Rafa gone ??

[Machiavelli]

TO be fair, Star and Express headlines tonight were Rafa on the Brink. The geordies were worried for about 10 minutes, then it became clear he was just continuing his strop about not getting any signings in before the deadline.

To be fair, 'on the brink' is somewhat different to 'gone'.

 

[Scotty Mac]

Can you blame him? I'm surprised he has lasted this long working under a basket case regime.

For a man who is so meticulous over every aspect of his club - such as revolutionising Liverpool's youth system - it always seemed a strange fit for him to go to Newcastle, where Ashley's managers are effectively his stooges

 

[LamieRobertson]

Title needs changing to Rafa not gone.

Not gone where

 

[1892]

He will be away at the end of the season, the club was feeling too good to be true until the last few weeks.

 

[sparkie]

OFF

 

[knocky1]

Howay the Lad.

 

[fleet]

Not gone - but really hope it makes things worse for the ram if he is upset!

 

[The Fish]

Same power-play he's made at every club with an ******** as an owner.

It'll galvanise the fanbase behind him, it'll strengthen his position come transfer time, it may even drag better performances from complacent players.

Should Ashley fail to support him satisfactorily in the Summer and Rafa feels his position is untenable, the vitriol directed at Ashley from the stands will be unreal. He gambled with Keegan and lost, costing us a decade of bad football and two relegations, he tries to gamble with Rafa, he'll lost again.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

His contract apparently gave him full control over the playing side, i.e. full control to buy who he wanted within the budget. In his post-match interview after the QPR game he strongly implied he had been prevented from making signings, whether this is a breach of his contract or he has already spent the agreed budget is unclear

 

[ditchy]

No, reports saying he will be gone in summer if Ashley doesn't let him have control of transfers

Article in the Times this morning saying this . Sorry cant post it online as i read it the old fashioned way in the newspaper .

 

[Driver8]

Tbh if Rafa can't get promoted with the squad he has then he's not much of a manager.

 

[Arthritic Toe]

Even Newcastle managers don't have a blank cheque, there is also a business side to it. I can see Mike Ashley's side here. Signing Andros Townsend may have improved the squad to some extent, but you cant just blow millions and millions for a marginal improvement. Newcastle have more than enough strength in their current squad to finish top two.