Rafa Seems Very Unhappy – Have Our Worst Fears Been Realised?

As reported by the Chronicle, Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez seems to be very unhappy with those above him, following a disappointing draw at home to QPR.

After the game, Benitez was asked about Newcastle’s lack of action in the January transfer window, and the Spaniard said: “I can’t change things now so I have to concentrate on bringing the best from my players.”

“We knew what we needed and we knew what we have so we have to bring the best from the players we have.

However, Benitez did stop to say that he was happy with his current players, adding: “I am happy with them.

“We have to try to maintain the same level we had in the second half.”

Then when he was asked if could give a reason as to why the club did not sign anyone, he simply said: “No, because I don’t know.”

“I said before I am disappointed but I have to concentrate on the players we have and try to improve them.”

503 thoughts on “Rafa Seems Very Unhappy – Have Our Worst Fears Been Realised?

  1. Sharpy17:
    I prefer a no nonsense CB to one who tries to be cocky & gets caught out.Lascelles nearly did a couple of times on Wednesday & he needs to cut that out.
    He reminds me a bit of Ashley Williams in his build – he could do a lot worse than model himself on him IMO.

    Couldn’t agree more mate if a ball is in your area get it out,let them that work with the ball do it,nothing worse for a midfielder than defenders that fanny about with ball it even puts more pressure on midfield

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  2. Yedlin was superb today by the way. Take a bow son. When he set off on his runs down the right flank, each time a Derby midfielder would just look at the defender as if to say ‘he’s yours!’. It wasn’t just his pace though, he’s like a good version of Danny Simpson. 🙂

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  3. Funrafa
    I have been the biggest critic of Ashley throughout his time at the toon and was pilloried by many on here for years.
    The signing of Rafa, in my opinion was brilliant but only because Ashley was desperate to save his failing empire.
    Despite what Stuart says, I have at last have hope in Rafa.
    Whatever has happened in January I believe Rafa feels assured that he will be given sufficient funds in the summer for him to stay.
    Even Ashley knows thete is no way back if Rafa leaves.

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  4. Troy Stavers:
    Funrafa
    I have been the biggest critic of Ashley throughout his time at the toon and was pilloried by many on here for years.
    The signing of Rafa, in my opinion was brilliant but only because Ashley was desperate to save his failing empire.
    Despite what Stuart says, I have at last have hope in Rafa.
    Whatever has happened in January I believe Rafa feels assured that he will be given sufficient funds in the summer for him to stay.
    Even Ashley knows thete is no way back if Rafa leaves.

    Did you see Mirror is saying the summer fund will be spent Ashley’s way. In other words he wants personal control of the transfers. No way my friend, Rafa won’t put up with that.

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  5. funrafa: Did you see Mirror is saying the summer fund will be spentAshley’s way. In other words he wantspersonal control of the transfers. No way my friend, Rafa won’t put up with that.

    The mirror? Says it all

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  6. Troy Stavers:
    Funrafa
    I have been the biggest critic of Ashley throughout his time at the toon and was pilloried by many on here for years.
    The signing of Rafa, in my opinion was brilliant but only because Ashley was desperate to save his failing empire.
    Despite what Stuart says, I have at last have hope in Rafa.
    Whatever has happened in January I believe Rafa feels assured that he will be given sufficient funds in the summer for him to stay.
    Even Ashley knows thete is no way back if Rafa leaves.

    fun rafa, I can confirm what Troy is saying in regards to the biggest critic comment.. His gut has it’s own post code! ?????? 😆

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  7. Tight win but a win we desperately needed. Managers favourite 1-0 result.

    Let’s hope for a Brighton defeat and Huddersfield Leeds draw.

