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Rafa Benítez (now unemployed)


Greg

Would you have Rafa back?   

463 members have voted

  1. 1. Would you have Rafa back?

    • Yes, as manager, immediately
    • Yes, as manager, but at some point in the future (eg if relegated)
    • Yes, in an advisory or DoF role
    • No, not in any meaningful capacity

This poll is closed to new votes


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                          Elliot

 

Yedlin    Clark      Lascelles      Mbemba

 

                Merino      Shelvey

 

Ritchie              Perez                    Atsu

 

                            Mitro

 

 

When fit id go with this until we get some new players.

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As a seasoned Rafa watcher, I'm confused about why he's changed formation. The football might have been turgud, but his 4-2-3-1 makes you hard to beat at least. And occasionally you nick it. Why change to a formation which leaves you more open? Very very un Rafa-like to go in search f goals and ditch what was (sort of) working. I wonder what gives.

 

I honestly think there's a chance he's doing it on purpose to try hurry the takeover along - we've been so wide open the last couple of games it almost has to be deliberate.

 

how completely ridiculous.

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He is not without fault, but we have to be realistic here and accept that without him, we would probably still be a Championship side and I’m more than confident he will keep us up and find a solution to our problems and issues which is mainly down to quality which is there for all to see. This is the most he’s ever lost as a manager in league games and hey, it’s Newcastle, if you wat to lose a record or beat it, this is the club. No excuse, but howay, we owe him a lot and he deserves our patience and our full backing. I said after the window closed that we would struggle to stay up this season and it’s looking that way, the team just isn’t good enough. Merino is the only obvious PL quality player we have along with Lascelles, the rest have huge doubts about them and can be argued have this and that against them. Shelvey, too fragile mentally, too much of a luxury player etc. Gayle, he’s never really proved himself at this level and has these injury concerns etc. and these are our so called better players. We started the season badly and then put a run together, but the wheels have well and truly came off and looking at the squad I don’t see an obvious answer of fix. We need taken over badly with a huge cash injection for new players in Jan. A Goalscorer would be huge for example, someone like the Cisse we signed when we did who can come in and grab 12 goals plus. I can’t see our entire offensive players scoring that many combined they are that f***ing poor to average.

This is where it gets awkward. I think with the squad we had we'd have been promoted quicker, easier and more entertainingly (if that word exists ?) with some other managers but without him we wouldn't have been able to get that strength of squad.

 

We might have, or we might have ended up losing a lot more games because we conceded more goals through lack of discipline. The championship teams are a lot better organised than they were last time we were down there, you just need to look at the other teams like Villa, sunderland and Norwich to see that it's not that simple to bounce straight back.

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I dunno why it seems like news that Watford are good, like. We all watch shit loads of football, but maybe they've slipped under the radar and people don't realise just how good they are at the moment, possibly because it's been quite a quick sea change from last season.

 

Its almost like people still believe its unacceptable for Watford to be better than us, its not difficult. We probably have around about the 4th or 5th shittest squad in this league. Watford,Burnley etc,they improved on us when we  invested in shite players and they bought carefully,(plus all these sides received the big money when we slipped out of the leage, leaving us miles behind) and now Watford added a manager who is of the pochetino style mould, its no wonder Everton tried to land him.

 

 

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Only five goals scored in our last eight games now, including not especially hard fixtures.

 

We've conceded some bad goals in the past two games, but mostly on the counter when we were wide open. This wouldn't happen if we weren't behind. Our attack remains the prime concern. Joselu's inability to get a goalbound shot in in two great situations yesterday should be the last straw. He doesn't even look like scoring.

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                          Elliot

 

Yedlin    Clark      Lascelles      Mbemba

 

                Merino      Shelvey

 

Ritchie              Perez                    Atsu

 

                            Mitro

 

 

When fit id go with this until we get some new players.

Most definitely.
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                          Elliot

 

Yedlin    LeJeune    Lascelles    Mbemba

 

                        Hayden

                                              <-----Let these 3 rotate giving us good movement from midfield

                Merino      Shelvey

 

Ritchie                                      Murphy (if Atsu isn't fit)

                          Mitro

 

Is how i would go.

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With hayden and merino back, we have to go back to 3 in midfield to give us some solidity.

 

We also need to start with defenders who can defend. The starting back four have been shit in the last few games so they aren't doing their jobs. We know we don't have anyone who can score goals reliably, so at least we should make sure we can keep clean sheets.

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We can’t cope with injuries and suspensions.

 

In midfield I think Shelvey and Ritchie need to taken out but Who would come in? Likewise in defence Lejeune and Manquillo need dropping.

 

 

It’s only upfront where we have limited options.  Mitro needs a start.

we can't cope with Joselu AND Diame in the same starting 11.
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Those quotes would suggest things are coming to a head. He knows the fans will read them and play the blame firmly at Ashley's door, unwilling to invest in the team and squad yet again and the result is another relegation battle we could quote easily lose for the third time in 10 years. He's cranking the pressure up on Ashley to accept the best offer he's ever going to get and sell the club on. I think he knows Ashley sees us as a bit of a headache and a pain to own and run and this is his way of shaming him into selling us.

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Those quotes would suggest things are coming to a head. He knows the fans will read them and play the blame firmly at Ashley's door, unwilling to invest in the team and squad yet again and the result is another relegation battle we could quote easily lose for the third time in 10 years. He's cranking the pressure up on Ashley to accept the best offer he's ever going to get and sell the club on. I think he knows Ashley sees us as a bit of a headache and a pain to own and run and this is his way of shaming him into selling us.

 

He won't be shamed into selling us though as he has no shame unfortunately.

 

 

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Those quotes would suggest things are coming to a head. He knows the fans will read them and play the blame firmly at Ashley's door, unwilling to invest in the team and squad yet again and the result is another relegation battle we could quote easily lose for the third time in 10 years. He's cranking the pressure up on Ashley to accept the best offer he's ever going to get and sell the club on. I think he knows Ashley sees us as a bit of a headache and a pain to own and run and this is his way of shaming him into selling us.

 

He won't be shamed into selling us though as he has no shame unfortunately.

 

Well, yeah, there is that too but you know what I mean.  :lol: Shamed probably want the right word, pressured is probably better. Rafa knows he's got the fans behind him and is just upping the ante.

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Those quotes would suggest things are coming to a head. He knows the fans will read them and play the blame firmly at Ashley's door, unwilling to invest in the team and squad yet again and the result is another relegation battle we could quote easily lose for the third time in 10 years. He's cranking the pressure up on Ashley to accept the best offer he's ever going to get and sell the club on. I think he knows Ashley sees us as a bit of a headache and a pain to own and run and this is his way of shaming him into selling us.

He won't be shamed into selling us though as he has no shame unfortunately.

Ashley has a very thin skin so it'll have some affect on him.

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With hayden and merino back, we have to go back to 3 in midfield to give us some solidity.

 

We also need to start with defenders who can defend. The starting back four have been shit in the last few games so they aren't doing their jobs. We know we don't have anyone who can score goals reliably, so at least we should make sure we can keep clean sheets.

 

Buffing the midfield should relieve some pressure on the defence.

As an example, I don't think Watford scores their first goal if we had an anchor in front of the defence.

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