Rafa Benítez (now unemployed)

[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.

[hakka]

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.

 

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/e6/e6d52ca68ccf42edff07f4bc3bede68a186b12c6d3f663f00e83b3b3fe47868c.jpg

[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.

[Shearergol]

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.

 

I disagree. I think he'll go in February if he knows Ashley will still be here in summer. He's here because of the potential takeover.

[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.

 

I disagree. I think he'll go in February if he knows Ashley will still be here in summer. He's here because of the potential takeover.

Can't see any reason he'll leave before ensuring he's kept us up. He's not that sort of arsehole imo.

[Unbelievable]

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.

 

I disagree. I think he'll go in February if he knows Ashley will still be here in summer. He's here because of the potential takeover.

Can't see any reason he'll leave before ensuring he's kept us up. He's not that sort of arsehole imo.

 

Would you really consider him an arsehole if he finally threw in the towel after being stood up in a third consecutive transfer window and with the prospect of a takover in ruins (if that were the case as per the presumption)? I sure as hell wouldn’t. In fact I wouldn’t even begrudge him for suggesting it might happen to force Ashley’s hand one way or the other.

[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.

 

I disagree. I think he'll go in February if he knows Ashley will still be here in summer. He's here because of the potential takeover.

Can't see any reason he'll leave before ensuring he's kept us up. He's not that sort of arsehole imo.

 

Would you really consider him an arsehole if he finally threw in the towel after being stood up in a third consecutive transfer window and with the prospect of a takover in ruins (if that were the case as per the presumption)? I sure as hell wouldn’t. In fact I wouldn’t even begrudge him for suggesting it might happen to force Ashley’s hand one way or the other.

Well. I certainly wouldn't consider him an arsehole no, in the same way I don't consider Keegan an arsehole for leaving when he did.

 

That said Rafa will know if he walks he's dooming us to relegation in the same way Keegan did (inadvertantly of course) and I simply don't think he'll want that for the club.

[HaydnNUFC]

He won't leave before the season's end regardless of what transpires in the rest of this month imo.

 

I personally didn't see them, but after watching clips and reading up about it, these are the most important days the club has had since those days in 1991/92. Not the time for malice unless Ashley does the unthinkable. Which is probably just a laugh in his world.

[Paully]

Absolute joke

 

https://twitter.com/caulkinthetimes/status/951815960872267777

[Guest neesy111]

Absolute joke

 

https://twitter.com/caulkinthetimes/status/951815960872267777

 

That's absolutely ridiculous.

[geordiedean]

ill be amazed if we sign anyone of any quality, infact ill be amazed if we sign anyone

[Parky]

Ashley playbook.

[Interpolic]

The difference is that previous managers used to lie about it for him.

[Unbelievable]

Absolute joke

 

https://twitter.com/caulkinthetimes/status/951815960872267777

 

That's absolutely ridiculous as expected.

 

FYP