Rafa Benítez (now unemployed)

[Unbelievable]

I was expecting yesterday to be an opportunity to send a message to Ashley about the squad depth with his team selection, but playing a strong team makes me hope that a deal may be close. Although the win does keep a bit of pressure off going into Swansea, hopefully the crowd can be patient and stay behind the team for 90 mins!

 

Rafa can send as many messages to mike as he wants but he’s not listening, don’t think he has been since he’s had an offer for the club. Before then he was, even if it was just to tell Rafa to shut it (moaning over budget in the summer for example)

 

It looks like mike is completely switched off, if the takeover doesn’t happen and we’re stuck with him I’m expecting and even worse version of him than what we’ve dealt with so far.

 

You're right that Ashley won't take any notice of Rafa's messages, but Rafa won't shut up regardless. That's where he's different from other servants Mike has employed in the past, he's too big in the game to have to doff his cap to Ashley. He'll get on with the job with whatever he's got available, hopefully it will be enough to keep us up and he can go to work properly under a new owner if and when that happens.

 

Oh it will. Only question is here or elsewhere. If the takeover falls through he’s off. If there wasn’t the prospect of a takeover I doubt he’d still be here now. Everything hinges on Ashley finally packing it in or not.

[Nattfare]

Has he smiled again yet?

[Twinport53]

Rafa is being quiet because he knows there's an embargo due to this takeover.

 

He's not going to kick off because he's hoping Ashley won't be here long.

 

Asked about transfers, Benitez said -

"I don't know. We are working hard to be ready, but at the moment, I don't know"

 

Ready for the embargo to finish? 

[54]

Getting linked with the Stoke job.

 

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stokes-local-paper-links-newcastle-14135441

[Paully]

Getting linked with the Stoke job.

 

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stokes-local-paper-links-newcastle-14135441

 

:lol: :lol:

 

 

[Paully]

Someone post Caulkin's article for us tramps please!

[Shearergol]

Rafa Benitez has been linked with the vacant Stoke City job by local ‘paper the Sentinel.

The Potters want to have a new man in place by Monday’s trip to Manchester United and Martin O’Neill is the current bookmakers’ favourite. But their well-connected local correspondent Martin Spinks has thrown Benitez’s name into the mix in a morning update piece.

 

“Stoke’s hierarchy is also aware of continued murmurings about Rafa Benitez’s apparent unhappiness at Newcastle,” they report.

“It was believed that Benitez would not even consider leaving Newcastle until seeing how much money he was allowed to spend by the end of the January transfer window.

 

“But stories continue to seep out of Tyneside about his evident fury behind the scenes at not getting his way on spending while a club takeover drags on.”

 

It’s unsurprising that Benitez continues to be linked with job vacancies, especially when Newcastle’s hierarchy continue to drag their feet over recruitment that the Spaniard considers essential to United’s hopes of progressing this season.

 

But Newcastle’s boss is committed to the job at St James’ Park and indicated in the summer that despite frustration at the way the club is operating, he feels an obligation to both the supporters and the squad that has brought together to see the job through.

 

He feels a huge affection and debt to Newcastle fans who have stuck with him during difficult patches during his Newcastle job and has a contract until the summer of 2019. Benitez is a man of his word and has emphasised in private and in public that he will not walk away from a job. He only left Valencia after repeatedly being promised one thing and then discovering the reality was different – but he gave them every chance to keep him.

 

Crucially, Benitez is waiting to see what happens with the takeover and it would be a surprise for him to leave with Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners – who see the manager as key to their takeover bid – still negotiating with Mike Ashley.

 

Even so, an official approach and Stoke paying the £5million compensation would leave Benitez with a decision to make. There has been no contact yet and the manager is certainly not angling for a way out.

 

Hopefully talk of Stoke being interested might focus a few minds at Newcastle. Ashley returned from his winter break earlier this week and must realise what a huge asset he has in a manager who has the team in 13th place, is responsible for sell-out crowds and is keeping the club united despite serious misgivings from the Tyneside public about their owner.

[Shearergol]

Someone post Caulkin's article for us tramps please!

 

Link?

