The ChronicleLive today are reporting the talks between Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez and owner Mike Ashley last night went well and that another round of talks is scheduled.
And Rafa was back at his desk at the Benton training grounds today and should be working hard today with Lee Charnley.
The meeting was really Rafa’s last night in that Mike Ashley was presented with the manager’s proposals for the club and how Newcastle could become successful in the Premier League.
Rafa Benitez – positive meeting last night
The meeting included Managing Director Lee Charnley and apparently Rafa went through a host of things – not just about the transfer market this summer – but how Newcastle as a club could improve to become one of the top clubs in Europe over time.
Obviously everything cannot be done at once and the main thing this summer is to get the funds sorted out so that Rafa can have a side that is competitive next season in the Premier League.
The three could agree on a phased approach of improvements over say the next three years, as one possibility.
Rafa is big on planning, so we fully expect things to be phased in this year, next year and the year after.
It’s also clear that Lee Charnley is becoming a key figure at Newcastle and the news is that Rafa and Lee will be working today on things they presumably got the go-ahead on last night.
Rafa should now know the approximate funds he will be getting this summer and he will be able to make some initial decisions on players – like whether to offer Yoan Gouffran, Vurnon Anita and Christian Atsu new contracts this summer.
These things have to be done quickly and players who will be released from the club should presumably be announced shortly.
This is a good first step and it seems remote now that Rafa would leave the club and he will be hard at work with Lee Charnley today getting some of the massive work underway the two have to somehow get done this summer.
It helps that both are workaholics.
🙂
Comments welcome.
96 comments so far
WWSBRD
May 10, 2017 at 1:57 PM
Comment #41ronaldo
Fans like to complain but at the end of the day what does the fee for a player mean to us as fans? U can always find something else to gloat about
How would Townsend (currently playing LW in the PL) not of filled our LW spot? Or McCarthy a consistently PL level CM comparable to Carrick not of impacted our championship team?
Jail for Ashley
May 10, 2017 at 1:58 PM
Comment #42EXPAT,
We never got relegated that season after we finished fifth, same result.
You’re just being silly now about the refereeing etc.
AncientC
May 10, 2017 at 1:59 PM
Comment #43There was no bid made for Townsend, I am not sure where this £15 million is stemming from. It is like Allardyce said, the only offer for Townsend was “a loan” offer from Newcastle, which was never going to be accepted.
ronaldo aarons
May 10, 2017 at 2:00 PM
Comment #44Ancient
My first post on this topic stated that we only have rumours to go by and regarding McCarthy, we supposedly had a £16 million bid rejected and that Everton wanted £20 m. So Benitez must have wanted him originally to want to bid that high. £16m or £20m doesn’t matter as I’m just glad either way we didn’t buy him.
I don’t remember Benitez name dropping Townsend and would find it surprising as he tends to keep his cards close to his chest. I remember him being asked about townsend around the deadline (1 or 2 days before) and just saying that he’s a good player.
expatmag
May 10, 2017 at 2:01 PM
Comment #45I found this quite interesting for those people who thought Ayoze Perez was crap this seaaon and shoukd have bee sold;
PEREZ
appearances…………..25
Substitute………………..11
Goals scored…………….9
Assists…………… ………..6
Minutes played………2292
Yellow xards……………1
Man of the Match……4
Season rating…………..6.83
Jail for Ashley
May 10, 2017 at 2:01 PM
Comment #46Considering we seemed to fall apart without Shelvey and would have been seriously hamstrung without Ritchie at the time, I think not strengthening in January was an unnecessary risk. But hey ho, a new window is on us soon so fingers crossed.
expatmag
May 10, 2017 at 2:02 PM
Comment #47JFA
and you are allowing your hatred if the owner to cloud your judgement.
Remember, he gave the club another £30m this season to ensure an immediate return to the PL
AncientC
May 10, 2017 at 2:04 PM
Comment #48ronaldo:
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/rafa-benitez-admits-likes-andros-12517049
Speaking at his weekly Press conference today Allardyce stated that there has been approaches for some of his players on loan but no cash bids.
And Benitez said today: “You know that I like Andros but at the moment no news.
“We have to find somebody who can give us some balance.
“Always as a manager you always look to improve.”
