Charnley

Is it about time he stepped down

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from the BBC

Lee Charnley, managing director at Newcastle United, said: “Steve has a deep affection for Newcastle United and we are very pleased that a coach with his vast experience and connections to the club and city has joined us.

“Steve knows what this club means to supporters and to the region and he will put his heart and soul into leading our talented group of players with the full support of our staff".
“The hard work for Steve and his team starts immediately and we will be fully prepared for the challenge of a new Premier League season."

“I would place on record my thanks to Ben Dawson, Neil Redfearn and our medical and support staff for the way in which they have worked together to oversee the start of our pre-season preparations.”


no mention about any support from the owner or managing director

 

Eh?

 

there will be huge crowds out too cheer him on, experts say it could top VE day turnout

 

Europe you say Marra?

 

Chopra on Radio Newcastle phone in saying Bruce was 11th choice. Have heard elsewhere he was 6th choice. That’s potentially 5 or 10 managers who have turned Ashley down. Shows, if true, how low Ashley and Penfold have taken us.

Why would an owner not move heaven and earth to keep a manager of the stature of Benitez? When that owner then replaces Benitez with a manager to the standing of Bruce it again speaks volumes about the aims and ambitions of said club.

For those who aren’t prepared to boycott games, even just one game, are you happy with the regime? If not, what are you willing to do to “force” change at the top. Admitted the boycott may not work but doing nothing is guaranteed not to change anything and Ashley isn’t selling any time soon. Why should he?

 

If you look closely at that statement you can see where they tippexed out Rafa, then Jose.and changed it to Steve. The only reason they went for Bruce was so they didnt have to change it again after Steven Gerrard turned them down.

 

Please don't listen to Chopra, he's a skint parasite who's crawled out from under his stone to make a few quid. A life loser.
Benitez was offered £6 Millon a year and a decent budget, he planned to go East all along, he's a fraud.

 

B...but we are gonna sign a nobody to break our transfer record so mike’s a good guy after all.....

 

No bitterness there at all mate? Just genuinely curious as it’s a strong emotional response...x2.

 

No bitterness Albatt, was usual for me to watch Supermac et al in the early 70's thru St James with my older brother, although Red and White . I have no dislike of NUFC , don't think Chopra is qualified to have an opinion on NUFC or Bruce, Bruce with laugh at that useless t@at and I don't think a relegation, bat sh@t boring football, and two mediocre finishes in the Premier League warrants the Rafa is a God repsonse. He's a mercenary like most, he's no Joe Harvey .

 

Respect mate. Didn’t mean it in a wrong way like. Apologies if it came across that way.

 

Where the **** did they dig Chopra up from.
He didn't even the balls to score for your lot against us.
I'm not sure about the going East mind, I thought it would be North to Celtic.

 

None taken, I always respect your views and your love of NUFC , its a shame some morons aren't like minded. Hope Welbeck lands and bangs em in .

 

They dig sh@t up to margenlise you from there favourite 6 and make the North East look backward , its like Chelsea have always been a big club, they're a sky created brand for chinkys but certainly not a NUFC historically .

 

I wouldn't go as far to say Rafa is a mercenary, I think that's pretty strong. Rafa does have some big issues which means I've always had doubts about him, but I have a strong Liverpool supporting family and was very aware of his decline at Liverpool. For me, Rafa's problem is often his big mouth when speaking to the media and his one note defensive football. I do think our two seasons with Rafa were mediocre, but I didn't really come on the board often to air my opinions.

In regards to Liverpool yhat last year was a disaster, and I honestly think Rafa is heavily to blame for it, his signings and football were terrible. He had massive falling outs with players, famously trying to sell Xabi Alonso, arguably their best player and then being surprised the following summer when he left for Real Madrid. He had absolutely no back up for the player and it was a ****ing disaster, around the time he also fell out with Gerrard for openly in the press saying Gerrard being below par was the problem with the side and not the fact Rafa replaced Alonso with an injured Aquilani and Glenn Johnson. Benitez also has an issue with failing to change tactics when the going gets tough, he would often find himself losing a game and having absolutely no backup, often substitutions came late and had little effect. Something I believe hampered Newcastle heavily under him, when Newcastle went behind, it wasn't often we mounted a comeback. If we looked like we were going to lose, we often lost.

I also remember distinctly Rafa managing Inter Milan because I started following them closely during the Jose Mourinho days, he did an absolutely diabolical job. It should have been a good swap, replace one champions league defensive minded manager with a similar one. But, Rafa just never clicked with the squad, he was seen as cold, critical and once again had a strong plan A but no plan B. He tended to heavily blame the squad and the Inter chairman, who had a fantastic working relationship with Mourinho, the chairman was essentially offended that Rafa openly criticised him in the press and that sped up his sacking.

This had a strong effect on Rafa's CV and recognition, following the dismissal at Inter he was out of work for 2 years. It was him taking that awful job on at Chelsea and doing an OK job that made people in England remember he was a capable boss, before that he was a bit of forgotten man.

A lot of people considered Benitez a bit of a failure at Napoli, but I think that's incredibly harsh. I think he did a good job there and won silverware, I dunno, I think its the best job he's done since Liverpool. And his time at Real was a complete and utter disaster, results were OK but his relationship with the board and players was awful. He fell out with them almost instantly and the fans HATED the football.

So, for me, when Rafa arrived at Newcastle what he accomplished wasn't really a shock to me, nor was it something amazing. He just did what I would expect a decent manager to do with our squad. He got them mid table prem, which is what I think our side is, but once again it was Rafa's mouth which has caused problems for this football club. As has happened in his previous 4 major jobs. He openly criticised the board to get fans on side, he openly referred to the players as poor and below standard, he openly said the facilities are not to his standard, he demanded higher and higher transfer budgets (which btw we accepted,) and in the end he walked out while at larger clubs with more options they sacked him instead.

For me, he isn't a mercenary, he's just a decent manager who can do a job for clubs with the right set up. He's not one of the greats of the game, he's the kinda manager you'd expect to be managing a Europa League side like Sevilla, Valencia or (right now) Arsenal. I'm happy he stabilised the club but I think his departure and the way both parties went about it was poor.

 

And your qualifications are?

 

Are you sure you aren't a bit upset Chopra was seemingly referring to "us" as in Newcastle and talking like a fan of the club? Parasite seems quite emotive language for someone who doesn't hate...

Nobody thinks Rafa is a god. Nobody is worshipping little idols and praying to Lord Rafa before mealtimes. He is appreciated as a great calibre manager who said the right things, largely acted in the right way, and had a pretty terrible team that finished midtable with the lowest investment. I would suppose anyone who knows anything about football might call that an achievement of some description.

Additionally, genuinely everyone in professional football is a mercenary. Why wouldn't you be? They have wives and pet lizards to rear, and a 10 year career span to earn all the money they will likely ever make. That will not only see out their retirement, but sort their kids and grandkids for life. That is literally the working-class dream.

People use the term "mercenary" as an insult, which is weird, especially when Mackems do it, considering they must be quite close to having playing staff with day-jobs... don't worry, you're not far off having your dream of seeing your striker fix your u-bend, then knock off early at 4.30pm for training, "for the love of the game"

 

Nibble