[Twinport53]

Imagine if Ashley took 5mil from Stoke for Rafa

[Guest reefatoon]

Could have been a straight swap for Joselu in the summer.

[timeEd32]

I hope they do make an approach and offer. Maybe he could use it as leverage to get something out of Ashley.

[Paully]

Different one mate;

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/rafa-benitez-left-in-lurch-as-stalled-takeover-clouds-newcastles-transfer-plans-7598tlv6w

[sbnufc]

Announcement after Swansea that Rafa has walked imo. Maybe monday

[SuperFlat]

Announcement after Swansea that Rafa has walked imo. Maybe monday

 

Bit of variety at least, I guess.

[HaydnNUFC]

Different one mate;

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/rafa-benitez-left-in-lurch-as-stalled-takeover-clouds-newcastles-transfer-plans-7598tlv6w

 

Familiar story of stasis stifles Benítez’s ambitions once again

 

George Caulkin, northern sports correspondent

 

The Game Daily: the club is going through the motions as it looks to secure targets but there is little hope of getting them

 

They are as feverish as always; making and fielding calls, seeing what’s out there, working the angles, plotting how a rival club’s move for player X might free player Y. This is the grind of the transfer window and Newcastle United are grinding through it like everybody else, except in one significant regard. “David Blaine would struggle to make any magic from what we’ve got available,” says one person involved in the club’s recruitment process.

 

This is becoming an old, old story at St James’ Park, one of stasis and uncertainty. A year ago, Rafa Benítez, then leading his side in the Sky Bet Championship, held meetings, identified targets and set up the deals which the manager believed would assure promotion. Nothing happened, no explanations. Last summer, he did the same, but procrastination cost Newcastle players and from that point it was catch-up.

 

It is wearisome to relate the same anecdotes, but Benítez still mentions Newcastle’s reluctance to sign Willy Caballero on a free transfer from Manchester City. At the time, the club had four goalkeepers on their books - Karl Darlow, Rob Elliot, Freddie Woodman and Tim Krul - and Caballero’s move to Chelsea forced Benítez to block an offer for Darlow. Without a replacement, he could not sanction any departure.

 

From there, Newcastle’s work unravelled. Benítez was convinced he had secured Tammy Abraham on-loan from Chelsea; Swansea City offered a more attractive package and the centre forward was lost. By the middle of August, he was signing Joselu from Stoke City for £5 million, a willing striker capable of following orders and with an unquestionable attitude, but lacking a killer touch in front of goal.

 

As the season began, Benítez predicted struggle and he was right, but this is not a hierarchy which heeds its own history. At his press briefing before Newcastle’s FA Cup fixture against Luton Town last Friday, Benítez said: “I don’t know exactly what our budget is, so I don’t have any news. We have to keep working and try to make sure we have our targets, because I don’t know.” The window had already been open for five days.

 

Similar applies to Joe Hart; on-loan at West Ham United from Manchester City and “offered” to Newcastle through an intermediary. “It’s pie in the sky stuff,” according to the man in the know, far too complex. Nobody does anybody else favours, which is why Benítez could not countenance Jonjo Shelvey leaving for West Ham, even if David Moyes hardened a vague interest in him. There would be peril in selling to a rival.

 

Newcastle continue to look at temporary solutions. Just as they had five months ago, Newcastle have a framework in place to take Kenedy on loan from Chelsea but are again at the whim of Antonio Conte. Benítez has understandable concerns about the match fitness of Liverpool’s Danny Ings, but he is another option. Ings will go eventually, they think, but for now the player is fighting for his place.

 

This is the flotsam and jetsam of the market, identical for everybody. What is different this time is the prospective takeover which looms over Newcastle. When, in the middle of last month, a jolt of progress was made, an agreement between Ashley and Amanda Staveley was in reach. Staveley had bid £300 million and there was an acceptance in both camps that money should be made available to Benítez. Agonisingly, an accord remains just beyond their fingertips.

 

Staveley remains confident that Ashley will sell to her and hopefully by next month. The alternative - and the deflation which would follow hard behind - does not bear thinking about, but we have had a little taste over the past few weeks. It is said that Charnley’s instincts are to back Benítez in the market but he does not have the power to act unilaterally and Ashley, who shows little interest in Newcastle, has been on holiday. And so they drift on.

