Why the latest announcement on Rafa Benitez is both good and bad news for NUFC fans

There was finally some good news on the future of Rafa Benitez yesterday, even if it wasn’t the new contract we are all hoping for. It looks like a long summer ahead of speculation ahead for Newcastle fans but at least there is something positive to report.

‘Positive talks’ and the promise of a  ‘competitive budget’ have reportedly resulted in Benitez saying he will stay next season but a new contract beyond that is still in doubt and yet to be agreed. So just where does that leave us?

The good news

Initially, I think there is just some relief that he isn’t going to West Ham, of all places. Pellegrini looks set for the role after strong rumours last week that Benitez was ready to leave Newcastle to move to the Olympic Stadium.  Newcastle fans would not blame Rafa if he walked, it’s a minor miracle he is still here considering the constraints of working with Mike Ashley. If he does leave it should be for a Champions League club and West Ham securing an alternative manager is another piece of the jigsaw in Rafa hopefully staying this summer.

The fact talks have taken place and there is some form of breakthrough is a massive positive. It is big step forward and must mean Rafa has heard some things he likes or some of his demands on funding and infrastructure will be met. It is also worth remembering that Rafa is a master politician, just as he says he wont sign a contract now it doesn’t mean he wont; he realises having 1 year left on his deal is the best bargaining chip he has to demand more cash for new players. He wont commit until he gets what he wants and in writing no doubt after failed promises previously.

So the fact that Rafa looked likely to join West Ham a week ago and now looks likely to be in the dugout for us come August is good news. We just need further progress to made in the coming weeks so common sense can prevail a new contract signed.

The bad news

Although this is a breakthrough of sorts, it only secures Rafa as manager for next season – not for the future. It also shows that issues still amazingly persist from Ashley. The Chronicle state ‘positive talks’ were held, but they still mustn’t have been positive and reassuring enough for Rafa to sign a new deal. Why he won’t commit the funds to Rafa and the control over transfers he wants just seems bizarre and is so frustrating to watch history repeat himself time and time again under the Ashley tenure.

Rafa rightly will not sign a new contract until everything is right and if it is taking this long you have to question whether the club will ever back him with the resources he needs. We could not have hoped for better than a 10th place finish and it meant maximum prize money. Takeover talks look to have failed with a high asking price putting buyers off and while Ashley is here we will always lack ambition.

You get the sense the love of the club and the area continues to keep Benitez here and he is determined to use his success on Tyneside to force Ashley’s hand. He is the only manager to consistently question Ashley while staying at the club  – Rafa knows Ashley needs him. The bad news is that while he is owner, the future of a top class manager like Rafa will always be in doubt and this latest news just confirms that. Things are never straight forward with Ashley.

What do you make of the latest twist in the future of Rafa Benitez? Will he sign a new contract and stay beyond next season?

(Fancy writing for us? Send any articles/ideas over to us at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)

About Simon Riddlesden

Lifelong Newcastle United fan and East Stand season ticket holder. Observations from a supporter who has followed NUFC during Champions League participation and through relegation, taking me from Milan to Scunthorpe.

201 thoughts on “Why the latest announcement on Rafa Benitez is both good and bad news for NUFC fans

  1. Call me a sucker and a fool, but after looking at the accounts I am extremely optimistic that Rafa will have some money to spend.

    * The loss was 42 million and the wages were 80million, both manageable.

    * A year with PL money should have fixed most of the finances

    * We are due 22 million in July from past player sales

    * We have changed to paying in installments like every other team. After that 22 million payment to us we are due another 39 million over the next few years but owe 25 million to other clubs. That means we are paying in installments.

      (Quote)

  2. Stuart: on Ed’s he says a finance professor at Liverpool University has offset all of the cash, installments and brought forwards and worked out our actual loss was about 20 million (plus I assume the 15 million loan by Ashley). I actually trust this number as accountants are good at breaking down the numbers just not good at valuations because that involves supply and demand, scarcity, forward projections, intangibles such as management and emotions.

    So, for all the sky is falling and woe is me in the papers it is not as bad as they made out. In fact, it is not bad at all considering we were relegated. I said as much last week and I think you did as well.

      (Quote)

  3. The bottom line is we have players to sell who are in demand, and we have guaranteed money coming in from previous sales and the PL. I doubt Rafa will sign a new contract until we make some moves in the transfer market but if we buy some of his first choice players I think he will.

      (Quote)

  4. So to summarise Eric.
    £60m from selling a dozen players. £22 million from past sales. + Some TV Money
    So that’s £100m + to spend

    Needed 2 new first team starters, a number 9 and 10.
    3 Plan B players to come off the bench.
    Competition / squad / starters for CB, FB, CM, WM, No 9.

    Tall order.

      (Quote)

  5. PremAndUp:
    So to summarise Eric.
    £60m from selling a dozen players. £22 million from past sales. + Some TV Money
    So that’s £100m + to spend

    Needed 2 new first team starters, a number 9 and 10.
    3 Plan B players to come off the bench.
    Competition / squad / startersfor CB, FB, CM, WM, No 9.

    Tall order.

    All we need is for Rafa to find one Xabi Alonso and we are set 🙂

      (Quote)

  6. Seriously Prem: I think we will have a much better squad because the players that have the most value Rafa didn’t trust – Sels, Darlow, Mitro, Mbemba. Even Gayle he played reluctantly.

