Rafa Benitez: Time to go, and why.

Having watched our Championship team defeated once again by a bang-average Premier League team, it really struck me how we need to properly prepare ourselves for our impending relegation.

Rafa Benitez is a proud man and more than that, a very good and experienced football manager.
He squirmed at the mention of Ashley's name during his post-match interview and it's very clear he is very unhappy with the situation.

It's the right time for Benitez to walk away, although I don't believe he will because he is, rightly or wrongly, a very proud and ultimately professional man.

Quite frankly, Rafa Benitez deserves better than he is getting.
Forget the money, we all know he's very well paid, but it's his reputation and chances of any kind of success that are being damaged.

Am I thinking too much about Benitez and not enough about Newcastle United?
Possibly, but the fate of Newcastle United has been sealed for the last decade and it's not about to change, despite yet another yawn-worthy story about someone else being able to prise ownership away from Mike Ashley.

We all know we're sinking as a club and it's a shockingly unique situation.

50,000 proud Geordies turn up every home game to support their local team.
Ashley knows this will happen every time no matter how bad the football is because of his continued under-investment in the squad.
The team lose, the fans still come, Ashley gets his money from the gate and the TV.

Quite how Rafa can stomach this is beyond me.

His last job was as the Manager of Real Madrid, and I cannot hope to understand how Rafa must be feeling.
Frustrated mostly - he can see and has said what we all know: Newcastle United has all the potential in the world - but it's never going to be achieved whilst Mike Ashley remains the Chief Milker of this club.

Thanks Rafa, but it's time to go.
You deserve better and you should go and get it sooner rather than later.

As fans, we will be forced to endure the horrible lows that are coming our way once again, courtesy of Ashley and his unrepentant greed, but as a Spanish manager, you should be looking to free yourself of this current hardship and get some joy back in your career before it's too late.

 

Saw the title and was a bit wary but after reading post I would not criticise Rafa one iota if he left either during the season or, if Cashley’s still in charge, at the end of his contract.

Yes he’s made mistakes but which manager doesn’t but he’s trying to do the job with both hands behind his back, whilst blindfolded and clinging by his teeth to a burning rope above a swimming pool full of lava.

 

I don't necessarily think Mike Ashley would consider Rafa to have been wholly professional, and neither would I. His use of the media to build support to put pressure on his employers isn't what I would define as professional.

His moment to go was before the season started, if he stays and oversees our worst start, he has to see it out. If he suddenly left now, that would make him a ****, I'm afraid.

His next opportunity to leave on his own terms, which I expect him to take, is at the end of the season.

 

Fantastic metaphors!

 

In any other scenario, I would tend to agree about Rafa's use of the media, but quite frankly he has to try and defend his own reputation.
Ashley has lied about the level of investment "He can have every penny the club makes" etc, and this term as Newcastle United manager has proved to be a massive anti-climax.

The Promotion as Champions was great and a 10th place finish last season was incredible, but we all know it's just about finishing 17th for Ashley and Benitez should not take any further part in it as far as i'm concerned.

I do think you're right though, the end of this season will be the time Rafa will set sail.

 

Who would we get of the same calibre to replace him?

I get what you mean though.

 

Agreed wholeheartedly. Although his use of the media could be brought into question, I understand why he did it. We are being run in such an amateur fashion. I wouldn’t blame him if he left and quite frankly, I implore him to leave for his own sake. We are doomed with or without Rafa in my opinion.

 

<cough>hi<cough>

 

If we were grinding out results or losing to the odd goal here and there against top of the table teams as per last season I think Rafa would have made a point, but we are playing awfully, not looking like scoring and leaking goals.

The way we played in the championship was structured and methodical to produce results. We achieved top spot as Brighton fluffed at the end.
Last season we were structured and put a run together just in time to pull out of the bottom 3 and somehow managed to finish 10th.

Rafa's pride or not, he assembled the current squad. When he was acquiring players for the championship season, I did say that he must have a plan to evolve the squad after promotion. It appears that he really didn't. We had Atsu on loan, we knew his limitations, yet we still proceeded with the purchase - try before you buy!!

Every manager has to have a plan to work with the squad they have any new signings are a bonus and a plan B, C, D etc. Rafa's plan appears to be for new signings to the plan A, when they didn't happen (or the ones he wanted) he has lost his way. I hope he can turn it round, as it's his reputation and the clubs future on the line. I don't believe we have awful players, but they look like strangers on the pitch with no cohesion.

If we are playing Allardyce/Pulis style and getting results whilst the new players bed in but to pick up points I could almost tolerate it, but we aren't picking up points and aren't really using the new players we did sign.

 

Pardew didn't criticise Ashley publicly and was called a yes man. Rafa does use the media and he's a moaner. You can't win.

 

No, no, just no.

Read Chippy’s thread.

https://www.not606.com/threads/net-spends-since-rafa-took-charge.367615/

He’s spent -£45.9M to assemble this team and squad. How can you judge him on that? Ridiculous if you do. Even if he was evens on money in and out then you could think about it but on a -£45.9M spend no way. Look at the table in Chippy’s thread and see where the teams around us in that table are. Look to see where the nearest current PL team are in that table (S’ton at -£12M and they have had several big sales due to their youth/transfer policy which we are light years behind) and the next one is Spuds (with a +£27M spend which is about £73M difference to us).

This is not the squad Rafa would have assembled with anything resembling a sensible even conservative transfer policy.

One man is to blame for where we are. Please don’t get confused about this.

It’s Ashley.

 

This. It’s loke giving a builder some cement, but no sand or water and asking him to build you a house.

 

Oh I get the net spend - or lack of. Ashley's tenure has been an absolute disaster, he's tried to reign in spending and treated it like any other business in a period when football's money has become obscene. He now has a manager that is well respected in the game in general and is used to being at the top table of clubs.

But Rafa is still choosing the type of players he gets and how the team is set up. 2 points from 7 games and an awful league cup game, is an awful return considering we have been set up with a "containment" approach to them.
Yes he'd like to have a higher calibre of player to work with and to give the squad some depth, but the squad he's got are primarily the same ones that he's had for 2 seasons so why the complete turn around in how they are performing? Some of the squad are probably championship level players, but they still achieved what they did last season in the Premier League.

So yes the under investment in the quality and depth of the playing squad can be levelled at the top, Rafa needs to shoulder some of the blame for how he is using what he does have at his disposal.

 

Remarkable.

 

I think Ashley will go for Allardyce or Moyes.

Obviously they're not of the same quality, but I'm not convinced we will ever get someone of Rafa's calibre again.
Not with Ashley still here.

 

Woods / Trees etc.

 

It's like making love to a beautiful lady, but with a tiny cock. Or so I hear....

 

The problem started well before Rafa came. The under investment in players that started years ago is now affecting us badly now with no youth players coming through whatsoever.

Rafa has bad players at his disposal it is that simple.

I honestly do not know what Ashley sees in us now at all.

 

Maybe its time for everyone to realise just how stellar a job Pardew did under the same conditions as Rafa?

 

What was that Welsh Town again....LLDLLLLLLDLLLDL.