Rafa Benítez (now unemployed)

[Numbers]

Just now, St1pe said:

Reads like the match day threads 

If you think the match threads are bad, try go looking at some of the opinions on twitter

[RealGoneKid]

10 minutes ago, Minhosa said:

I was a HUGE Rafa fan when he was here, firmly believe he should have stayed, wanted him back when the takeover happened and would've taken him when we appointed Howe etc etc.

 

HOWEVER, I have great reservations around the famed Rafa Politics that just seem to follow him everywhere. Shipping out Graham Carr, working the fans against Ashley here and then similar at Everton with Digne, Brands etc.

 

He seems to demand the wind blow in his direction on every issue and the unity we now have absolutely doesn't need that drama. He never seems happy unless he's railing against his bosses tbh.

 

I'm conflicted because I think he'd have been a great appointment on day 1 of the takeover as he'd be great to build the infrastructure the club so badly needs and I also think he'd 100% have kept us up from Howe's starting position, on top of that, I think he's far superior to Howe.

 

All in all, I'd not want Howe to stay if/when he takes us down but I do feel we should be looking for the next Rafa and perhaps not this one.

 

A difficult call all around because I loved him at NUFC.

 

 

 

" and the unity we now have absolutely doesn't need that drama " 

Unity ? Stroll on ...

[AsproHor8319]

Rafa Benitez would be a much better appointment for the club than Howe. 

 

Been saying it for many weeks now, Eddie Howe is completely out of his depth, keeps getting a pass from the fans & media. Its absolute horseshit, he is playing a putrid style of football, up there with Bruce, just one decent signing so far, Wood is unsurprisingly rubbish as anyone with an once of cop on would have realized before we signed him. Stavely is clueless, hiring this charlatan in the first place & then pursuing with his signings because god knows, no one else wants to sign for him. We've missed out on many good signings & good managers so far because any half decent player or manager will realize the club is going nowhere under them.

We finished TWELFTH last season with Bruce as our manager. We have made ONE decent signing so far in Trippier & another overpriced one in Wood (Halfway through the transfer window already). We have won ONE match under Howe & Stavely's reign, ONE in ELEVEN under Howe & ONE in 14 under Stavely's reign.

Absolutely clueless from top to bottom.

And to think we could have got Gerrard. 

Also, that P.O.S Lascalles should never play for the club again.

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by AsproHor8319

[Thumbheed]

40 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

So difficult to answer, but what I'd also say is that despite Howe not getting us hitting the heights we'd like, instant impact is definitely not one of Rafa's strengths, we saw that in 15/16 and then we saw how our full seasons with him peaked at the very end after months of the players having his demands drilled into them. He's much more a project man, than a galvaniser.

 

But there's an argument to be made that he wouldn't need as much time to get his ideas across or to get to know the squad in the 1st place as he already knows them all. 

 

 

[Minhosa]

2 minutes ago, RealGoneKid said:

" and the unity we now have absolutely doesn't need that drama " 

Unity ? Stroll on ...

You don't think the club is united right now? Fans are more behind the club than any period I can recall in over 20 years.

 

There's always going to be questions around systems, performances, managers etc etc BUT if you're not behind this new ownership then you deserve Ashley tbh.

[Elephant]

Benitez knows the squad, he doesn’t need time to settle, could have instant impact. Not easy call, but after last two games I would be ready to gamble. Howe can be U18 coach or ”consultant”.

[RealGoneKid]

2 minutes ago, Minhosa said:

You don't think the club is united right now? Fans are more behind the club than any period I can recall in over 20 years.

 

There's always going to be questions around systems, performances, managers etc etc BUT if you're not behind this new ownership then you deserve Ashley tbh.

I was thinking more in terms of the team . Some of them have given up - others are trying

[Minhosa]

Just now, RealGoneKid said:

I was thinking more in terms of the team . Some of them have given up - others are trying

Ah no doubt but I'm talking about overall unity of the club, it's direction, ownership etc.

 

I don't want to employ a guy that can be divisive.

 

Which I find quite challenging because I do think he'd have been a better appointment than Howe. I think he's superior to Howe. He's now available.

 

BUT, is he the right character? I'm not so sure.

 

He's hardly an 'easy' employee tbh. For anyone. He's hard work.

 

And I say all of that as a person who fucking loved having him at NUFC and when he left, so did my custom. I went to Fulham away for his last game and never returned under Ashley.

 

Gut feel is that he'd do a better job than Howe but we should probably be looking for the next Rafa and not this one but, as I've said, I'm very very conflicted.

[Barnes23]

1 hour ago, Tomato Deuce said:

Like it or not, the manager best positioned to help us avoid relegation is Eddie Howe. He’s trying to get Steve Bruce’s squad to play an entirely new brand of football (that is, to actually get them playing football). Hopefully it’ll take before we’re relegated, but if not he deserves the chance to build his own team from the Championship.

