, and fervent Rafa lover, you'll know tonight whether Rafa is hacked off about this. As he has showed everywhere he's been, if he's not happy and displeased with the backing from the boardroom, he'll come right out and say it. He did this all the time when Hicks and Gillette were running us (into the ground.) Was it against you he wore a tracksuit, for like the first time ever, after he'd been asking for some funds and Hicks emailed him to tell him to 'focus on coaching the team'? He spent an entire press conference saying nothing more than 'I am focusing on coaching my team' and then turned up to the match in a trackie. Point made - funds were coughed up - another chapter in the Rafa legend. Even now when I look back on the stubborn old fucker I can't help but smile. He ran rings around Hicks and Gillette. They were scared of the fans, who supported Rafa totally, and he harnessed that. I'm sure he'd do the same with Ashley though it's clear Ashley doesn't give a fuck about the fans, so he has less leverage. He engineered his sacking from Inter by calling out the owner for his lack of backing, knowing it was a situation where he couldn't win, so best to walk away or be walked away. If he senses he can't achieve what he wants to with you, expect him to do the same. A blast which means Ashley either sacks him or looks a tit. That said, I think he'll be philosophical. He knows how difficult it is to do business in January, and how easy it is to waste cash. You should have enough to be promoted. It just might be slightly more hard work in the end that it could or should be. If it means more money available in the summer he'll accept it. But if he thinks this is an auger of what the summer will bring, it could get tempestuous. So I'd be watching his body language and words tonight carefully. And if he turns up in a tracksuit, start drinking Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peder Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 The worst thing about having Rafa at NUFC is the fans obsession with when he will leave. He won't be here forever, enjoy it while he is and stop speculating that he's about to leave or will definitely leave on this date. Nope, the worst thing is to see him not getting backed up. Because I belive if he would be backed 100%, he would stay here for an long time. How do you know he wasnt backed up? Rafa might have said "I want Townsend, I'd say he's worth £13m no more" and Charnley might have went in with £13m and Palace said no. Charnley might have went back to Rafa who said don't up the offer and we'll go back in the Summer. If NUFC were mugging him off, he'd just get up and leave now. He wouldnt have to sit around waiting for another job for long. That's perfectly ok, but you will be called a fool, naïve, gullible and a down right moron for believing it though. It's best to just accept the club f***ed him over. Past evidence would say he was stitched up, to believe otherwise really isn't worth stick is it. This. If you really think your toughts are true, go ahead, I am pretty sure they aint and that Rafa wanted him for the price he could get him for. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlin Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I hope he turns up in a yellow Robin Reliant wearing a sheepskin coat to make his point He'll be able to borrow them from Ashley...and a barrow to go with them... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 As a seasoned Rafa watcher, and fervent Rafa lover, you'll know tonight whether Rafa is hacked off about this. As he has showed everywhere he's been, if he's not happy and displeased with the backing from the boardroom, he'll come right out and say it. He did this all the time when Hicks and Gillette were running us (into the ground.) Was it against you he wore a tracksuit, for like the first time ever, after he'd been asking for some funds and Hicks emailed him to tell him to 'focus on coaching the team'? He spent an entire press conference saying nothing more than 'I am focusing on coaching my team' and then turned up to the match in a trackie. Point made - funds were coughed up - another chapter in the Rafa legend. Even now when I look back on the stubborn old fucker I can't help but smile. He ran rings around Hicks and Gillette. They were scared of the fans, who supported Rafa totally, and he harnessed that. I'm sure he'd do the same with Ashley though it's clear Ashley doesn't give a fuck about the fans, so he has less leverage. He engineered his sacking from Inter by calling out the owner for his lack of backing, knowing it was a situation where he couldn't win, so best to walk away or be walked away. If he senses he can't achieve what he wants to with you, expect him to do the same. A blast which means Ashley either sacks him or looks a tit. That said, I think he'll be philosophical. He knows how difficult it is to do business in January, and how easy it is to waste cash. You should have enough to be promoted. It just might be slightly more hard work in the end that it could or should be. If it means more money available in the summer he'll accept it. But if he thinks this is an auger of what the summer will bring, it could get tempestuous. So I'd be watching his body language and words tonight carefully. And if he turns up in a tracksuit, start drinking This is where I'm at. I did expect we'd get Townsend in after our hopes were built up yesterday, but we don't really know where that fell down at this point, might not have been 100% at our end. The summer will tell us a lot more, and I'll wait to see Rafa's body language then before seeing this as some sort of doomsday. I still think we'll make significant investment then when we'll have a lot more options for the money. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSC26 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I'm certain they will back him in the Summer. No reasons to be concerned. Palace probably decided they wanted a silly amount for a loan, plus the release clause, and we probably pulled the plug on it. They'll spend big in the Summer though. They gave McClaren £110m over Summer and Winter 2015/16. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Geordie Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Mcclaren didn't buy those players in though - he was 'given' them. ;-) Remember that dodgy French agency? :-( Like some others - I'm worried that Benitez will walk in the summer - promotion or not. Ashley fucked over Keegan, Shearer and Hughton. What stops him doing the same to Rafa? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Duper Branko Strupar Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 This cunt gone yet? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Like it or not, Benitez is the club's best connection with the fans. As a very experienced manager he knows this. If he repeatedly says in public and private that he hopes players are coming in to help balance the squad then that's what he wants, and that's what he wants the fans to know his position is. Can't see how he can possibly be happy with what's gone on. And considering everything that's gone on under Ashley this is not good news at all. If he comes out and says that he decided during yesterday (after the press conference) that he has changed his mind on the needs of the squad based on prices or availability then fair enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmojorisin75 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 If he comes out and says that he decided during yesterday (after the press conference) that he has changed his mind on the needs of the squad based on prices or availability then fair enough. he's never going to say that like he might say something like the deal wasn't right for the club or whatever - for me unless he explicitly says something that indicates his unhappiness with events then we all need to calm dooooon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Crooks Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Hard to disagree with our scouse chum there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERTOON Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 The only slight hope for me is I'm pretty sure he would walk immediately if he thought he was being undermined in any way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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