I cannot recall Benitez speaking about McCarthy. I could be wrong though.
expatmag
May 10, 2017 at 2:05 PM
Comment #49JFA
If Brighton had lost Murray for 3 months, or Knockaert for 5 games or Dunk for 8 games, do you think they would have got automatic promotion?
AncientC
May 10, 2017 at 2:07 PM
Comment #50Ashley didn’t give the club £30 million, he stacked it on the debt, which will be taken out of club revenue sooner or later.
WWSBRD
May 10, 2017 at 2:07 PM
Comment #51JackBall
We are talking about numbers we are guessing at, money that’s not ours and simply knowledge we don’t have. What was our summer budget? How much did we pay for players? What clause were inserted (we owe more on Murphy now because we went up to my knowledge, how much do we owe for others?)?
As a fan I could not care less about the money so my view on them is rarely linked to how much we paid
ronaldo aarons
May 10, 2017 at 2:12 PM
Comment #52Wwsbrd
Lol too right they like to complain! Just saying though, some fans look at fees etc not saying I’m one of them but there are fans who do.
I don’t think Townsend would have filled our lw spot because I dont believe him to be a lw. It’s just playing a player out of position. Palace are doing it because theyve got zaha. We would have had Townsend, Ritchie and atsu. All three are right wingers and not as effective on the left. Why by someone and play them out of position? I’m not saying he’s a bad player, he’s a very good player but wasn’t what we needed. Just my belief though. Others think differently and that’s football.
McCarthy wouldn’t have given us cover for Shelvey and tbh I don’t see him as a good player as a dm. Who compared him to carrick btw? He hasn’t exactly played well for Everton and was injured around January time, turns out he’s been injured the rest of the season so he wouldn’t have made any impact on us.
WWSBRD
May 10, 2017 at 2:14 PM
Comment #53expat
Who cares about Brightons squad they aren’t in a position to buy like we can, Townsend wouldn’t look twice at Brighton
Are u happy that Ashley thinks he knows more about Newcastles squad than Rafa?
expatmag
May 10, 2017 at 2:14 PM
Comment #54JFA
The reasons I brought Brighton up as an example is that our major contributors in similar positions were:
Clark…….34 appearances
Shelvey….38 appearances
Gayle…….26 (6) appearances
Most of these losses of personnel were after the January transfer window closed when these could not have been forecast.
Furthermore, we regained the likes of Amrobi and Sterry from loan deals and rate them or not, they both had experience at premier league and football league level.
ronaldo aarons
May 10, 2017 at 2:17 PM
Comment #55Ancient
Yeah I think that’s the one I remember. He said he liked him but that’s standard, not going to say no he’s terrible. Do you think this means Townsend was his one and only target because he was responded to a question? He never spoke about McCarthy or anyone else because I don’t think he’s been asked about them specifically like townsend was.
WWSBRD
May 10, 2017 at 2:20 PM
Comment #56ronaldo
I despise money talk about players mate fees chat utterly bored me and sucks the joy out if football, to me it’s utterly pointless. It’s like a bloke at an all u can eat buffet complaining he doesn’t have enough food
Townsend if we’d bought him in Jan would of been top 3 for best players we had and he’d of played a lot of games plus we’d have 2 wingers good enough to start in the PL right now rather than 1. Townsend can play either wing so neither is out of position for him
On McCarthy look at his stats they are the same or better than Carrick. I don’t believe in destiny so just because Everton can’t deal with an injury doesn’t mean Rafa couldn’t
expatmag
May 10, 2017 at 2:20 PM
Comment #57Ww
I am happy enough the Ashley knows more about the business and finance side of the club than Rafa especially when you consider the high cost of salaries we are paying for current squad players as well as numerous loanees.
The fact we gained a couple of players back to the squad in January strengthened the squad in the key aeeas of right back and the wings
JackBall
May 10, 2017 at 2:21 PM
Comment #58WW,
I agree we don’t know, but we do know that it is not infinite and that every purchase affects a future purchase. I also agree that your final evaluation of a player should be based on performance on the field. My point is that in addition to on field evaluation, you have the overreaching evaluation of whether we go the best we could for the money we had. With respect to Hayden, there is little doubt that at 2.5 mil, he was a great piece of business. But there would definitely be an amount that the determination would change. Using hyperbole, lets say we paid 30 mil for him. Would you still say, glad we bought him?
expatmag
May 10, 2017 at 2:22 PM
Comment #59Ww
And you are aware that Brighton had a bigger nett spend than us this season?