 

 

 

 Sorry, but this is totally baseless. People want it to be true, because he's the manager we happen to have. But on the evidence of the first 10 games, I'm not sure how anyone could reach that conclusion. It would be premature to talk of relieving him of his duties right now, perhaps, but the pressure should absolutely be on because we don't have time to waste. Talk of persisting with him even if we go down, not even factoring in what our performances could look like from now until the end of the season, is even crazier. We have no obligation to the man; this kind of undue loyalty totally clouds the possibility of any kind of critical thinking about the direction we need to take going forward.  

[AsproHor8319]

Newcastle United fans are far too accepting of cuntish owners & out of their depth managers. Newcastle united should have been boycotted under Ashley & subsequently forced him into a position of where he needed to sell the club. Same as Liverpool did with Hicks & Gillett. 

 

Now we finally have serious owners in charge & people are far too tolerant of a manager who has had a shocking start to his reign. Its clear as day the players are not buying into his methods. Howe is a championship level manager at best that struck lucky with Bournemouth before he relegated them. Hes unable to attract any real quality but managed to get lucky with Trippier who was interested in coming home & signing into a fat contract in his later years.  Wood for 25m has been a shocking transfer. He was so far out of his depth on Saturday it wasnt funny. 

 

Get Benitez in now, he's a winner, he will have far superior contacts in the game to Howe, he knows the majority of the team & the pl inside out, knows how to organise a defence, the fans love & respect him. It's a no brainer, if Howe stays, we're done.

 

 

[Minhosa]

1 minute ago, Barnes23 said:

 Sorry, but this is totally baseless. People want it to be true, because he's the manager we happen to have. But on the evidence of the first 10 games, I'm not sure how anyone could reach that conclusion. It would be premature to talk of relieving him of his duties right now, perhaps, but the pressure should absolutely be on because we don't have time to waste. Talk of persisting with him even if we go down, not even factoring in what our performances could look like from now until the end of the season, is even crazier. We have no obligation to the man; this kind of undue loyalty totally clouds the possibility of any kind of critical thinking about the direction we need to take going forward.  

Agree with this. Unfortunately, he's done nothing to warrant that blind belief tbqh.

[Matt]

4 minutes ago, AsproHor8319 said:

Newcastle united should have been boycotted under Ashley & subsequently forced him into a position of where he needed to sell the club. Same as Liverpool did with Hicks & Gillett. 

 

H&G breached the terms of their debt financing, allowing lenders to parachute in Martin Broughton to oversee the running of the club and to launch a sale process. We were always at the sole whim of Mike Ashley. Yes there was a concerted effort to get them out of Anfield, but you can't compare the two situations.

[Yorkie]

36 minutes ago, Mr Raspberry Jam said:

 

 

incredible trolling, if not the most subtle. 

[Armchair Pundit]

I think the club, owners, fans, probably the manager and coaches are essentially united - far more than we have been for many years... the players on the other hand...

 

Would I take Rafa back? Yes, in a heart beat. However, I think Howe deserves a crack of the whip with a rejuvenated side of his own signings. I think any manager will struggle to get a tune out of some of the shite in the current squad and the problem players would continue to poison the rest of the squad. We need shot of the likes of Shelvey, Gayle, half the defence and get in replacements who are more than the Championship players we brought up from our last promotion. The only reason Rafa managed to get anything out of the current defence was because he had them solidly drilled into playing exactly how he wanted so they didn't have to think for themselves, Bruce relied on that initially but as it became a distant memory under his 'coaching' the defence fell apart. Now we're left with a dogshit defence who don't know what they're doing, a midfield who are weak and uninspiring and strikers who have so little confidence or end product they're completely ineffective.

 

I honestly don't think there's enough time to get the team's mentality in order, even with any new players we bring in. The squad is so ridiculously lacking in quality, leadership and drive that I'm 99% sure we're going down again this season - Mike Ashley's final insult and curse on us after his departure. My biggest concern is not going to be getting promoted back from the Championship, every time it's happened previously there's been worriers who's fretted over a supposed increase in whatever level they think the Championship is at. The thing we should be most worried about is whether the Prem (and so-called big six) will find some other way to hamstring us while we're out of the picture, whether they'll make enough changes to the rules of the league to stop us competing on return. That of course then leads to the train of thought, would our new owners feel that such a fight was worth the bother, would they just up sticks and invest in a different league instead.

[Fantail Breeze]

I’m hoping Rafa’s shadow will at least kick Howe up the arse and force him to improve.

 

Wouldn’t be adverse to Rafa offering advice/a consultancy role with the consortium - not sure he’d want that though.

 

In an ideal world Howe would sit down with him and share thoughts and ideas about the squad, which would improve Howe’s management of the team and ostracise Shelvey. But I think that’s more of a wet dream than reality.

[Superior Acuña]

I don't want it to happen, I don't think, but on the other hand I know I'd be absolutely buzzing if it did...

[St1pe]

6 minutes ago, Inferior Acuña said:

I don't want it to happen, I don't think, but on the other hand I know I'd be absolutely buzzing if it did...