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  8. jabba will spend money but his way,no players over 25 then,cannot see Rafa agreeing to that then its bye bye

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  9. Last season the top two teams only won 26 games in total but each picked up 15 and 11 draws , those 11 and 15 points making all the difference. We should be capable of another 6-7 wins but can we master the art of grabbing a draw from a losing position or at 0.0 not conceding . So far we have 2 draws , Brighton and Reading have 6 and 5 draws respectively, Leeds have 3 and Huddersfield 4.

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  10. icedog:
    jabba will spend money but his way,no players over 25 then,cannot see Rafa agreeing to that then its bye bye

    If we go back to that system it can only be for sale on value which means no ambition to win things but merely to show profit and survive. If that is all there is to look forward to then we may as well not bother as the objective with any sport is to be competitive. If we go back to selling any player who looks like a great asset there by pulling the rug from under the manager then we will become a team few managers with any credibility will want to touch. Of course this could all be press rumours and **** stirring again but it’s not like we haven’t been here before is it.

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  11. kimtoon: If we go back to that system it can only be for sale on value which means no ambition to win things but merely to show profit and survive. If that is all there is to look forward to then we may as well not bother as the objective with any sport is to be competitive. If we go back to selling any player who looks like a great asset there by pulling the rug from under the manager then we will become a team few managers with any credibility will want to touch. Of course this could all be press rumours and **** stirring again but it’s not like we haven’t been here before is it.

    true very true mate

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  12. If you look at the players Spurs & Liverpool sign – most if not all of their players are 25 and under.

    Just because a player has a sell on value, doesn’t necessarily mean they will be sold.

    But let’s be honest, if you aren’t Chelsea, Man Utd or City, then chances are you will be selling players.
    That doesn’t necessarily mean lack of ambition. Southampton have probably sold most of their assets, yet they are in a cup final.
    Everton would be another example. They sold Stones which went on to fund making their squad a lot stronger – but they have kept Lukaku and Barkley.

    i don’t think Rafa has a preference on players age or anything like that. If we are signing quality players that he can work with and fit into his style of play, then he will be happy – but he will also know that if big money offers come in for those players, they will be sold. He’ll accept that, as long as that money goes towards strengthening his squad.

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  13. Sharpy, Ah but there in lies the problem mate, we don’t replace like with like and often wait seasons for a player to be replaced. Yes we see teams sell good players but the money is always made available to the coach to replace them not always so with us. If we were operating like other clubs we wouldn’t of gone through two relegations.

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  14. So Ghana finished 4th. Atsu has played a lot of the games though, unlike Diame (who’s had a bit of a jolly if you ask me 😛 ) All of our players back now, no mid-week game. Wolves away next Sat on telly. Gayle nearly ready to train (I don’t think Rafa will rush him back). Depending on results today things could be looking up. 🙂

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  15. Rafa may not worry about 25 or under wage limit in general but i’ll bet he’d want a few experienced older heads in the team . What happens if/when we go up and he feels he needs a couple of older players who can do well in the PL, will he be allowed to sign them.

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  16. Sharpy – we did sell though. Our whole policy was about buying cheap and young in order to sell them for more. We did it for 4/5 yrs.

    Everton kept hold of Stones for the whole of last season after Chelsea tried all the previous summer trying to get him and only sold him when they got a ridiculous offer this summer. They refused to sell Baines to Man Utd or Lakaku/Barkley.

    They’re all trying to build things now, I hope we do the same and don’t buy to sell. That’s pointless.

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  17. kimtoon:
    Sharpy, Ah but there in lies the problem mate, we don’t replace like with like and often wait seasons for a player to be replaced. Yes we see teams sell good players but the money is always made available to the coach to replace them not always so with us. If we were operating like other clubs we wouldn’t of gone through two relegations.

    Kim – yeah I’ll take that & agree 100%. Rafa said in his press conference that we need to learn from past mistakes – that for me would be the biggest mistake we need to rectify.
    The point that you make – that would be the the reason Rafa might leave for me – more so than the players we buy or sell.

