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Rafa Benítez (now unemployed)

Greg

by Greg
in Football

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Would you have Rafa back?   

463 members have voted

  1. 1. Would you have Rafa back?

    • Yes, as manager, immediately
      101
    • Yes, as manager, but at some point in the future (eg if relegated)
      97
    • Yes, in an advisory or DoF role
      74
    • No, not in any meaningful capacity
      132

This poll is closed to new votes


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Happinesstan

Happinesstan

Posted
Posted

Feel like my wife has just left me.

 

Make sure you back her and don't just monitor her potential new high heels, get them over the line so that she can get used to walking in them.

 

And make sure she gets herself on chaturbate so those shoes can be sold for profit.

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Disco

Disco

Posted
Posted

From the Heil

Rafa Benitez joked in January that you did not have to venture far down Newcastle United's list of transfer targets before you found players with one arm or one leg.

 

It drew the laughter intended and was said away from the television cameras and dictaphones, but the subtext was serious - the club simply weren't prepared to invest to the level he demanded.

 

And that, amid a myriad of factors, is the key reason why he is no longer Newcastle manager after failing to reach an agreement to extend his contract, which expires on Sunday.

 

Come the end, the relationship had eroded beyond repair and club officials were even struggling to make contact with him at one point last week.

 

It was then that his exit became inevitable and a statement, on the say-so of owner Mike Ashley, was rushed out on Monday. The timing took Benitez by surprise and he was only informed of the news by a friend while at home on the Wirral.

 

In theory, there were still six days left to negotiate with the Spaniard, but Ashley's instruction was to call time early and begin the search for a new manager.

 

The club had expected Benitez to stay when talks began last month and that is why no thought was given to a replacement until now. The sole focus, they say, had been on retaining Benitez.

 

 

It became apparent that Newcastle weren’t prepared to invest to the level he demanded

It is a travesty, however, that Ashley has allowed this to happen. Benitez did not want to leave, he wanted a reason to stay. He wanted the club's ambition to match his own, a desire to be more than a team for whom survival was the primary aim. He repeatedly talked of 'doing things right' and, in turn, challenging for Europe.

 

Newcastle will argue that a plan was in place for improvement and that Benitez had to work within the club's means - a transfer budget of £50million plus player sales for the season ahead.

 

Benitez, though, wanted closer to £100m and the power to offer weekly wages in excess of £100,000 for the first time.

 

He also demanded the freedom to spend as he saw fit and at the top of his list was West Brom's Salomon Rondon, the loanee who was Newcastle's Player of the Season. The club disagreed on the grounds of the striker costing £16.5m and turning 30 in September. Managing director Lee Charnley told Benitez that the model was to sign players under 25 with sell-on value.

 

That is all very well on a balance sheet, but when a manager of Benitez's standing deems that an older player is the best man for the role, then surely he deserves that backing?

 

That the club did not trust his judgement implicitly was at the core of a breakdown in a marriage of convenience which had long since grown turbulent. A £6m penalty for both parties should they have been the one to initiate a divorce perhaps explains why it lasted as long as it did.

 

 

Benitez wanted to spend as he saw fit and was keen to sign Salomon Rondon permanently

Ashley chooses to trust his fixer Justin Barnes and PR man Keith Bishop above most - two men with no football experience - yet he would not put his faith in Benitez, a world-class manager he was lucky to have in the first place.

 

As one source said, 'Benitez was simply too big for Newcastle United under this regime'. The Champions League winner was not prepared to sign up to the club's idea of growth, suspecting they would be left behind given investment higher up the Premier League.

 

And Benitez was right. In time, Newcastle will realise that. They only achieved 10th and 13th-placed finishes in the last two seasons because of his management, extracting the maximum from a limited group of players.

 

You seldom heard any of that squad speak ill of their manager and their social-media tributes were plentiful and heartfelt on Monday afternoon.

 

They, like supporters, had hoped the stand-off between Benitez and Ashley would be resolved for the good of the football club.

 

But the pair had no personal relationship to fall back on when it came to reaching a sensible compromise.

 

Supporters (pictured last year) were left furious after learning of Benitez's impending exit

Indeed, two summers ago Ashley threatened to release the minutes of a meeting in which it is said Benitez had signed off on a transfer budget of £70m over four windows, only for the boss to then question the level of investment.

 

The furious owner was talked out of a move which would have surely seen Benitez leave the club.

 

The manager, however, also wanted improvements off the pitch, such as the training ground which ranks as one of the most out-dated in the Premier League. Benitez was somewhat miffed earlier this year when Charnley said that no player had ever walked out on signing for the club because of those facilities.

 

There were also concerns over the general running of the club with Charnley the only senior employee at executive level and he answerable to Ashley on almost everything.

 

Benitez was frustrated when a mid-season break in Spain was delayed last year after the cost jumped from £90,000 to £105,000, a hold-up indicative of the sluggish manner in which he believed they conducted their transfer business.

 

Newcastle achieved 10th and 13th-placed finishes in the last two seasons because of Benitez

Then there was his own salary, a handsome £6m but a figure he wanted to see improved, especially given the offer of £12m from Chinese club Dalian Yifang. Newcastle would not budge, instead offering bonuses on top of the £6m.

 

It is telling, too, that the length of the contract discussed in recent weeks was just 12 months, providing both sides with a hasty get-out.

 

All things considered, news of their split should come as no surprise, even if it is something neither party wanted.

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Good luck to whichever person comes in next. They're going to need it. As ability and ambition wasn't enough to help Rafa deal with Mike Ashley. Luck and ignorance.

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Guest alijmitchell

Guest alijmitchell

Posted
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I love the guy. He will be a total legend in my eyes. News of this today has just made me think about how shit this whole country is. Can’t be arsed with this club any more. It’s over for me like.

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Minhosa

Minhosa

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Posted

Urgh. Don't write that he wanted his salary improved. Even if its true it helps Ashley when he needs more flak put on him.

 

He's outperformed any reasonable expectation given he's returned a nett return on transfers of £45.1m. I think he 100% deserves a significant increase in his wage.

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Disco

Disco

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Posted

A second article from Hope doesn’t say much we don’t know aside that he’s not happy at the clubs conduct, can’t be arsed to C&P. Dyche expected to be considered as he’s a cunt.

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toontownman

toontownman

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Posted

I used to think about one day having kids that would watch games with me. I have kids now, I don't think I want to put them through this shit. Absolutely gutting thought. Sure I'm not alone.

 

This cunt has drained the soul and is killing traditions. I thanked Rafa on here at the end of the season as I thought it was the end then. Sadly predictable it's drawn out this long.

 

Sadly predictable the protest tonight had dozens not hundreds. Hopefully they organized more and more people turn up tmrw.

 

 

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NEEJ

NEEJ

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Posted

Urgh. Don't write that he wanted his salary improved. Even if its true it helps Ashley when he needs more flak put on him.

If they wouldn't budge on his other requests then they absolutely had to give him a bump in salary, regardless of how much he was on before. He was overperforming.

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