[Football] Rafa gone..

[Lady Whistledown]

**** em, I live in Newcastle and the stupid twats have basically done nothing to rid themselves of Ashley bar have a bit of a moan up in the pub. We know what it takes to get rid of a chairman/board you don't like and the Geordies have not even lifted a finger to rectify the situation.

Thank you.

I've always felt Rafa was massively overvalued by the Newcastle fans, most of whom seemed utterly blinded by the fact a former Champions League manager could be arsed to come to their club.

What's he actually done there? Got a team who were by far the most expensive squad in the Championship promoted, winning the title only by virtue of a 90th minute **** up in the Albion's game at Villa. I'm not saying they didn't deserve to go up, but Alan Pardew could have got that team promoted.

Meanwhile, they were pretty unimpressive for vast swathes of last season. They failed to even beat us, FFS: only the gloss of a fortunate win over Man City managed to disguise the fact they were dull, negative and uninspired in many games. Yet every time they played badly, the fans blamed it on Ashley. Every time they did well, the fans gave the credit to Rafa.

As a result, Benitez has become absolutely bombproof in the eyes of Geordies. Everything bad is blamed on Ashley, who is being branded "the worst owner in football" by a bunch of people frustrated at "only" finishing lower mid table in the PL.

I'd wager that if Pardew or Hughton or John Carver had been in charge for many of those Newcastle performances last season, their fans would have been screaming abuse and demanding sackings. Rafa gets off scot free, however, because it's all down to Ashley If Ashley is that bad (and you don't just hate him because he's a "cockney"), then get off your arses and do something about it. Otherwise you just look like a bunch of entitled PL fans who think you have right to be in the top six.

 

[worthingseagull123]

Great news for us, he has had them punching well above their weight.

I am sure most clubs at the bottom end of the Premier League think the same after we sacked Hughton.

 

[Invicta]

Roy Keane available... could do a job !

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

I'd say somewhere inbetween. Historically big club but nowadays not really, Toon have good local support but are nothing globally.

Lower Prem/Upper Champ is probably their standard now (a la Leeds, Derby, Villa, Fulham), they were fortunate to have such a good manager IMO.

Nothing globally, rubbish.
I saw a lot of Newcastle shirts proudly being worn in Benidorm on a recent stag week.
And lots of bars in the down market areas of Tenerife are festooned with Newcastle United memoribilia.
I didn't see many in Sorrento during half term to be fair but I have given you 2 locations.

 

[Gwylan]

Roy Keane available... could do a job !

He's not had much success behind him, can't see the Geordies warming to him.

He's an accident waiting to him, he's more likely to punch Ashley than get that team in the top 10.

Oh, maybe he does have something ....

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

Please, please Mr Ashley make it a Londoner, Martin Allen springs to mind.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I've seen Avram Grant linked with them. Please, please let it happen so that he can get his hat-trick of Premier League relegations ...!

 

[super-seagulls]

Nothing globally, rubbish.
I saw a lot of Newcastle shirts proudly being worn in Benidorm on a recent stag week.
And lots of bars in the down market areas of Tenerife are festooned with Newcastle United memoribilia.
I didn't see many in Sorrento during half term to be fair but I have given you 2 locations.

Benidorm & Tenerife.
Come on, they are both pretty much England in the sun.

 

[super-seagulls]

Please, please Mr Ashley make it a Londoner, Martin Allen springs to mind.

‘Arry Redknapp?

 

[Gritt23]

Really ? I don't think he's ready for the junkyard yet. I think he's Italy or Spain-bound. He has far too high a profile to disappear into the backwaters.

There are a million reasons a month to persuade him.

Let's be honest, if he wasn't prepared to "disappear into the backwaters" he'd have been activating an escape clause from Newcastle the moment they went down.

 

[Gritt23]

I am sure most clubs at the bottom end of the Premier League think the same after we sacked Hughton.

And we don't yet know whether they were right or wrong. #worried

 

[Hugo Rune]

If Ashley is that bad (and you don't just hate him because he's a "cockney"), then get off your arses and do something about it. Otherwise you just look like a bunch of entitled PL fans who think you have right to be in the top six.

