We read in the Chronicle that Rafa Benitez is becoming more and more frustrated with the Newcastle hierarchy.
There was news in the Chronicle today that Benitez expected back in late November that this January transfer window would be much like the previous two – and he would get no help from Ashley.
We are in a similar position as we were last season, but there are some real differences too.
Rafa is not as confident with his squad as he was a year ago when he said we would do better in the second half of last season – which we did and even finished in 10th place.
His is not saying those things at the moment – but that it will take a miracle for Newcastle to avoid relegation this term.
Rafa has done his best to alert Mike Ashley to the dangers Newcastle face in the final five months of the season.
Rafa Benitez – at Watford this season
But we have heard nothing from Ashley and 10 days of the window are already over.
Benitez has refused to sign a new deal at Newcastle unless the way transfers are done at the club is changed radically, and the manager also has much more say on how the transfer money is spent.
He also wants more money to spend so he can bring in a better class of player and wants to know the level of Mike Ashley’s ambitions for the club.
We can tell Rafa what they are right now – it’s to spend as little money as he can in keeping Newcastle as a Premier League club.
Rafa has been at the club now for coming up to three years and he will know that if Ashley doesn’t sell things are not going to improve any time soon.
And even if Rafa keeps Newcastle s a Premier league club this season, he will surely look for a more ambitious club than Newcastle are under Ashley.
Former Premier League Champions Leicester City are one of those clubs reported to be interested in signing Rafa in the summer.
The only hope for us seems to be that Rafa can somehow have Newcastle survive relegation in the next several months and a new owner emerges before the summer.
It will take those two things to happen to prevent the disaster scenario at Newcastle.
That’s Rafa leaving the club and Newcastle relegated for the third time from the Premier League under Ashley.
The more we don’t strengthen this month the more likely that disaster scenario is of becoming real.
Comments welcome.
266 comments so far
firebug666
Jan 11, 2019 at 7:55 AM
Comment #241lochinvar
I agree marra, nothing has felt right about this whole scenario since the fat man opened his fat gob on sky. The only info since then has come from “A Reliable Source” who are less reliable because they are breaking the club’s trust in them so as to tittle tattle to the ITK’s on a blog.
lochinvar
Jan 11, 2019 at 7:56 AM
Comment #242Toon22@215
I think the best place to start looking for Kenyon is right up MAs backside
Forgive me but I’m not going in there to look, not for anyone.
However I’ve a mate in the Fracking business and he’s got a rig that can dig down way beyond anything else on the planet.
He’s giving it a try but he can’t reach Kenyon as he’s so deeply embedded and at the moment he can’t get past Wise and a good few others who are also in there blocking the entrance.
It’s not for the faint hearted and he may be gone sometime.
It doesn’t look good.
sing in the corner
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:02 AM
Comment #243Moderated.. Cheers Ed. ive seen a lot worse let go mind. Just sayin.
sing in the corner
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:03 AM
Comment #244Pound of flesh..
‘Fcuk you, pay me!’
Not a Goodfella at all.
Get OOT of the club.
sing in the corner
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:06 AM
Comment #245Endgame cometh.
If fakeover is truly that, the last decision might be do we as a fan base, a city, drag him into the bonfire with us.
hibbit
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:09 AM
Comment #246what i don’t understand about this whole sorry affair is why a man like Kenyon with an impeccable business reputation is saying nothing, why is he allowing his good name to be used in such a manner and his reputation to be damaged for what ????
lochinvar
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:10 AM
Comment #247Rob@207
Harry Rednapp lives in Dorset
c-dog
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:11 AM
Comment #248SITC
Bargain basement Ashley players only here to collect a pay check. Not mags.
I’ll be continue to hound them out which sends a message to Ashley that his policies are unacceptable. Hopefully they leave for less than what we paid. Hit him where it hurts.
Jail for Ashley
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:20 AM
Comment #249sitc,
You should see the abuse TMG get on Twitter for cancelling that boycott, It’s disgusting. They messed up with the Shirebrook thing, they should have called that off when they realised they weren’t going to fill a bus, why they never done a go fund me and sent ten buses of hard up fans is beyond me. That then had a knock on effect for the eleven minutes which left them as a lame duck.
Jail for Ashley
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:21 AM
Comment #250Is Shearer too busy playing golf and working Saturdays to stand up and be counted.
chicousa
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:21 AM
Comment #251I am feeling very optimistic! I think Ashley decided to grab as much money out of the club as he could get over the past couple years, invest as little as possible and then sell as quickly as possible in the summer of 2019!
So after the Stavely affair he saw that there was a chasm between what he wanted / felt he should get for the club (350-400 M £) and what a rational buyer was willing to value the club at without stipulations or conditions (Stavely and PCP offered 250 M £ w/o conditions of staying up, etc).
So he decided to pocket the TV money from last year (lets say 120M) and this year (another 120M), and sell the club regardless this summer. If Rafa keeps the club up he knows he can get 250M £. If the club is relegated then he sells for say 150M £.
So bottom line: if NUFC stays up he has made 120M + 120M + 250 M = 490 M £!!!
If the club goes down he has made 120M + 120M + 150M = 390M £!!!
So either way Ashley makes what he wanted or more! A win for the fat greedy bastard! But at least the club is sold and we are rid of the bastard!!!
