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Rafa Benítez (now unemployed)


Greg

Would you have Rafa back?   

463 members have voted

  1. 1. Would you have Rafa back?

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

This poll is closed to new votes


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42 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

Ah, the Gavilan effect. 

Honestly it was the SBR effect. Was a Man U supporting mate that convinced me to watch the World Cup in the first place. He gave me the hard sell on them afterwards but I decided to research all the teams and stopped when I came across Newcastle United and Sir Bobby Robson.

 

Besides the team/city history a lot of it was in his personality and the way he conducted himself ... one of the last few true gentlemen of the game.

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19 hours ago, Mike said:

:lol: Glenn Roeder was my first manager.

Outside of Rafa and Hughton he is a messiah compared to the the rest lol. I was fortunate in that KK was my first manager, very fortunate. The sad thing with Roader is that he was a decent coach, very likeable and did a great job as a caretaker, but he wasn’t management material and should never have been given the job full-time. That and at that time the club were cutting back on everything, which as we know Ashley has taken to a whole new level since. 

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I find it quite remarkable that, for someone's first experience of NUFC to be the Pardew years, they could have any sort of devotion to this club at all, especially now. A, how could you be sucked in at all, after such a fleeting moment of 'success' and B, given the state of the club, how could you retain the interest without the embedded attachment from having grown up with the club? I don't know how old Deuce is but I can't imagine getting my mid-twenties and being like "hmm, what I'm really missing is an awful sports team that depresses me on a daily basis." :lol:

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On 15/09/2021 at 00:09, HawK said:

 

Sure, I take the point that Benitez won't illicit the same sort of response from players as Guardiola did/does. Maybe it's a reputation thing, but I won't argue against bigger egos not listening - look at all the shit from Owen, Gerrard, how his Real tenure unravelled. It's a crying shame that some of the bigger players won't be told what to do, but not all of them are like this. He needs players who are willing to work hard and listen, and when Pros get to the absolute top of the game, there are really not many people they will listen to. See Zidane, Guardiola - legends of the game at the biggest clubs in the world (Zidane more so than Guardiola ), able to work with some of the biggest names in the game and get them to perform. Half the battle is getting the team to sing from the same hymn-sheet, and if they are all listening and pulling in one direction, it's arguably more important than whatever tactics/instructions are issued, as long as they are all followed. I don't think anyone would consider Zidane a tactical mastermind, but there's no doubt who's the manager of the team when they take to the pitch.

 

I think it's less that you can't tell big players what to do, it's more that it needs to come from someone they respect absolutely. And even the biggest managers don't illicit respect automatically, see Staam under Ferguson or Anelka under pretty much anyone. Curiously, these falling-outs don't seem to happen so much if the manager at the top was a top player - Guardiola, Zidane, Mancini, rather than the more 'professional' managers, e.g. Benitez, Mourinho, AVB and so on. There seems to be a limit to how high a level these professional managers can go whilst demanding absolute tactical discipline from the players they manage.

 

I think managers like Ancelotti just seem to let players go out and play, a more Keegan-esque approach, and instill confidence in players in themselves, rather than the system, to get results. This only works though if your team is that damn good they don't need a system to win, and your players have the flair and guile and intelligence to do it themselves. But if you get the two together, top players within a rigid system - Barcelona & tiki-taka, it's almost unstoppable.

 

/observation

I agree with this. 

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15 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 I can't imagine getting my mid-twenties and being like "hmm, what I'm really missing is an awful sports team that depresses me on a daily basis." :lol:

 

Yorkie I'm sad to inform you that wor Deuce has a type.

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19 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

I find it quite remarkable that, for someone's first experience of NUFC to be the Pardew years, they could have any sort of devotion to this club at all, especially now. A, how could you be sucked in at all, after such a fleeting moment of 'success' and B, given the state of the club, how could you retain the interest without the embedded attachment from having grown up with the club? I don't know how old Deuce is but I can't imagine getting my mid-twenties and being like "hmm, what I'm really missing is an awful sports team that depresses me on a daily basis." :lol:


:lol: if you knew what other teams I support, you’d understand.

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Back in the 70s there was a weekly highlight show of English football on channel 11 from New York.  Also the New York Sunday Times had the top tier table and results.  I remember that the club names had a lot of apostrophes to save space.  Newcastle may have been N'wc'sl', Sunderland may have been S'ndl'd or some such.  Because of my heritage I've always had an affinity for the Northeast  When the EPL began gaining popularity in the US, Newcastle became my team and Fat Sam was my first manager so yeah, Mike Ashley has always been my owner.   I'm bitterly loyal [emoji38] and could never turn away especially after watching players like Colo, Cabaye, Jonas, HBA, Shay, et al.  Of course Keegan and Rafa as well.

 

I've been a Mets and Jets fan all my life so sporting pain is in my DNA

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I know for a fact you have never once in your entire life felt the emotion joy

 

d4N6soz.png

via the Jets. I'm essentially your age and no. No you haven't. When? That one year like 15 years ago? Howay, man. Bullshit. :lol:

 

I'm a Knicks, Bills, Newcastle and Yankees fan. I've had sips of joy from the first three and been blackout drunk from the last. Somehow I'm a miserable sports bastard. But you. You! Fucking hell, man. What are you doing, man. :lol: Newcaslte Mets and Jets. That's dead wild. Will you die if you smile? Is that why?

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