Rafa Benítez (now unemployed)

[George Bailey]

Chest pain...tightness...

 

 

Oh thank fuck for that....the teasing rascal

[Darth Crooks]

[Guest firetotheworks]

I've talked myself into Rafa being replaced by someone like that being the best thing for the club tbh. Shy of someone coming in and buying us now/Ashley accepting, Rafa getting fucked over and sacked is exactly the sort of insanity that the campaign to get rid of Ashley needs if our fans inside SJP are going to ever get off their arses and actually stand for something.

[ToonArmy1892]

State of some of our fans, Bishop is probably reading this and reporting back to Mike.

 

"They are turning on Rafa, champion"

 

 

[Mikky]

For all those who've decided to turn on Rafa please console yourselves in the knowledge that he'll be gone in 7 months time and you can get behind Steve Bruce or Sam Allardyce in the way you never got behind Rafa.

 

This 100%

 

As I said at the end of last season - give the bloke £70m out of the £123m from the TV money and let him use the money from players he sells (forget this nonsense of how much we get a season for them) - Rafa buys his plays, signs and new contract - everyone is happy - club is moving forward, but no, Mike knows better

[Dave]

Should have spent the £60m on a striker IMO.

 

:lol: FUCKING HELL :lol:

[Crumpy Gunt]

For all those who've decided to turn on Rafa please console yourselves in the knowledge that he'll be gone in 7 months time and you can get behind Steve Bruce or Sam Allardyce in the way you never got behind Rafa.

 

This 100%

 

As I said at the end of last season - give the bloke £70m out of the £123m from the TV money and let him use the money from players he sells (forget this nonsense of how much we get a season for them) - Rafa buys his plays, signs and new contract - everyone is happy - club is moving forward, but no, Mike knows better

Maybe Rafas contract is the problem?

[AyeDubbleYoo]

For all those who've decided to turn on Rafa please console yourselves in the knowledge that he'll be gone in 7 months time and you can get behind Steve Bruce or Sam Allardyce in the way you never got behind Rafa.

 

This 100%

 

As I said at the end of last season - give the bloke £70m out of the £123m from the TV money and let him use the money from players he sells (forget this nonsense of how much we get a season for them) - Rafa buys his plays, signs and new contract - everyone is happy - club is moving forward, but no, Mike knows better

Maybe Rafas contract is the problem?

 

Aye, because fat Mike wants him tied down so he can continue to keep us up on a shoestring while being shafted from above. Absolute shite man.

[Mikky]

For all those who've decided to turn on Rafa please console yourselves in the knowledge that he'll be gone in 7 months time and you can get behind Steve Bruce or Sam Allardyce in the way you never got behind Rafa.

 

This 100%

 

As I said at the end of last season - give the bloke £70m out of the £123m from the TV money and let him use the money from players he sells (forget this nonsense of how much we get a season for them) - Rafa buys his plays, signs and new contract - everyone is happy - club is moving forward, but no, Mike knows better

Maybe Rafas contract is the problem?

 

Aye, because fat Mike wants him tied down so he can continue to keep us up on a shoestring while being shafted from above. Absolute shite man.

 

The club HAD to move forward regardless if Rafa had signed the contract or not - I'd rather give the money to Rafa, trust his judgement with it: if he chose to leave at the end of the 18/19 then so be it, but at least on the playing side we'd be stronger

 

I just don't get Ashley, I really don't - the TV money 'was' such a game changer for clubs like us who have fallen behind the rest

[summerof69]

That first fucking sentence. I genuinely believed we were getting Souness.

[Odear]

He’s not at the races this season. 3 transfer windows with 40% success has caught up and the squad is now floundering.

 

Everything that he’s supposed to be as a coach, organised, hard to break down etc.. that’s all gone.

 

I’m not turning on Rafa. He’s still the best manager we could possibly have in our position, am just saying he needs to do better than he’s been doing this season.

 

I think he’s lost focus on the simple things that made the team better. Or maybe he’s just not that bothered seeming as he'll be off in around 6 months.

[Crumpy Gunt]

He’s not at the races this season. 3 transfer windows with 40% success has caught up and the squad is now floundering.

 

Everything that he’s supposed to be as a coach, organised, hard to break down etc.. that’s all gone.

 

I’m not turning on Rafa. He’s still the best manager we could possibly have in our position, am just saying he needs to do better than he’s been doing this season.