Ant and/or Dec have now come out on Twitter and demanded that Ashley ‘Get Out’ of their club. Just a matter of time before he leaves now.

 

[McTavish]

Ant and/or Dec have now come out on Twitter and demanded that Ashley ‘Get Out’ of their club. Just a matter of time before he leaves now.

With a reported net worth of £62 million, perhaps they could put their money where their mouths are rather than moaning that someone else is not throwing cash at the club.

 

[Frutos]

**** em, I live in Newcastle and the stupid twats have basically done nothing to rid themselves of Ashley bar have a bit of a moan up in the pub. We know what it takes to get rid of a chairman/board you don't like and the Geordies have not even lifted a finger to rectify the situation.

As another Newcastle resident (well, nearby anyway), I have to concur.

 

[Easy 10]

There are a million reasons a month to persuade him.

Let's be honest, if he wasn't prepared to "disappear into the backwaters" he'd have been activating an escape clause from Newcastle the moment they went down.

Maybe, but I gather his family are happy and settled up norf, which is probably one of the main factors in him hanging around in that shambles of a club for the last 3-4 years, no doubt on a kings ransom.

He'll have his pick of clubs now. I'm actually quite tempted to sneak a cheeky bluey on the FSW rocking up at Old Trafford before the turn of the year.

 

[blue-shifted]

Well yes, if Rafa has professional ambition, he'll bide his time until mid autumn when the vacancies start to come thick and fast and he'll be amongst the first choices.

If he doesn't, he'll head to China and take the cash.

Neither would surprise me, but I'd guess the latter

 

[Kosh]

As another Newcastle resident (well, nearby anyway), I have to concur.

I can't wholly agree... Prior to the Brighton game there was a sizable and very vocal Mike Ashley out protest. I do concur, however, that apathy has been building within the support for years... possibly post Bobby Robson. Again I return to the death of modern football, basically if the Geordies have lost their passion - well the game is dying, slowly but surely. Most of the fans I speak to find it impossible to relate to the money in the game, once the working geordie was priced out (or ooooot), well the loss of passion was inevitable.

Less the Toon Army, more the Town (Gosforth and Jesmond) Newcastle Utd appreciation society.

 

[spence]

I can't wholly agree... Prior to the Brighton game there was a sizable and very vocal Mike Ashley out protest. I do concur, however, that apathy has been building within the support for years... possibly post Bobby Robson. Again I return to the death of modern football, basically if the Geordies have lost their passion - well the game is dying, slowly but surely. Most of the fans I speak to find it impossible to relate to the money in the game, once the working geordie was priced out (or ooooot), well the loss of passion was inevitable.

Less the Toon Army, more the Town (Gosforth and Jesmond) Newcastle Utd appreciation society.

Standing outside a stadium on the odd occasion shouting Ashley out is hardly convincing. This has been going on for years. Nothing to do with passion. If the Geordies are not prepared to take things to another level like mass boycotts, avoiding Sports Direct etc then they deserve what they have got.

 

[wardy wonder land]

I have a feeling that it is all tied in with a potential take over.... part of the deal is for ashley to take the hit for getting Rafa out

Heres hopeing for a chinese / oilygarc plus wegner / mourinho cluster****

 

[blue-shifted]

And I’m really not convinced that Ashley is the worst owner of all time anyway

It’s not like he hasn’t given them a competitive squad, they are competitive, they’ve finished comfortably for the past two seasons. He’s not asset stripped. He turns up for games, even though he gets dogs abuse. He clearly tried to get Rafa to sign a new contract (none of us know what was being offered). He’s also not holding onto the club against the fan’s will, he’ll be happy to sell for as far as I can tell, a reasonable valuation of the clubs worth.

To me, it seems like the fans frustration, is that they aren’t spending as much as, say Everton or West Ham so they are a bit lower in the table. (Well ain’t life hard). The underlying, I think is that he is from London. Culturally I think that is difficult for Geordies to take. They would be delighted with a Chinese state organ or Saudi prince though

Standing outside a stadium on the odd occasion shouting Ashley out is hardly convincing. This has been going on for years. Nothing to do with passion. If the Geordies are not prepared to take things to another level like mass boycotts, avoiding Sports Direct etc then they deserve what they have got.