Bimpy474 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 By pure accident as well. He (Diame) was never meant to play in that role. I’m not shitting on Rafa btw, but it’s nonsense to say that he had a midfield that were in control of things. Mostly due to Ashley not backing him properly but he still had overall yes or no on new players. He has about a 50% success rate with signings. Murphy, Atsu, Lazaar, Ki, Muto, Gamez, Hanley, Sels, Joselu. That’s 50 million spunked right there and that doesn’t include the cost of wages. Dubravka, Schär, Diame, Ritchie, Fernandez, Clark, Hayden, Lejeune and Gayle came in for roughly 55 million. Have been either very good or just ok Not counting Merino as we didn’t get to see him enough but we also didn’t lose money on him so can’t be classed as a bad move, but not a great one either. Overall Rafa got to make 28 signings including loans. One caveat to note, Rafa was never allowed to sign his number one targets. So he would work down his list, with us sometimes signing the 4th or 5th choice. You do that and you will get a not so successful transfer success rate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantail Breeze Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 There’s also not a manager in the world who consistently gets it right with signings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley17 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Rafa bought us a squad of players to get us promoted, which he achieved. He had been given assurances he could move them on to buy better but that never materialised because of the owner. Fair enough, he signed some stinkers but who doesn’t? Sels was a Belgian international but atrocious for us. Lazaar was barely used but showed nothing of use. Murphy is still developing but yes we probably could have used that money better elsewhere. The likes of Joselu etc were the best we could get for basically peanuts Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paully Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 By pure accident as well. He (Diame) was never meant to play in that role. I’m not shitting on Rafa btw, but it’s nonsense to say that he had a midfield that were in control of things. Mostly due to Ashley not backing him properly but he still had overall yes or no on new players. He has about a 50% success rate with signings. Murphy, Atsu, Lazaar, Ki, Muto, Gamez, Hanley, Sels, Joselu. That’s 50 million spunked right there and that doesn’t include the cost of wages. Dubravka, Schär, Diame, Ritchie, Fernandez, Clark, Hayden, Lejeune and Gayle came in for roughly 55 million. Have been either very good or just ok Not counting Merino as we didn’t get to see him enough but we also didn’t lose money on him so can’t be classed as a bad move, but not a great one either. Overall Rafa got to make 28 signings including loans. He missed out on numerous targets due to the incompetence of Ashley and his cronies and had to go down to 4th and 5th choices Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
astraguy Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Why has this thread come to life this morning ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 f***ing loved Diame. He was unstoppable at times. He was mostly awful though wasnt he. Except for that purple period when he was mint Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallace Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 I think some may have been signed as a need to just get bodies in e.g. Joselu as the preferred choices were refused. The thing that puzzles me with Lazaar and also with Saivet (and others) is that we signed them from leagues where they would have been on modest salaries but we seem to have given them a massive contract (there was no hype about them being anything special) which they would never receive at another club. When they don't succeed, it makes them difficult to sell and the player (understandably) reluctant to leave knowing they won't get that contract elsewhere. I don't understand why we give such long and expensive contracts to players who are relatively unproven. It would make more sense to start them on an improved but incentive-based contract and if they succeed then give them a decent contract as they will then have earnt it. I read that Lazaar was looking for his contract to be paid up but the club are holding out for a fee. They always do this and then the player ends up leaving on a free anyway and I am sure the associated costs with a contract probably means they end up paying more out than they would have done with a settlement. Also why give big contracts to Shelvey, Ritchie and co. They will certainly struggle to get rid of Shelvey with that sort of contract. Now they want a big fee for Ritchie - if they don't compromise, they will probably be stuck with him until the end of his contract. Not sure what constitutes a big fee but he must be worth a lot less now than when we bought him and we have had value out of him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsunami Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Diame didn’t really like football, I know the bloke who scouted him for West Ham, says Diame never properly tried and had it in him to be far better. Tbf you could see that on the pitch almost every game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley17 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Diame didn’t really like football, I know the bloke who scouted him for West Ham, says Diame never properly tried and had it in him to be far better. Tbf you could see that on the pitch almost every game. Isn’t that why Lascelles lamped him in training? He was much better after that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 f***ing loved Diame. He was unstoppable at times. He was mostly awful though wasnt he. Except for that purple period when he was mint He definitely wasn't 'mostly