 

I think he’s lost focus on the simple things that made the team better. Or maybe he’s just not that bothered seeming as he'll be off in around 6 months.

Does it ever work if a manager gets into his final year?

[Altamullan]

Even if he was suddenly backed (highly doubtful), I suspect there’s been too much crap that’s happened over the last few windows. Will he ever turn it around?

 

The squad is about as good as the one that finished up last season, yet we’re playing like a team already relegated.

...

 

2-0 up at Old Trafford until 70th minute. Holding out for a 0-0 at Palace (restricting them to four shots on target, we had three). Also a 0-0 at Cardiff, where we had 10 men for half an hour—not referring to how supremely shit Kennedy played—had six  shots on target to their one and missed a last min pen ( am referring... never mind).

 

In between the above, we’ve lost 2-1 to Spurs (15 shots each), Chelsea (drawing until an 87th min own goal) and Arsenal (two shots on target each) at home and to Man City away. None of them unexpected losses, humiliating results, nor characterised by unmotivated ‘already given up’ performances.

 

Forgot to mention Leicester. Probably most disappointing performance for me and closest fit to the point highlighted. Saying that, giving away a stupid pen at that stage was always going to make a tricky game very difficult.

 

Personally, I think we’re just getting started. Just hope everyone’s head is on the game—those that matter, I mean.

 

To keep concerns in perspective, we can add to the above, having a similar amount of possession and shots in the loss to Brighton, that Man City achieved in their 5-0 rout of Burnley. Basically, not sure Rafa isn’t at the races. We just can’t score enough goals. Lack of luck in the transfer bargain basement is surely part of that.

[Darth Crooks]

I don’t understand what he’s supposed to do other than just do better. He doesn’t have the players to play we way people talk about and we don’t have any match winners. Make earlier subs? Motivate players towards what exactly? Fight for the badge and pride in the club? Refuse to sign anyone because he can’t get 1st choices. I don’t get why you’d put such focus on the minutiae when the macro is clearly what’s inhibiting everyone involved.

[Odear]

I’ve lifted 24 signings from .com and made a judgement (relative cost and impact) as to whether they were good signings or not. I totally get that he has had to cut his cloth accordingly, but in terms of getting someone to do a job for us, it looks pretty 50-50 to me.

Gayle 10m good

Ritchie 12m good

Gamez free poor

MATT SELS 5.5m Gash

Hayden 4m poor (when is last time this c*** played?)

Hanley 5.5m poor

Clark 5m good??? He’s f***ing gash man

Diame 5m good

Yedlin 5m good

D. Murphy 3m good

Lazaar 3m poor

Atsu 6.2m good??? No, he’s not really is he.

Lejeune 8.7m good

Murphy 10m+ poor?? 10m+? It was f***ing 12 million. Gash.

Manquillo 4.5m poor

Merino 6.5m good

Joselu 5m poor

Kenedy loan good

Slimani loan poor

Dubravka 4m good

Ki Sungyeung free ?

Schar 3m ? Can’t get a game

Muto 9.5m ? Not looking like money well spent is it

Rondon loan ?

Fernandez 6m good

 

I count 63.3m on total cack.

 

Which are the players on 63.3m of total cack?

 

Muto, Schar, Joselu, Manquillo, Murphy, Atsu, Lazaar, Clark, Hanley, Hayden, Sels,

[TRon]

Watching Everton v Palace yesterday, it’s scary. Even the players who flattered to deceive and were basically crap are probably worth £20-40m.

 

To even be expected to compete in this league you need multiple £20m players in your team and ideally 1 or 2 worth £50m.

 

That is scary, and obviously very damning too.

[samptime29]

My only real gripe with Rafa (and I did say this last season) is we never make any early subs.

 

If we concede first, we struggle. Plan B often isn't until 75-80 mins into the game, just think often it's too late.

 

 

 

 

[LRD]

I’ve lifted 24 signings from .com and made a judgement (relative cost and impact) as to whether they were good signings or not. I totally get that he has had to cut his cloth accordingly, but in terms of getting someone to do a job for us, it looks pretty 50-50 to me.

Gayle 10m good

Ritchie 12m good

Gamez free poor

MATT SELS 5.5m Gash

Hayden 4m poor (when is last time this c*** played?)

Hanley 5.5m poor

Clark 5m good??? He’s f***ing gash man

Diame 5m good

Yedlin 5m good

D. Murphy 3m good

Lazaar 3m poor

Atsu 6.2m good??? No, he’s not really is he.