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  18. we all have our views on all things toon which is great,but surely we all know you cannot trust Jabba his track record proves that

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  19. Stuart79:
    Sharpy – we did sell though. Our whole policy was about buying cheap and young in order to sell them for more. We did it for 4/5 yrs.

    Everton kept hold of Stones for the whole of last season after Chelsea tried all the previous summer trying to get him and only sold him when they got a ridiculous offer this summer.They refused to sell Baines to Man Utd or Lakaku/Barkley.

    They’re all trying to build things now, I hope we do the same and don’t buy to sell. That’s pointless.

    Stu – I agree with that as well mate. But we were in a different financial position back then.
    Ashley made his Sky Sports appearance admitting that, but assured that money would be put in – we spent around £75m that transfer window – problem was we had McClaren and Carr deciding which players he would get.

    Again, I don’t think Rafa will leave if he’s restricted to players 25 or under – providing their his players.
    He will if they aren’t his players and instead are being selected by Carr.

    I don’t think that will happen again though personally. I think Charnley saw enough in the signings of the likes of Cabella, Thauvin and Saivet to come down on Rafas side.

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  20. Last time we were relegated the defence we came up with was kept for seasons, no upgrades when clearly they were needed. When we did eventually bring more in we went with Kids Lascelles ( far from proven imo, talks a good game but thinks he’s a footballer ) Darlow good keeper but still loads to prove and can he continue to do well at PL level. Mbemba, looks good on and off but clearly a problem there from Rafas point of view . Hanley showed Lascelles what you need to do yesterday, just clear the ball out . We brought in Debuchy and Janmaat who it’s clear joined us after being promised a move to bigger and better as soon as they wished, likewise Cabaye. Why should all our players signed be on the basis that we are a stepping stone or some sort of PL academy for under 25’s ffs. What’s wrong with building a club that can compete, even if it’s only in the cups . If the club constantly sell it’s assets we go nowhere or worse still backwards and god forbid we get into Europe.

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  21. icedog:
    we all have our views on all things toon which is great,but surely we all know you cannot trust Jabba his track record proves that

    Ice – I’m prepared to wait til the summer.
    He said he’d make money available if we stayed up and he did. In my opinion it was his intervention that got rid of McClaren & got Rafa in and he had to sign off on Rafa staying when we went down.
    But he’s made so many **** ups so my guard will never go down.

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  22. kimtoon:
    Last time we were relegated the defence we came up with was kept for seasons, no upgrades when clearly they were needed. When we did eventually bring more in we went with Kids Lascelles ( far from proven imo, talks a good game but thinks he’s a footballer ) Darlow good keeper but still loads to prove and can he continue to do well at PL level. Mbemba, looks good on and off but clearly a problem there from Rafas point of view . Hanley showed Lascelles what you need to do yesterday, just clear the ball out .We brought in Debuchy and Janmaat who it’s clear joined us after being promised a move to bigger and better as soon as they wished, likewise Cabaye. Why should all our players signed be on the basis that we are a stepping stone or some sort of PL academy for under 25’s ffs. What’s wrong with building a club that can compete, even if it’s only in the cups . If the club constantly sell it’s assets we go nowhere or worse still backwards and god forbid we get into Europe.

    Kim – but was that down to Ashley or was that down to Charnley & Carr?

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  23. The biggest test was always going to be if and when we got back to the PL. I genuinely don’t think Ashleys idea of club ownership is compatible to Rafa’s ambitions. Hope im wrong.

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  24. Sharpy17: Kim – but was that down to Ashley or was that down to Charnley & Carr?

    Well, old man Carr still has Jabbas ear so………………………….

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  25. Stuart79:
    The biggest test was always going to be if and when we got back to the PL. I genuinely don’t think Ashleys idea of club ownership is compatible to Rafa’s ambitions. Hope im wrong.

