Fine quotes from Rafa there. He’s been proper ****ed over. Happy for him to go to China. It would have been tough if he popped up in the PL. Kind of when your lass dumps you and then gets outa town rather than be all over her new fella in the boozer.
He’s well connected mind. He’s apparently close protection for the Saudi Royal family. @monacoger to confirm.
So my Russian sources tell me about his Twitter account. I would batter him just to get into a fight(made that joke up myself) Not left, he got chased because he is scared of me. Standard.
That's nothing but your opinion which may also be wrong. A mate is a teacher in China, he says any foreigner has to apply for a work visa at least a month before they start work. Could it be that the only thing stopping Benitez leaving before now was the release clause ... who knows, neither of us tbh. BTW I've just been told Perez has gone to Leicester, apparently not the kind of player that Pulis wants.
I have followed with interest the antics of Rafa if only because it mirrors the behaviour of Mark Hughes when he was our manager. Having taken us to our highest position, and Euro qualification he decided to hold the club to ransom, suggesting that Fulham’s ambition did not match his. The reality was that he was angling for the job at Villa – for which he considered himself a shoo in which, it transpired, was not the case. I believe that Rafa had no intention of extending his contract, citing the lack of ambition shown by the Newcastle board. Now I am not an apologist for Ashley as I believe that his stewardship at Newcastle has been cack handed – too much time spent on his retail interests and not enough time spent on the running of your club, but if he really wanted to keep Rafa he was in an impossible situation. The fact that Rafa has accepted a lucrative 12 mil a year contract in China did not happen overnight, this type of deal would have taken months to negotiate, and in that respect Rafa’s agent has played a blinder. Oscar Wilde once described the definition of a cynic as a person who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing and, in that sense I am a cynic. To put things into context, a person earning 25k per annum would have to work 40 years to earn what Rafa will be earning in a month, and to earn 12 mil a year that Rafa will get, would take a mind boggling 480 years. Football once was a working class game for working class people – not anymore – It has been taken over by spivs and chancers who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
I think he is probably one of those who has convinced himself of his bullshit. Comes on, tries and fails, then quickly runs back to his own board claiming he was just on the wind up, or chucked a few grenades and left. That way the ego remains in place. Its the same with his boring ****e about how the sites gone to the dogs, the Newcastle board being the worst case. Yet he keeps coming back in between all the lucrative security work. He's never changed since the old BBC606. If at first you don't succeed, try try again. If you still don't succeed just convince yourself you have.
Could definitely be the case. They are all hungry for money and that is a lot of money. I suppose the reason some of our lot think he would have stayed in the right circumstances, is Mr Ashley. There is no getting away from what he is. Rafa is not a fool and will have been expecting him to not get any help to get the club to progress. I don't think he wanted to remain in PL purgatory with us. Fair enough really. As for him negotiating his move way in advance, of course he has. He's not a numpty. Its no different to when a player has several parties interested in them. They play them off against each other, get the best deal they can. Its not even exclusive to football that. He'd have had everything in place for China regardless if he any intention of staying at Newcastle or not. He certainly wouldn't sit until July 1st and be shocked. I'd imagine his team have negotiated several contracts for him and he has picked the most lucrative with the best chance of winning. China is a good fit in that regard as I couldn't see any team capable of challenging in Europes top leagues targeting Rafa. I know some of our fans think he walks on water, but many just think he's a good manager. He was a great fit for us because he was a tactical coach who seemed to thrive on extracting the maximum from what we had. Its not been a great watch at times. As fans we have known this has been on the horizon since the season before the one just finished. It was discussed amongst supporters then. Rafa was pretty clear throughout that he would not sign unless the relevant support was forthcoming. Obviously everybody with a brain knew that wouldn't be forthcoming, hence the apathy around his departure.