Lejeune 8.7m good

Murphy 10m+ poor?? 10m+? It was f***ing 12 million. Gash.

Manquillo 4.5m poor

Merino 6.5m good

Joselu 5m poor

Kenedy loan good

Slimani loan poor

Dubravka 4m good

Ki Sungyeung free ?

Schar 3m ? Can’t get a game

Muto 9.5m ? Not looking like money well spent is it

Rondon loan ?

Fernandez 6m good

 

I count 63.3m on total cack.

 

Which are the players on 63.3m of total cack?

 

Muto, Schar, Joselu, Manquillo, Murphy, Atsu, Lazaar, Clark, Hanley, Hayden, Sels,

 

How is Muto crap when he is settling into a new league? Schar does not play much due to the form of Fernandez so again you are jumping into an early conclusion, and that pretty much applies for Hanley, who was frozen out as Clark did well for us in the Championship. A few of them are squad fillers at very low fees and should be treated as such.

 

Anyway, that's 11 players. So spend 60m on 3 players and depend on a squad of 14?

[UncleBingo]

Watching Everton v Palace yesterday, it’s scary. Even the players who flattered to deceive and were basically crap are probably worth £20-40m.

 

To even be expected to compete in this league you need multiple £20m players in your team and ideally 1 or 2 worth £50m.

 

The average price of a PL player this summer was £14.2M. We have never spent that once for a single player under Ashley, not once.

 

Rafa's PL signings work out at about £5.5M per player.

 

 

[LRD]

Watching Everton v Palace yesterday, it’s scary. Even the players who flattered to deceive and were basically crap are probably worth £20-40m.

 

To even be expected to compete in this league you need multiple £20m players in your team and ideally 1 or 2 worth £50m.

 

The average price of a PL player this summer was £14.2M. We have never spent that once for a single player under Ashley, not once.

 

Rafa's PL signings work out at about £5.5M per player.

 

 

 

Wijnaldum at 15m but that's pretty much it.

[Guest firetotheworks]

He’s not at the races this season. 3 transfer windows with 40% success has caught up and the squad is now floundering.

 

Everything that he’s supposed to be as a coach, organised, hard to break down etc.. that’s all gone.

 

I’m not turning on Rafa. He’s still the best manager we could possibly have in our position, am just saying he needs to do better than he’s been doing this season.

 

I think he’s lost focus on the simple things that made the team better. Or maybe he’s just not that bothered seeming as he'll be off in around 6 months.

 

How's it HIM that it's caught up with ffs? He assembled the majority of this squad in order to win the championship, which it did, we still have largely the same players aside from a few bargain bin players that he was able to get with a transfer budget he wasn't informed about, which ended up being tiny, and by raising money through player sales, which he ended getting none of.

 

This is just today but it's been constant since January 2016 - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/10/22/mike-ashley-took-10m-newcastle-summer-despite-pledge-back-rafa/

 

Have you been living under a f***ing rock?

[TRon]

Watching Everton v Palace yesterday, it’s scary. Even the players who flattered to deceive and were basically crap are probably worth £20-40m.

 

To even be expected to compete in this league you need multiple £20m players in your team and ideally 1 or 2 worth £50m.

 

The average price of a PL player this summer was £14.2M. We have never spent that once for a single player under Ashley, not once.

 

Rafa's PL signings work out at about £5.5M per player.

 

 

 

Wijnaldum at 15m but that's pretty much it.

 

Wijnaldum was signed by McClaren.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Watching Everton v Palace yesterday, it’s scary. Even the players who flattered to deceive and were basically crap are probably worth £20-40m.

 

To even be expected to compete in this league you need multiple £20m players in your team and ideally 1 or 2 worth £50m.

 

The average price of a PL player this summer was £14.2M. We have never spent that once for a single player under Ashley, not once.

 

Rafa's PL signings work out at about £5.5M per player.

 

 

 

Wijnaldum at 15m but that's pretty much it.

 

14.5m and under McClaren, so we've spent above that average once, by 0.3m.

[LRD]

Aye, the one-time ~15m in 11 seasons under Ashley and Charnley talks about the many opportunities that could have broken our transfer record that didn't happen for some reason.

[Hughesy]

Was thinking the other day - in 1995 we bought Les Ferdinand for £6m.  In 2018, we've have a striker who made 9 appearances this season who cost £5m.  Just sums us up really.