One of the things we have been impressed with since Rafa joined the club is how he recruits not only good players but players who want to come to Newcastle and players who seem to be top professionals of good character.
We were supposed to be doing that at Newcastle for a number of years according to the PR, but we haven’t always signed players of good character or players of good ability for that matter.
Daryl Murphy after scoring his first goal ever for Ireland
But the 12 players Rafa brought in during the summer seem top players in almost every way.
Rob Elliot just got a new four year deal at Newcastle and he has been talking about his two fellow Republic of Ireland colleagues – Ciaran Clark and Daryl Murphy – who joined the club last month.
Rob is really upbeat on the two of them and he had this to say on the Newcastle web-site:
“The manager spoke to me a couple of times about players, and I mentioned Ciaran and Daryl – and a few of the other Ireland boys, because they’re a great bunch.”
“I think Clark and Murphy bring a real strong mentality to the Club and they were both desperate to come and be a part of something.”
“Ciaran’s got a long future ahead of him. He can play in a lot of positions and he’s a real winner; a tough center-half to play against.”
“Daryl brings a lot of experience, especially at this level, and a cool head.”
“He’s someone who is exciting to watch; he’s quick, he’s strong, he’s good in the air and ticks all the boxes.”
“For me, they’re great additions. They’re great footballers but the mentality they’ll bring to the squad will be a massive bonus.”
“And obviously with Daryl getting his goal the other night, hopefully that’ll be great timing and he will hit the ground running here.”
We wonder if another player Rafa asked Rob about was Everton midfielder James McCarthy, who we are rumored to be interested in signing for the January transfer window.
We suppose Rafa has contacts all over the place where he can check out the characters and the ability of players he wants to sign.
Certainly he has done a great job in the summer transfer window and Ciaran and Daryl are only two of the good players he signed.
And it seems the Rafa effect went into action very quickly with Daryl, because after only 9 days at Newcastle he scored his first International goal for Ireland against Serbia.
That was his 23rd cap after making his International debut nine years ago.
Here’s the goal – it comes after the celebrations – strange that.
🙂
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4rzynh
It was quite a story when Daryl equalized late in the game in Serbia and you could see the delight on his face after scoring his very first International goal – and it was an excellent header too.
Yes – Daryl has made the right move to join Newcastle.
Comments welcome.
4 comments so far
Jail for Ashley
Sep 8, 2016 at 4:30 PM
Comment #1Simon,
From previous.
Yet he still took and eight year deal knowing the fans were being conned. He could have gone to any middling club after that double manager of the year but continued to spin lies for his paymasters while sticking his fingers up at us.
lesh
Sep 8, 2016 at 4:31 PM
Comment #2Referring to the previous thread and Ed’s praise for Charnley and the work he’s done to complete the various incoming and outgoing player moves, it doesn’t seem like five minutes since Charnley was being vilified for the apparent incompetence he’s shown in recent times. I was one of those among many who were calling for Charnley’s removal from his post as MD.
So, was his ‘incompetence’ really incompetence or was he bending to the wishes of Mike Ashley?
Could it be that he’s been perfectly capable of fulfilling his role all along?
Or, could it be that Rafa’s had a lot to do with ensuring that Charnley delivers in a timely manner? There’s no doubt that Rafa has brought a lot more to Newcastle United than his coaching and he seems to have got Charnley on board with his thinking about rebuilding the Club from the virtual train crash it was when he arrived last season.
So, has Charnley’s talent been stifled by an owner without any real ambition for the Club or has his talent been harnessed and used well?
magicmac
Sep 8, 2016 at 4:44 PM
Comment #3Lesh, your spot on with your comments on here, i could not agree with you more Lesh, its good that some fans on here seem to be intelligent and know what thier talking about/ HWTL.
martoon
Sep 8, 2016 at 5:39 PM
Comment #4Lesh – I’m of the opinion that Charnley is good at financial stuff and doing deals BUT he is a poor manager exemplified by the painful drawn out sacking of McClaren. However with Rafa doing the managing he has now found his niche!