 

So far, there has been little of the frustration which Benítez showed either a year ago or last summer. He is still asking the questions, still pushing for action, still pushing for more, but he is focusing on the team and what he can control. He has to. Perhaps the logjam will end and he will get some clarity - Ashley is never less than unpredictable - but if he assumes the worst, anything else is a bonus and relegation must still be avoided.

 

“We’re determined not to get angry this time,” the source says but, in some ways, a sense of resignation is worse. In matters such as this, Ashley’s Newcastle have demonstrated repeatedly they are not the ambitious, progressive club which Benítez thought they could become and although the manager is still under contract, with a penalty clause which prevents him walking out, the realisation is dismaying.

 

Newcastle need a fresh start, impetus, something new. It is a thought which occurred again in the wake of Peter Beardsley being placed on gardening leave. Nothing to do with allegations of racism and bullying, which the former England international denies categorically, but because of the longstanding feeling amongst substantive figures within the club that Newcastle’s academy was simply not making progress.

 

Newcastle are standing still; Benítez knows it and Ashley knows it, too. In October, the sportswear retailer’s lawyer gave an interview to Sky Sports. The club was for sale, he said, because there was “a feeling that all that can be done has been done. So it is probably just a recognition that it might be time for a change.” And if a sale was not completed by January? “Business as usual,” he said. Business as usual is right.

[Twinport53]

The thing that f***s me off most, is the money Rafa wants is the clubs money, not Ashelys. Yet the fat c*** still won't part with it. How much TV money have we made since we spent 11mil in the summer?

 

f***ing give it to Rafa, take your 300 mil from PCP and f*** off.

[timeEd32]

I forget - did Ashley give us another loan when we went down last year?

[Big Geordie]

I forget - did Ashley give us another loan when we went down last year?

 

Not sure. Wasn't it offset by what the club made in outgoing transfers?

[themanupstairs]

Stoke

[Altamullan]

Announcement after Swansea that Rafa has walked imo. Maybe monday

Ahh, a lovely reminder of Summer. The glorious sunshine (well, it was warmer), the smell of freshly cut grass, the comforting sizzle of a barbecue, and the word WALK.

[HaydnNUFC]

:lol:

[Yorkie]

Different one mate;

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/rafa-benitez-left-in-lurch-as-stalled-takeover-clouds-newcastles-transfer-plans-7598tlv6w

 

Familiar story of stasis stifles Benítez’s ambitions once again

 

George Caulkin, northern sports correspondent

 

The Game Daily: the club is going through the motions as it looks to secure targets but there is little hope of getting them

 

They are as feverish as always; making and fielding calls, seeing what’s out there, working the angles, plotting how a rival club’s move for player X might free player Y. This is the grind of the transfer window and Newcastle United are grinding through it like everybody else, except in one significant regard. “David Blaine would struggle to make any magic from what we’ve got available,” says one person involved in the club’s recruitment process.

 

This is becoming an old, old story at St James’ Park, one of stasis and uncertainty. A year ago, Rafa Benítez, then leading his side in the Sky Bet Championship, held meetings, identified targets and set up the deals which the manager believed would assure promotion. Nothing happened, no explanations. Last summer, he did the same, but procrastination cost Newcastle players and from that point it was catch-up.

 

It is wearisome to relate the same anecdotes, but Benítez still mentions Newcastle’s reluctance to sign Willy Caballero on a free transfer from Manchester City. At the time, the club had four goalkeepers on their books - Karl Darlow, Rob Elliot, Freddie Woodman and Tim Krul - and Caballero’s move to Chelsea forced Benítez to block an offer for Darlow. Without a replacement, he could not sanction any departure.

 

From there, Newcastle’s work unravelled. Benítez was convinced he had secured Tammy Abraham on-loan from Chelsea; Swansea City offered a more attractive package and the centre forward was lost. By the middle of August, he was signing Joselu from Stoke City for £5 million, a willing striker capable of following orders and with an unquestionable attitude, but lacking a killer touch in front of goal.