Moonraker15
May 10, 2017 at 2:22 PM
Comment #60Off topic; I see Pardew is spouting off that he wants his next club to be one capable of winning trophies! It’s galling for me that we made him a load of money whilst he fed Ashley the ammo that enabled him to not invest properly as we were basically a small club!
ronaldo aarons
May 10, 2017 at 2:23 PM
Comment #61I think the only risk we made was not getting cover for Shelvey in January as we had no other player like him and if he got injured then we were in trouble. What’s funny is just say we did go out and buy Townsend and McCarthy (supposedly the players Rafa wanted but who knows), if Shelvey did get injured we still would have been in trouble as neither of these players do what he does. That’s the risk we took in January.
expatmag
May 10, 2017 at 2:27 PM
Comment #62MOONRAKER
Pardew is yesterdays man. I doubt any reasonable PL or even championship club would employ him.
Rumour has it that he is being considered as coach of Mrlbourne City
AncientC
May 10, 2017 at 2:28 PM
Comment #63ronaldo, you may want to give another glance to the quotes from Benitez speaking about Townsend during the transfer window, if you believe Benitez isn’t speaking wanting Townsend.
Odd that you seem to believe Benitez wanted to spend £20 million on McCarthy, without a quote or anything to back it up, but are so ready to disregard an actual quote about a player the manager wanted.
Moonraker15
May 10, 2017 at 2:29 PM
Comment #64What an insult to fans that Ibrahimovich is being paid £367 thousand a week plus a bonus for scoring goals! I know I sound out of touch but surely it’s ridiculous when they can’t get in the top four!
WWSBRD
May 10, 2017 at 2:29 PM
Comment #65expat
So ull be happy enough if Rafa leaves because Ashley knows more about the business? What loanee wages are we paying? And Sterry/Ameobi aren’t good enough to impact our squad
Mate I said I don’t care about Brighton squad they aren’t capable of doing what we can do
JackBall
Honestly mate if we spent 30 mill on Hayden it wouldn’t change my opinion on him at all
optimistic prime
May 10, 2017 at 2:29 PM
Comment #66The biggest signing this summer will be Rafa, that in itself will be a statement of intent. It’s the only one I care about, all the rest will fall into place.
Unlike the last few muppets Rafa can improve players so I won’t feel underwhelmed if there’s not huge marquee signings.
In Rafa I trust!
AncientC
May 10, 2017 at 2:30 PM
Comment #671. Benitez only mentions one player during the transfer window, that being Townsend.
2. Benitez is confident days later that a deal will go through for a player.
3. That player is McCarthy for £20 million?
WWSBRD
May 10, 2017 at 2:32 PM
Comment #68ronaldo
Rafa clearly thought they could. Townsend could easily play number 10 in the Champ replacing the creativity that we’d of lost in Shelvey and McCarthy would of replaced the ball retention in the centre of the park
Moonraker15
May 10, 2017 at 2:34 PM
Comment #69Expat
I agree Pardew has had it but these guys who fail repeatedly and still make money really annoy me!
TikiTakaAcca
May 10, 2017 at 2:34 PM
Comment #70I’m sorry but some of the transfer targets people are mentioning are plain right delusional.
Mertens ….
The guy would cost about 40M + he’s nearly 30 and will be at Juventus if he does move.
Because we will have a big budget doesn’t mean big budget players will come.
ALSO.
Benitez is known for being absolutely horrendous in the transfer market.
Look at 90% he signed for Liverpool. It was all useless junk.
I’m not optimistic at all.
ronaldo aarons
May 10, 2017 at 2:35 PM
Comment #71Wwsbrd
Not going to disagree with you regarding money talk. Saying that it’s always something to consider when talking about players that could possibly sign.
