Pellegrini is favourite, Emery just behind. De Boer has gone right out though. That said, Benitez is 25/1!!!
No announcement yet? I know he said up to two weeks, but this silence is making me very nervous. I will simply implode if this goes pear shaped. Come on, make a bloody announcement, oh, one which confirms Rafa in post of course.
Well this thread took a hilarious turn Mark my words. This is what will happen. Rafa will not stay, but the board will drag talks out. Why? Because they can sell what Ashley wants, do his bidding, all whilst the fans are distracted. Then, low and behold, Rafa walks away, it's "too late" for billy no mark cockney installed a week before the new season to sign new players before the first game. Then he won't get enough bodies over the line to replace the losses, we have a horrible start to the season etc etc. Can nobody, in hindsight, at least agree that what I said on appointment of Rafa was true? We should have got someone who could have started preparing for relegation knowing he would be there should it happen, and ensured we had at least certainty going forwards and could have worked on an ethos in those last few games.
Hope Springs Eternal mate. I'm not saying I agree, but, I can see where you're coming from. Momentum can be huge for the club this summer if he stays, if not, it will be one bloody big downer.
Jude, if there was the remotest chance of competence from Charnley and "the board", we'd never be discussing relegation in the first place. Rafa is in every, single sense the last chance saloon. It's apology, redemption, acceptance, hope, opportunity, ambition all rolled into one. Anything else is unthinkable and your comment about "hindsight" pales into insignificance because - in hindsight - there should never have been a Kinnear, Pardew, Charnley, Llambias, Wise, Jimenez, Carver, McClaren, Thauvin, Cabella, Carr, and on and on and on, in the first place!!
This. I do believe that the Club want Rafa to stay. I can only guess negotiations of this type are difficult in the best of circumstances and in our circumstances even more so. Bear in mind that if the Rafa "experiment" fails then it's Ashley's millions that are lost and not mine or Judie's or Chippy's or Rafa's etc. That is why Ashley is probably negotiating with Rafa rather than just giving him everything he may have asked for. For every saviour there is an O'Leary, for every Ferguson there is a McLaren. It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that talks take time but it does surprise me that others seem to think it's a two minute chat. Talks could still break down but I for one remain optimistic that Rafa will stay. I'll be gutted if I'm wrong but I've been a Newcastle fan for over 50 years and the Club will go on and so will my optimism; it's what being a member of the Toon Army is all about.
You couldn't have put it better Trev. For me, if you're a fan of any club, you have to be optimistic or what's the point.
Don't think Rafa will stay, the club will **** it up, then they will try to get a big name with a point to prove in as manager. So someone like Ryan Giggs could be the answer if he leaves Manchester United as is being rumoured in the press over the last few days.
You do know Newcastle haven't lost a game since I changed that name, I had one last year wanting Pardew Out he went a couple of weeks later. If I change that now he'll definitely leave the following day or we'll not win for a while.
Logic tells me that if he was going he would have said so early on, the delay I ( THINK ) is he wants to sort out some things before committing
Yes, don't stop believing, as Journey said. Too much negativity on here, we haven't actually heard anything that's not been positive yet, and we knew contract negotiations were always going to be protracted, especially as Rafa was obviously going to be specific and precise about the control he wanted. Everything is still positive unless I hear anything that's definitely to the contrary.