awful', like. He was useful in the Championship, went into beast mode for a spell in the first season back, then inevitably went quite a way off the boil in his last season - but still did geet loads of tackles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bimpy474 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Diame didn’t really like football, I know the bloke who scouted him for West Ham, says Diame never properly tried and had it in him to be far better. Tbf you could see that on the pitch almost every game. Isn’t that why Lascelles lamped him in training? He was much better after that That dig turned him in Patrick Vieira for a stint Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley17 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 I remember him being booed off at home to Norwich, obviously not helped by us being behind and him trudging off. It was only once we got forced to playing him in DM (with Saivet) away at West Ham when he became a machine Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Longstaff did look much much better under Rafa. That’s undeniable. I’d also refute the suggestion Rafa didn’t bring anyone good into the midfield. I think Merino would have been mint if he’d stayed after recovering from that back injury. Definitely and I also think our fans underrated Diame! They definitely did, you could see it on here as well. You'd need three Shelveys and Hendricks to get the same output as one Diame. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pons Alias Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 SJ said this last week too. He’s a know-nothing prick. Look at the state of him. Bet he hangs out with Wayne Lineker and Pardew. And if you didn't already hate him, he gets to bang Suzannah Reed in his spare time as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bimpy474 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 SJ said this last week too. He’s a know-nothing prick. Look at the state of him. Bet he hangs out with Wayne Lineker and Pardew. And if you didn't already hate him, he gets to bang Suzannah Reed in his spare time as well. Not any more, he's just had a kid with Michelle Dewberry i think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfella Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 SJ said this last week too. He’s a know-nothing prick. Look at the state of him. Bet he hangs out with Wayne Lineker and Pardew. And if you didn't already hate him, he gets to bang Suzannah Reed in his spare time as well. It wasn't Jordan who was banging Reid, it was current Palace chairman Steve Parish. Lucky bastad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pons Alias Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 It wasn't Jordan who was banging Reid, it was current Palace chairman Steve Parish. Lucky bastad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happinesstan Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 By pure accident as well. He (Diame) was never meant to play in that role. I’m not shitting on Rafa btw, but it’s nonsense to say that he had a midfield that were in control of things. Mostly due to Ashley not backing him properly but he still had overall yes or no on new players. He has about a 50% success rate with signings. Murphy, Atsu, Lazaar, Ki, Muto, Gamez, Hanley, Sels, Joselu. That’s 50 million spunked right there and that doesn’t include the cost of wages. Dubravka, Schär, Diame, Ritchie, Fernandez, Clark, Hayden, Lejeune and Gayle came in for roughly 55 million. Have been either very good or just ok Not counting Merino as we didn’t get to see him enough but we also didn’t lose money on him so can’t be classed as a bad move, but not a great one either. Overall Rafa got to make 28 signings including loans. One caveat to note, Rafa was never allowed to sign his number one targets. So he would work down his list, with us sometimes signing the 4th or 5th choice. You do that and you will get a not so successful transfer success rate. Absolutely. The first name on that list should probably read Andros Thownsend, who might not have been spectacular but he was less of a punt than Murphy. The rest of the list I'm not sure but few of them were first choice. Also I'd argue that Ki, Hanley were solid acquisitions that played their part exactly as expected. Gamez was possibly an influence in the dressing room. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wandy Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Looks like he's off to Napoli. Takeover eh? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocker Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Takeover is separate to Rafa Benitez, believe it or not. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikon Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 So it isn't Rafa who's buying the club? Phew.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBG Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 He would/should If he loved the club as much as he said he does. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
astraguy Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Who's saying Rafas going to Napoli? He wanted to come home to see his family more so doubt that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LV Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 He would/should If he loved the club as much as he said he does. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEEJ Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 He would/should If he loved the club as much as he said he does. height=200https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/englands-rio-ferdinand-laughing-at-training-picture-id651568614[/img] height=200https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0a/19/e6/0a19e6d863e451b127ead854418c6206.jpg[/img] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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