For me Townsend is not a left winger, he can do a job but I’d rather buy players who do more than this and play in their natural position. When he first played with us he didn’t hit the ground running and had quite a few games where he didn’t look great. McLaren had him on the left if I remember correctly. He played on the right with Benitez and he played great for us. We need a left winger we should go and get a left winger. Not someone who is a right winger but can play on the left. We need a lb so I wouldn’t go and look for good rb who can play on the left, I’d go and get a left back.
I’m not big on stats but if they show McCarthy to be similar or better than carrick then it just proves what I’ve always thought and that stats are misleading. Give me a choice and I’d pick carrick every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Rafa is great lol but he’s no magic healer lol… Unless if that’s what this rafa’lotion’ is that I keep hearing about. McCarthy was injured in jan and would have been a gamble on his health, it wouldn’t have gotten better because he signed for us and has Benitez as his manager. For £16 million we can do much better than him, very average player.
hibbit
May 10, 2017 at 2:39 PM
Comment #72not sure you can class Sterry having prem or championship experience , he has only played one game in each ,
had half a season with coventry but that was in the 1st division
lesh
May 10, 2017 at 2:40 PM
Comment #73ShirebrookToon
Oh yes, Ashley’s meticulous planning of all those years ago looks as though it’s going to prove successful.
His strategy was to take the Club on a roller-coaster ride whilst he was waiting for Rafa to become available and ready to join Newcastle United when he did and everything’s falling nicely into place. The season gone was the first of THE Five Year Plan and now it’s onwards towards world domination……. of football that is.
WWSBRD
May 10, 2017 at 2:42 PM
Comment #74ronaldo
Not for me
Townsend is a winger who can play both sides mate. Buying a RB to play LB isn’t the same buying a fullback who can play both comfortably would be
As for McCarthy he got re-injured on international duty there’s no reason to think Rafa would of cared in the same way as Koeman so no reason to think the same event would of happened ie treatment or allowing him to go on international duty while injured
hibbit
May 10, 2017 at 2:43 PM
Comment #75TikiTakaAcca
of his liverpool signings who would you class as useless junk ????
ronaldo aarons
May 10, 2017 at 2:43 PM
Comment #76Ancient
I’m not acting like its fact that Benitez wanted McCarthy for 20 million, there were many reports we had a 16 million bid rejected for him and the reports were saying Everton wanted 20. Have a look yourself.
I’m not disregarding the fact he got questioned about Townsend and he replied. This doesn’t make him the one and only target he had January. Are you saying he responded saying he liked him and then explained that he’s hoping the club could do a deal for someone who can offer balance as a sign of him wanting Townsend and only Townsend?
I didn’t say once that McCarthy was his only target, I’m aware Townsend was a target. Me and wwsbrd have been discussing it for the past half an hour.
AncientC
May 10, 2017 at 2:44 PM
Comment #77“Yeah I think that’s the one I remember. He said he liked him but that’s standard, not going to say no he’s terrible. Do you think this means Townsend was his one and only target because he was responded to a question?”
Odd that Benitez namechecked Townsend, then after the window closed, Allardyce confirmed Newcastle made a loan bid.
Any confirmation that Newcastle bid for McCarthy yet?
expatmag
May 10, 2017 at 2:44 PM
Comment #78WW
I dont think there was ever a chance Rafa would leave and like I said in my previous post, dont ignore the financial side of things.
Dont you think it was significant that Ashley had to loan the club another £30m to cover salaries?
So why are you not surprised Ashley told Rafa we cannot afford to strengthen the club by spending big money on new players when I have just lianed the club £30m to cover salary costs. Makes sense to me.
Like it or nit, the return of Ameobi and Sterry strengthened the squad as well as the return of the ACON players, especially Atsu.
I was using Brighton as sn example of losing key players. I doubt they could adequately replace them from within their squad. We were able to replace like for like except maybe Shelvey adequately.
TikiTakaAcca
May 10, 2017 at 2:45 PM
Comment #79Hibbit
Are you joking?
He signed nearly 60 players at Liverpool.
Apart from about 6 all were bad.
He spent 50M on Keane, Aquilani & Ryan Babel.
AncientC
May 10, 2017 at 2:47 PM
Comment #80ronaldo, your quote: “Ancient
Not making excuses, have a look back to jan and I said the same thing now. he wanted McCarthy for £20 million too, should we have made that signing?”
You certainly didn’t term your question as pertaining to a dubious rumour.