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If I was looking at the prospect of a much better job next season, I'm not sure helping out NUFC would be the answer to the question "how do I want to spend the next ten weeks."

 

Me neither but i don't think it's a job where he can come out of it having a worse reputation than he did coming in.

 

Yeah, that's probably true. It's quite a bit different than Shearer, who didn't have any prior managerial reputation to rely on and his first project was failing to keep us up.

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He wouldn't get the blame regardless, it will be looked as a win-win situation for him IMO. Keep us up and he'll get the credit for " saving " us, fail and the reaction will be " well they were already going down anyway ".

 

That's not true lol. Fail and he's further tarnished. And just personal pride. Keeping us up doesn't boost his rep, that's not what a manager of his calibre is judged against.

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Nah it'll be warnock

 

Warnock said on the radio this morning that he would "definitely" do it.

 

 

:suicide:

 

 

tbh, might do me favour- cos if it is him- it is over for me.

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Guest antz1uk

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/14332676.LATEST__Steve_McClaren_still_clinging_to_his_job___but_hopes_of_Newcastle_recruiting_Rafael_Benitez_rise/

 

STEVE McCLAREN is clinging to his job as Newcastle United head coach this evening after another farcical day of developments, but the club are growing increasingly confident of recruiting Rafael Benitez as his short-term successor.

 

Despite his authority being seriously undermined by Newcastle’s sounding out of potential replacements, McClaren once again took charge of training this morning before remaining at the Magpies’ Benton base throughout the afternoon.

 

He left at around 5pm, with sources claiming he was due to meet managing director Lee Charnley to discuss whether or not he would be required to take charge of Newcastle for next Monday’s trip to league leaders Leicester City.

 

That meeting did not take place though, and McClaren headed home. McClaren and Charnley spoke in a telephone conversation during the afternoon, but the call ended without a firm decision being made over the 54-year-old’s future.

 

As things stand, McClaren is due to take charge of training again tomorrow, but while the Newcastle hierarchy are understood to have been impressed with the former England manager’s professionalism during the last 48 hours, there is an acceptance that the current drift cannot be allowed to spill over into another day.

 

The fact that Newcastle do not play until Monday has bought the club time, but some key pre-match duties will have to take place during tomorrow and Friday, and Charnley is finally expected to meet McClaren for face-to-face talks at the training ground once training is completed.

 

It is still expected that McClaren will be dismissed, although Charnley’s determination to have a replacement in place before anything is publicly confirmed remains a key factor.

 

Having identified Benitez as his preferred target in the immediate aftermath of Monday’s hastily-arranged board meeting with chief scout Graham Carr and club ambassador Bob Moncur in York, Charnley has spent the last two days discussing the possibility of a deal with the Spaniard’s representatives.

 

Benitez’s response has been broadly positive, and while there are still some issues to be ironed out which have delayed the move to more formal contractual discussions, there is a growing confidence that the former Liverpool and Chelsea boss will agree to take over for the final two months of the season.

 

His tenure will initially be a short-term one, with Benitez only committing to lead Newcastle for the remainder of the current campaign.

 

If he fails to keep the Magpies in the Premier League, he will have a cast-iron guarantee that he can walk away. If he succeeds in keeping them up, he will be given the option of signing a long-term agreement to be head coach, and the terms of that arrangement are understood to be the key factor complicating discussions.

 

Sources close to Benitez claim he would demand strong assurances about his influence over transfers and his ability to bring in members of his preferred backroom team before agreeing to any deal that could potentially extend beyond the next ten games.

 

In terms of the next two months, he has been offered a large financial bonus that would only be paid if Newcastle retained their top-flight status on top of a sizeable salary for the remainder of the season.

 

Benitez has been out of work since his dismissal from Real Madrid at the start of January, and has returned to England to live in his family home on the Wirral. While taking over at Newcastle might be regarded as a significant step down given that has last six jobs have taken him to Valencia, Inter Milan and Napoli as well as Liverpool, Chelsea and the Bernabeu, it would offer a potential route back into the Premier League with a club that retain a major global profile despite their struggles on the field.

 

Speaking in an interview three weeks ago, Benitez said: “I like the Premier League and it is a priority to return there because my family lives on the Wirral. But it is not easy because I have to watch every league just in case.

     

“But especially for my wife, I’d like to return to management as she’s telling me to go coaching. After one month, it’s fine with the wife and the children, but obviously I’d like to be on the pitch.”

 

Newcastle had also sounded out former Manchester United boss David Moyes in the wake of Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat to Bournemouth, but the Scotsman is believed to have been much more reluctant to take over a side that have claimed just six league victories all season.

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