    Exactly mate, nail on the head. Rafa is a winner and honestly I think he will want us competing for the cups and a shot at Europe ( top 6 , not the title obviously, but hey Leicester so who knows )

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  26. kimtoon: Exactly mate, nail on the head. Rafa is a winner and honestly I think he will want us competing for the cups and a shot at Europe ( top 6 , not the title obviously, but hey Leicester so who knows )

    I agree, but he’s also a realist and he will know that the building continues next season. We have a number of players good enough for the PL, but the squad as a whole isn’t and Rafa will know that.

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  27. Sharpy , For sure, next season would be consolidating our place back in the premier league should we return, but make no mistake he will want to know that he can push on there after. If he should walk in the summer then the writing will clearly be on the wall as to what exactly the clubs ambitions are imo.

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  28. kimtoon:
    Sharpy , For sure, next season would be consolidating our place back in the premier league should we return, but make no mistakehe will want to know that he can push on there after. If he should walk in the summer then the writing will clearly be on the wall as to what exactly the clubs ambitions are imo.

    Kim – I make no predictions and will waste no energy worrying about it (or time reading newspaper reports claiming they know from a source).
    This is NUFC after all, who the hell knows what’s gonna happen.

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  29. What on earth is wrong with the logic of some people on here ?
    “The biggest test was always going to be if and when we got back to the PL. I genuinely don’t think Ashleys idea of club ownership is compatible to Rafa’s ambitions. Hope im wrong.”

    Rafa knows what the heck is going on, and who we are competing against. “Rafa’s ambitions” …what are they ? “Ashley’s ambitions” what are they, though for those of you who don’t know they are 1-remain in the Premier League buying players under 25, and 2 …see 1.
    Rafa also knows for example that Chelsea are owned by a bottomless pit gazillionaire who will spend ANYTHING it takes to win. Manchester United a massive club, Arsenal, Spurs, Everton, West Brom, Liverpool, Man City all massive clubs.
    Whats wrong with trying to buy u25’s to nurture and then sell on ? It’s a sign of having done something right surely ? This is not a flawed strategy. Ashley has not said I believe we will ONLY buy U25’s surely ? As someone mentioned above, a lot of clubs in the top 6 buy U25’s, why not us too ?
    My ambitions for the toon are to get reestablished as a EPL club, not a yoyo club, then kick on and approach the top 10. We are light years away from that, Rafa knows this when he said yes to the job. Some people worry as if they think that Rafa will be at the toon for 10 years …no way Jose. The EPL is stitched up by the money clubs imo, Leicester was a freak result which keeps the small clubs like NUFC dreaming.
    I’d love mid table EPL survival from our current perspective. Looking at it from another perspective, we have a massive rebuilding job going on. If Ashley blows it then the fans will revolt and he’ll sell up. Rafa is the catalyst for a massive change at NUFC, if the lemmings keep coming back for more after being stitched up by Ashley then they only have themselves to blame.. sad state of affairs but there are clubs where money is no object. We have an owner who thinks differently.

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  30. pity we couldn’t buy that lad Izzy Brown the Chelsea player loaned out to Hudd. He played for Rotherham against us early on and looks a great prospect. A fulcrum midfield player who can play the ball around, a great prospect..

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  31. Lukaku is only 23 apparently !!! Nowadays players over 25 are getting on a bit !

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  32. DJ, I don’t think anyone is saying we should be competing with the likes of City, Chelsea, Manure and Arsenal. And buying U25’s isn’t the whole issue either, but the selling of players we have nurtured and given a chance to and not always replacing them is.

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  33. The point is not about Ashley’s policy good or bad. It is about who making the decision. It was agreed Rafa is the one who makes the decision, but now it seems it will be back to Ashley’s hands. That is why I see Rafa leaving.

    For those who like Ashley’s transfer policy, enjoy it next season if you enjoy it in the last 8 years. For those who don’t, you have a choice. You can stop making yourself miserable by not watching the game.

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  34. funrafa, but Ashley has given Rafa money.
    He’s the owner of the club, he can do what he wants.