Actually I think that’s where I’m at as well 

[junkhead]

I want Rafa IN NOW. Howe seems like a good, dedicated guy but he's failing at his job so far. If we continue like that through February, then Staveley should be ruthless. No point in persisting with something that's not working, while uncle Rafa is jobless.

[AsproHor8319]

23 minutes ago, Armchair Pundit said:

I think the club, owners, fans, probably the manager and coaches are essentially united - far more than we have been for many years... the players on the other hand...

 

Would I take Rafa back? Yes, in a heart beat. However, I think Howe deserves a crack of the whip with a rejuvenated side of his own signings. I think any manager will struggle to get a tune out of some of the shite in the current squad and the problem players would continue to poison the rest of the squad. We need shot of the likes of Shelvey, Gayle, half the defence and get in replacements who are more than the Championship players we brought up from our last promotion. The only reason Rafa managed to get anything out of the current defence was because he had them solidly drilled into playing exactly how he wanted so they didn't have to think for themselves, Bruce relied on that initially but as it became a distant memory under his 'coaching' the defence fell apart. Now we're left with a dogshit defence who don't know what they're doing, a midfield who are weak and uninspiring and strikers who have so little confidence or end product they're completely ineffective.

 

I honestly don't think there's enough time to get the team's mentality in order, even with any new players we bring in. The squad is so ridiculously lacking in quality, leadership and drive that I'm 99% sure we're going down again this season - Mike Ashley's final insult and curse on us after his departure. My biggest concern is not going to be getting promoted back from the Championship, every time it's happened previously there's been worriers who's fretted over a supposed increase in whatever level they think the Championship is at. The thing we should be most worried about is whether the Prem (and so-called big six) will find some other way to hamstring us while we're out of the picture, whether they'll make enough changes to the rules of the league to stop us competing on return. That of course then leads to the train of thought, would our new owners feel that such a fight was worth the bother, would they just up sticks and invest in a different league instead.

I keep hearing excuses for Howe & why its likely we're going to be relegated under his reign even though its not his fault. This is absolute bullshit. Bruce who is a sh*t manager finished 12th last season with pretty much the same team. Howe has had one win in eleven matches which included Norwich, Burnley, Watford at home. Not to mention the Cambridge result. 

 

What the hell does this guy have to do to lose his job??? I never wanted him in the beginning, he made shocking transfers at Bournemouth & relegated them as well. Solanke & Ibe to name a few. 

 

What a job this absolute charlatan has walked into. No wonder he was willing to do 3/4 interviews for the position when the likes of Fonseca, Favre, Gerrard refused to do even one understandably so. When is it ever his fault??? 

 

Now Benitez, a champions league winner, a la liga winner, a uefa cup winner, FA cup winner, Coppa Italia winner is available & people are saying "lets stick with Howe". For gods sake. Given the mindset of some fans, we deserve to go down. 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by AsproHor8319

[Menace]

I assume you've not been watching Rafa at Everton then?

[Skeletor]

The whole "This squad finished 12th last season" does my head in. We were in a relegation battle all of last season and due to the congestion at the bottom managed to get 12th by winning our last two games. In that time we stood still keeping the same squad whilst everyone else strengthened. 

[black_n_white]

Rafa was always the consortiums number one guy, I’d love to see Howe succeed but how long can they resist not hiring him with him being available? Rafa would jump at the chance to return too I reckon.

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by black_n_white

[GWN]

Jesus , let it go . 
 

Wonderful bloke for us but won’t ever be the same .

 

I wish him well 

[UncleBingo]

Compare and contrast the media/pundit reaction to this.

 

Bruce gets binned leaving NUFC in 19th, 3pts from 8 (0 wins) after spending £120M and there's absolute outrage towards NUFC fans, who sang a few songs about him.

 

Benitez leaves Everton in 16th with 19 pts (5 wins) after spending next to nowt and he's fair game. Everton fans have given him vile abuse from day one and hung Banners outside his house and not a word has been said. Not one.

 

Fucking cunts.

[AsproHor8319]

1 minute ago, Menace said:

I assume you've not been watching Rafa at Everton then?

 

Hes guilty of taking on more jobs than he needs to, thats true. A bit like De Niro the actor.

 

Rafa was never going to succeed at Everton, you dont call a club a small club & expect the fans to forget that, especially Evertonians, not to mention he managed Liverpool previously. When the fans are against you, the players will soon realise this especially with upstarts like Digne. He was fighting a losing battle from day one. 

 

He took on Real Madrid & Chelsea also when he shouldnt have. It doesnt mean he's not quality though. The fact he even managed clubs of those calibre previously says it all. 

 

When a club & its players buy into his methods though, he can achieve great things. Winning a La Liga with Valencia, Champions League with Liverpool to name a few of his achievements. 

 

What has Howe done?? Sweet fuck all & never managed a club of this size. Going on with his data analysis & strategies which havent worked anywhere besides Bournemouth who are currently in the championship. Players are laughing at him behind his back & it shows.