 

As the season began, Benítez predicted struggle and he was right, but this is not a hierarchy which heeds its own history. At his press briefing before Newcastle’s FA Cup fixture against Luton Town last Friday, Benítez said: “I don’t know exactly what our budget is, so I don’t have any news. We have to keep working and try to make sure we have our targets, because I don’t know.” The window had already been open for five days.

 

Similar applies to Joe Hart; on-loan at West Ham United from Manchester City and “offered” to Newcastle through an intermediary. “It’s pie in the sky stuff,” according to the man in the know, far too complex. Nobody does anybody else favours, which is why Benítez could not countenance Jonjo Shelvey leaving for West Ham, even if David Moyes hardened a vague interest in him. There would be peril in selling to a rival.

 

Newcastle continue to look at temporary solutions. Just as they had five months ago, Newcastle have a framework in place to take Kenedy on loan from Chelsea but are again at the whim of Antonio Conte. Benítez has understandable concerns about the match fitness of Liverpool’s Danny Ings, but he is another option. Ings will go eventually, they think, but for now the player is fighting for his place.

 

This is the flotsam and jetsam of the market, identical for everybody. What is different this time is the prospective takeover which looms over Newcastle. When, in the middle of last month, a jolt of progress was made, an agreement between Ashley and Amanda Staveley was in reach. Staveley had bid £300 million and there was an acceptance in both camps that money should be made available to Benítez. Agonisingly, an accord remains just beyond their fingertips.

 

Staveley remains confident that Ashley will sell to her and hopefully by next month. The alternative - and the deflation which would follow hard behind - does not bear thinking about, but we have had a little taste over the past few weeks. It is said that Charnley’s instincts are to back Benítez in the market but he does not have the power to act unilaterally and Ashley, who shows little interest in Newcastle, has been on holiday. And so they drift on.

 

So far, there has been little of the frustration which Benítez showed either a year ago or last summer. He is still asking the questions, still pushing for action, still pushing for more, but he is focusing on the team and what he can control. He has to. Perhaps the logjam will end and he will get some clarity - Ashley is never less than unpredictable - but if he assumes the worst, anything else is a bonus and relegation must still be avoided.

 

“We’re determined not to get angry this time,” the source says but, in some ways, a sense of resignation is worse. In matters such as this, Ashley’s Newcastle have demonstrated repeatedly they are not the ambitious, progressive club which Benítez thought they could become and although the manager is still under contract, with a penalty clause which prevents him walking out, the realisation is dismaying.

 

Newcastle need a fresh start, impetus, something new. It is a thought which occurred again in the wake of Peter Beardsley being placed on gardening leave. Nothing to do with allegations of racism and bullying, which the former England international denies categorically, but because of the longstanding feeling amongst substantive figures within the club that Newcastle’s academy was simply not making progress.

 

Newcastle are standing still; Benítez knows it and Ashley knows it, too. In October, the sportswear retailer’s lawyer gave an interview to Sky Sports. The club was for sale, he said, because there was “a feeling that all that can be done has been done. So it is probably just a recognition that it might be time for a change.” And if a sale was not completed by January? “Business as usual,” he said. Business as usual is right.

 

There's optimism in that somewhere.

[jackyboy]

If something positive doesn't happen soon I can see Rafa walking and I wouldn't blame him. The non action by Ashley is an insult to the integrity of a man like Rafa.  Ashley would let him walk and bring in Hughes or some other serial failure

[Altamullan]

Even worst case scenario, I think Rafa is a man of principles and he’ll be here for the season at the very least. My only concern is that his ego might not be able to take the prospect of a relegation fully on his watch (I know he’s been hamstrung/is fighting with one arm tied behind his back). I think he’s bigger than that though.

[mrmojorisin75]

Even worst case scenario, I think Rafa is a man of principles and he’ll be here for the season at the very least. My only concern is that his ego might not be able to take the prospect of a relegation fully on his watch (I know he’s been hamstrung/is fighting with one arm tied behind his back). I think he’s bigger than that though.

No way he leaves before the end of the season imo. It would take Ashley selling Lascelles to push him to that point I reckon.