    Rafa knows what he is dealing with, the bloke is not made of glass.

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  35. Not a bad result for us I suppose. Rather a Huddersfield win than a Leeds one.

    Interesting games this month for us. Big, big games against Reading, Huddersfield and Brighton – all away. Rafa has a history of not losing big games so coming out of them undefeated will be an achievement.

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  36. DJ, Rafa put what he wants in the agreement before he agreed to come to Newcastle. He wants those things for 3 seasons, which is the contract term, not just half a season. Now he agreement is broken, Rafa will leave. It is simple.

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  37. Rafa will still have the final say – it will just be on a more specific group of players.
    I’m sure if there is an argument to sign an individual player then that will be considered, by primarily it will be younger players.
    But as I said earlier, providing they are quality players, I don’t see Rafa having a problem. He will have the final say though.

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  38. Ice. It is probably right but I tend to be cynical about things that are “well known.” On a happier note Brentford two up.

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  39. Someone just told me Ashley’s promised £120m for the summer window. Anyone else heard that?
    Much better from the Toon Yesterday. Very absorbing game. Fans were great. Mind you when Ince had that chance my heart started racing. And still was 10 minutes after I left the ground!
    It was a very important game for everyone, Rafa, players, fans alike.

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  40. georgio:
    Someone just told me Ashley’s promised £120m for the summer window. Anyone else heard that?
    Much better from the Toon Yesterday. Very absorbing game. Fans were great. Mind you when Ince had that chance my heart started racing. And still was 10 minutes after I left the ground!
    It was a very important game for everyone, Rafa, players, fans alike.

    Don’t know about the sum of money,but jabba is said to be very unhappy that Rafa made public that he was upset at not signing anyone and discussing club business

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  41. Icedog: Don’t know about the sum of money,but jabba is said to be very unhappy that Rafa made public that he was upset at not signing anyone and discussing club business

    Aye, I bet he was, not used to a manager saying how it is since KK.

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  42. I can fully understand Ashley being peeved with Rafa for blathering to the press.
    If that is true of course.

    As I mentioned above, Rafa has dealt with bigger fish than a wee Championship club in the north. ffs he’s been at massive clubs throughout his carreer, the bloke is not made of glass.
    This constant fawning over Rafa because we are all terrified of what the future holds isn’t healthy either.

    I love having Rafa at the toon, and hope he can wack toot and ploot into shape.
    Time will show if the sky falls in, but most probably it will.

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  43. Georgio, I heard 150 million, through funrafa knows personally what is in Rafa’s contract so we should ask him ?
    Laugh, I almost got the beers in 🙂

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  44. Can’t believe Brentford have let them back into it, if only they had scored that pen at 3.0 Brighton would of had the stuffing knocked out of them. Bloody tense 2.2 now

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  45. Brighton don’t go down without a fight. Must be very fit. All credit to Hoots. Is anybody else having difficulty posting. Thought problem had been solved.

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  46. Groucho:
    Brighton don’t go down without a fight. Must be very fit. All credit to Hoots. Is anybody else having difficulty posting. Thought problem had been solved.

    Yep mate lots of error 520 coming up and long time to load posts on and off. Am having to shut down tab and re open umpteen times yesterday and today.

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  47. I’m also getting the error 520 message sometimes

    That Brighton game seems to have been a belter. I just arrived in Norway and saw the result.

    There’s a lot of snow here…

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  48. Ends 3.3
    This is exactly what I was talking about earlier on today, would we of gotten a draw at 2.0 down ? Then even with a late 3rd from Brentford, Brighton still came again to make it 3.3. This what we need to do more, we have just 2 draws this season. Need to turn some potential losses into draws.

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  49. Dubai Toon:
    I’m also getting the error 520 message sometimes

    That Brighton game seems to have been a belter. I just arrived in Norway and saw the result.

    There’s a lot of snow here…

    Yes mate, it’s Norway 😀

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