So I am feeling optimistic!!!
sing in the corner
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:23 AM
Comment #252Cdog
Disagree. Which players are just collecting a pay cheque? I don’t see that. The players have been left to get on with it, not their fault as individuals at all, that the owner has under resourced the club, the squad. He has a long history of employing people who aren’t able to realise ambitions they surely have when they come to work for him.
lochinvar
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:26 AM
Comment #253C-dog
Understand the sentiment but inflicting more damage on NUFC is unlikely to make Ashley blink.
House of Fraser is a basket case.
Debenhams are on the edge.
Ashley’s only saviour is Sports Direct with a volume business in the UK and overseas offshoots in Europe, the Far East and USA. All where Premier League TV coverage is at the heart of betting cultures.
That’s the serpents head and cutting that off is the way to deal with this . It’s the hoardings and advertising of Sports Direct that’s at the heart of all this. That’s the key.
c-dog
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:36 AM
Comment #254That may be true. But if continue to show our unwavering support for the players on match day what message does that send to Ashley? I’ll tell you where my mindsets at. In a place now where relegation doesn’t bother me. The only objective for me is seeing an end to mike Ashley’s disastrous stewardship
c-dog
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:37 AM
Comment #255If someone offered mike Ashley leaving or premier league survival to you right now which would you accept?
chicousa
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:40 AM
Comment #256Easy answer: Ashley leaving!
Mag :P
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:44 AM
Comment #257Easy question to answer that C-dog.
100% I would take relegation to see the fat man leave our club.
What’s the point being in the Premier league if we never want to actually compete in it? Scraping by and hoping for survival every year is tiresome and the football that we are left to watch is bargain basement trash.
Better the devil you know people are very confusing to understand, why on earth would you not take that risk on a new owner? Ashley has proven to be a complete failure in his 11 years and a complete lack of change on his behalf shows that the future will be no better.
In all honesty, what owner could actually do worse?
This clubs only hope at improvement is when Ashley is no longer in the picture. Him being here we will always be on crutches, existing, but that is it. Never anything to get excited about, we can’t even enjoy having a world class manager like benitez because we know he doesn’t get the backing someone of his ilk deserves.
lochinvar
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:45 AM
Comment #258Ashley out, disconnected his cable. Switch off.
Then start the reboot of the club.
lochinvar
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:48 AM
Comment #259MagP
Good shout
Ultimately football like all sport is about winning or at least attempting to win.
Just taking part is not an option.
Bit like going abroad for a sun tan but staying indoors when you get there. Pointless.
RobLeenio
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:49 AM
Comment #260As I said yesterday, relegation does not guarantee Ashley leaving.
Therefore to hope for it is perverse. Why put the club in a worse position than it is already in? We need to get behind the players and the manager and give them the boost they need to come out of the next run of games in a competitive position.
sing in the corner, your post was excellent.
Mag :P
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:54 AM
Comment #261Rob
It’s a hypothetical question.
I personally know that relegation doesn’t guarentee that Ashley will leave. He hasn’t before and we have been relegated twice in his tenure.
I was answering hypothetically ‘if he would leave 100% if we were relegated’.
Obviously, I dont want relegation this season. But the fact that relegation is all we seem to talk about is a damning indication of Ashley’s despicable tenure.
chicousa
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:58 AM
Comment #262Rob,
Of course nobody wants to be relegated! And most of us whole heartedly support the lads. But c-dog asked a hypothetical question: if getting relegated meant definitely being rid of Ashley, would you take that deal?
Most of us would say yes I’ll wager. Of course the best result would be Ashley sells, Rafa and the club stay up and new owners invest rationally in the club going forward.
chicousa
Jan 11, 2019 at 8:59 AM
Comment #263Ah you beat me to it, Mag P
RobLeenio
Jan 11, 2019 at 9:03 AM
Comment #264mag : p, I agree with you – hypothetically. I’m just concerned apathy sets in, we drift towards relegation and start to hope that this will be sufficient to remove Ashley when most likely it will just result in Ashley loading more debt on the club and introducing a 3rd tier manager to oversee our promotion attempt.
We need to get behind the lads and Rafa and do our bit to ensure the spectre of relegation recedes. Let’s face it, we’ve been lucky the previous 2 times we’ve been relegated. Who knew that Hughton would turn out to be as good a manager as he is? Who knew that the side relegated the season before would stick around to fight for promotion? Who knew Andy Carroll would emerge to be the scourge of the Championship? Who knew Rafa would stick around to fight our Championship corner? Who knew that he would get so much money from player sales for the likes of Sissoko and Wijnaldum?
If we’ve been lucky the first two times, we can’t rely on that kind of luck coming round again – our next relegation is likely to see us in the Champo for some time.
That said, if we can be competitive in that League and win some games / score some goals, it may make a change to the slogfest we’ve seen this season. I enjoyed our Champo campaign under Rafa and I don’t know many who didn’t.
chicousa
Jan 11, 2019 at 9:25 AM
Comment #265Ashley will leave when he starts consistently losing money on the club!
If he fails to invest this window, then Rafa will walk. We very likely will go down. If Rafa is gone and we drop then many supporters, knowing Ashley is killing the club, will not renew ST. The championship will not offer as good a platform for SD advertising, Mike loses another incentive for keeping the club. And so on, and so forth. If he loses Rafa and the club is relegated do you think Ashley will continue to make money on the club? This has to end!
Eventually he will sell!
c-dog
Jan 11, 2019 at 9:44 AM
Comment #266That’s it. We can’t go on supporting for premier league survival. And that’s all we’ve been supporting for a long time.