Guillem Balague is the Sky Sports reporter for Spain and is a good friend of Rafa Benitez.
He wrote a book on Rafa winning the Champions League in his very first season at Liverpool and got to know the Newcastle manager well.
Rafa has said he wants to compete in Europe again, and he is as ambitious as ever and wants to take Newcastle forward as a top club of the future.
But he first has to wait to see whether owner Mike Ashley wants to have a really successful club.
There’s some doubt about that, so Rafa is battling the owner to make Newcastle great again.
That’s in itself is very strange becasue the club will go up significantly in price if Rafa makes Newcastle as successful as he wants to.
Glasgow Celtic need a new manager after former manager Brendan Rodgers left the club to join Leicester City earlier this year.
Rafa Benitez friend – Guillem Balague
Balague is close to Rafa and knows what’s going on with the Newcastle manager as he talks to him regularly.
He had this to say on his YouTube channel about Benitez when asked if he would be interested in the Celtic job:
“The priority is to stay at Newcastle. The battle is to stay at Newcastle if he gets enough support.”
“The kind of offers that he got, which are like €10M net a year, come from Saudi Arabia and from China which I don’t think are the places he should go to next.”
“If he doesn’t stay at Newcastle I think the Premier League will be the competition he would like to stay in.”
“I think that will be the target.”
It’s interesting that Balague says it’s a battle to stay at Newcastle; the battle is of course with the owner.
It’s a bizarre situation that Mike Ashley seems to want to run Newcastle his own way than follow Rafa’s direction.
Mike Ashley, by his own admission, is not skilled in running a football club and he’s made far too many mistakes (and keeps making them) in his long and unsuccessful 12 years at the club.
Rafa knows precisely what he wants to do and just needs to be given the go-ahead and the funds and Newcastle could be one of the top sides in Europe in a short few years.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Comments welcome.
9 comments so far
Posh_Geordie
Apr 24, 2019 at 3:40 PM
Comment #1Rob
I read somewhere, I think someone linked it on this blog, that Dummer has one of the best aerial dual win percentages in the Prem.
I’m also sure he played CB before he was used in the senior squad by P….. no can’t say that name still lol… when we had no LBS.
Essex Geordie Bill
Apr 24, 2019 at 3:46 PM
Comment #2Ground Hog Day!
RobLeenio
Apr 24, 2019 at 3:51 PM
Comment #3Posh_Geordie, I’ll have to take your word on that fella.
A slow awakening to generally accepted facts is nothing new to me.
martoon
Apr 24, 2019 at 4:20 PM
Comment #4Optimistic Panda….15…..41….4……4……Muto……..Rondon…13
Essex Geordie Bill…7……61….7……8……Shelvey…Perez…….14
RobLeenio……………8……48….5……4……Kenedy….Muto……..14
😀
RobLeenio
Apr 24, 2019 at 4:27 PM
Comment #5LOL player of the season Kenedy…..
I could still be right on the money with the points, but it won’t get us to 8th.
I can’t even remember what those middle numbers are….
Cheers martoon, very much appreciated (again) lol
Jib
Apr 24, 2019 at 4:30 PM
Comment #6rob
rounds of the cups
Essex Geordie Bill
Apr 24, 2019 at 4:43 PM
Comment #7Martoon, cheers, thought I’d got that right, not close on much else though, Shelvey is going to be the big disappointment for me.
Still nip and tuck with Rondon!
RobLeenio
Apr 24, 2019 at 4:50 PM
Comment #8Cheers Jib
Failed on those too then lol
9
Apr 24, 2019 at 6:07 PM
Comment #9MA knows what he thinks and Ain’t gonna change. Bye bye Rafa, you Geordie Hero – get outta this set up, because it’s the only set up we’re getting until somebody offers him enough to get rid. I’m confident he wants to get rid, but on his terms – there’s our problem.