An assessment of why Rafa claimed to he had to leave Newcastle: Main Gripe for 2 years Not having enough money to spend to allow the team to progress Assessment: The squad has improved this summer and the manager has been given a competitive budget with which to develop the squad. We've broken our previous transfer record 3 times in 6 months. Being honest I don't think anyone would whinge about the business we've been allowed to do. A tick in the box for the club for me. Other gripes: More players needed for the U23 squad Improvement of training facilities Approval to sign older players Assessment: We have obviously invested in the U23 squad this summer and Bruce has confirmed there is a budget set aside for it. So a tick in the box there. Ashley claims there is a record of their correspondence with Benitez which includes the openness to an eight-year deal, and a pledge of £20million to improve training facilities. He has said he will show this to any supporter who wants to see it. Whether that is the case I guess someone will have to call his bluff to find out. Looking at our spend this summer, we appear to be in better shape financially after the 2 year stabilisation. We will see if things do get improved as actions speak louder than words or emails. Undetermined at present but if there was written correspondence, Rafa could easily use that against the club in a tribunal. Given our previous adventure like that, I'm not sure Mike would give such assurances if he wasn't going to follow through. The age of players was clearly rejected and is still the policy. Personally I can understand it for a club like ourselves. When money is tight then you need to maximise that situation. I would not expect that to be a reason to leave. The alternate argument (the one some fans really don't want to hear): Rafa left for China and dumped Newcastle because of the money. 12m a year is a lot and doubled his existing salary. The speed at which the move happened shows it was set up a long time ago. I don't have a problem with this as any self respecting professional would ensure they had a plan B. The problem is I think we were plan B, and he was only going to stay if we met his demands. Realistically we should not have been paying him anymore money, he was on more than enough. As for not meeting other demands, any negotiation requires movement from both sides. They moved for Joelinton in January and the player has confirmed this. Rafa stalled the deal again in February according to Ashley to sort his own situation. I think given the player has confirmed we moved in January, and that he has now signed for 40m, Ashley is probably telling the truth. This shows Rafa despite his protestations to the contrary, was very much focused on himself and his contract. Lets not forget one of the main reasons Rafa didn't leave before the end of the season is because he had a clause in his contract that meant he had to pay the club 6m if he wanted to leave. He was rumoured for a long time to be unhappy the club wouldn't remove it. Probably a good job we didn't or he'd have been off with the job half cocked. Actions speak louder than words. The facts are that a lot of Rafa's gripes have been met this summer. The one which hasn't is the age of players. Not a reason to leave. The only other one is the training ground money, time will tell. There is no reason to think the gripes wouldn't have been addressed had he stayed. Unless you think Ashley had some weird vendetta against him. Now the fans may have been taken with Rafa whispering sweet nothings to them, but the fact is he left to manage in China for 12m a year despite having the option of staying at our great club. He has taken a massive step down from the main show, to go to a developing league. He claims its the project and not the money that took him there. Seriously, does anyone believe that? If he was so good, I think its obvious he'd have had options both here and in other leading leagues. So clearly China was the most attractive option for him and I think we all know why. Conclusion: Rafa played the fans like a fiddle and left for the money. Is he a massive loss? Not really he spent most of the season reminding the players how **** they were. He played drab football and was more interested in money for himself. The job he did ranks below Alan Pardew on all known parameters except professionalism. Personally I think his departure may end up being a good thing and a bullet dodged given his history of falling away badly at most of the clubs in his managerial career. Onwards and upwards.
Certainly won’t miss his tactics. The home game against bottom of the league Fulham was an utter disappointment. 20% possession in a lot of games, no intent to attack. That seemed to change with the arrival of Almiron, one of his better buys. Dubravka and Schar were good buys as well. Bought some dodgy ones in the shape of Muto and Murphy. He’s gone. I can understand why some are sad, he’s a likeable bloke, but he’s not here and we need to move on.
Thought your lass was complaining about me getting my schlong out and pulling my pockets out in your bedroom with her last night. Thank god she didn’t spill the beans... Magicked them tho..
That's the thing, individuals come and go without a care for the best part. Why do managers refer to the 'Project' - Football Clubs are not f****** projects. NUFC are not a project.
I hope i wrong but i think the all out attack brigade might have forgotten we will get hammered in some games and what it feel like being 3 down at half time.. ok itll be great at times but with rafa we were always in the game in terms of leaving with something at least.
We're going to finish 7th Joelinton will score 20+ goals Shelvey will get injured in October (boohoo) and Matty Longstaff comes in and forms an unbreakable partnership with Sean Longstaff.
And then there are Pouchies. J K Rowling’s books have less fiction than this. #pouchyisobsessedwithrafa
WP... If you churned out a bit more of this crap you might be able to turn this into a full on novel Rafa could have gone to China or continued hopping amongst some of Europe's best clubs, instead of coming to Newcastle in the first place.
We should swap ends next time we are with her. Higher points in my book and the snooker rule book for the pink rather than the brown. #ragged
China yes, top European jobs never in a million years. After his abysmal performances at Real and Inter he was finished as a big club manager.