      (Quote)

  7. I am just happy that what I said last week about wages and losses turned out to be true and I wasn’t made to look a fool. Who do look like fools are the journos who swallowed the headline numbers hook, line and sinker and didn’t question anything – which used to be their job. Now, their job is to mine clicks by sensationalizing everything and never seeing the forest for the trees. Even Chris Waugh, when supposedly analyzing the accounts, just puts out the basic numbers and makes no comment. That is not an analysis. I suppose I will have to wait until he writes a “5 things we learned” piece.

    And, that new Sunderland owner is a charlatan. Mark my words. Something smells very funky there.

      (Quote)

  8. True, That’s why we can raise £60m give or take.
    But 2 starters are probably £20-25m each.
    3 off the bench are probably £15-20m each and 5 squad players are probably £10m each.
    And we have to pay for Dubravka and Kenedy

      (Quote)

  9. I have worked in the insurance and investment industry for over 20 years and have seen hundreds of dodgy characters and seen loads of get rick quick schemes and tax dodges. I think I have developed a 6th sense for identifying these people and Stewart Donald is a chancer.

      (Quote)

  10. PremAndUp:
    True, That’s why we can raise £60m give or take.
    But 2 starters are probably £20-25m each.
    3 off the bench are probably £15-20m each and 5 squad players are probably £10m each.
    And we have to pay for Dubravka and Kenedy

    5 in and 5 out would be a big upgrade because we don’t play the 5 out. That is doable and I think that would satisfy Rafa for this season. I don’t think he is under any illusions that we will suddenly become top 4 or can recruit Dybala or Gareth Bale.

      (Quote)

  11. Rooney off to DC for talks. All his media Pals said he would be a success at Everton. 10 goals/4 from pens and 1 wonder goal does not make a success. He pulled the whole shape of the team apart. Nobody could have predicted that Martin Keown. Maybe they could, can I have your job?

      (Quote)

  12. I hate to be too optimistic, because after all it is NUFC. But there are reasons to be cheerful, cue Ian Dury:

    * we finished on a high with probably our best game of the season

    * top half finish

    * we can probably sign Kenedy

    * the accounts aren’t nearly as bad as the club and journos would have us believe

    * Rafa is very likely to at least see the season out

    * we are being linked with good players

    * Mackems are well and truly screwed. Almost certain administration.

      (Quote)

  13. I am telling you that these journalists are total idiots. I gave Chris Waugh a compliment last week for being the tallest dwarf at The Chronic but now he goes and spoils it with his accounts “analysis”. Go to the corner Chris and put the dunce’s cap on.

    He says that NUFC gates went up but gate income went down even though we had 4 more home games. Let me explain, dunce:

    1. NUFC get most of their gate money from season tickets which doesn’t change no matter how many games there are.

    2. NUFC share in gates for away games which are much lower for Championship than Premier League.

    If they are going to have someone comment on the accounts at The Chronic at least have someone with a basic understanding of finance do it, or ask an accountant for help.

      (Quote)

  14. The problem is that people like Waugh are now portraying themselves as finance experts when they have no knowledge, training or experience at it. They do a cursory “analysis” but because it is where most people get their NUFC news from it gets repeated. And when it is repeated enough it becomes accepted as fact when really it was a bunch of journalists who did not know what they were talking about and couldn’t be arsed to get an expert opinion.

      (Quote)

  15. Icedog:
    MIlan break fair play rules could be banned from playing in Europe this yr

    I’m surprised more teams are not Ice.

      (Quote)

  16. Anyone on Twitter look for Swiss Ramble. They have just ripped NUFC’s accounts to shreds. Also exposes the shambles that has happened to NUFC since Jabba took over. Far from him sorting the club out, we’ve gone so far backwards it think it’s likey we might meet ourselves on the way round.

      (Quote)

  17. geogio: the accounts are pretty simple if you are not a click bait journalist.

    They overstated the wages by 30 mil and they are really 80 million.

    They overstated the loss by 50 million and the real loss was 40 million.

    Both numbers are easily workable for a PL club.

      (Quote)

  18. And here’s me thinking they’d say everything is fine and Rafa has an unlimited budget 🙄

      (Quote)

  19. If the chronicle is to believed, Newcastle are trying to offload Selz and Mbemba to Anderlecht for a combined fee of £7m.

    That is half the money we shelled out for them. Ouch. We won’t get much of a decent player with the money from that double sale. Another Joselu maybe?

      (Quote)

  20. Shamrock:
    If the chronicle is to believed, Newcastle are trying to offload Selz and Mbemba to Anderlecht for a combined fee of £7m.

    That is half the money we shelled out for them. Ouch. We won’t get much of a decent player with the money from that double sale. Another Joselu maybe?

    Swings and roundabouts. We got 30 mil for Sissoko.

      (Quote)

  21. Stuart79:
    Do you see NUFC selling Mbemba and Sels for £7m? Not a chance!

    Id be very surprised if that happened… we payed more than that for Mbemba on his own… I’d rather keep him than sell that cheap. ?

      (Quote)

  22. Nobody is getting excited about the Champions League final? I am!!! Last week I knew the FA Cup would be a borefest.

    But now. Klopp. This could be classic. Ronaldo’s last dance.

    It was usually a Wednesday night snooze but now it is a Saturday showdown.

      (Quote)

  23. See Charnley has done a “interview” with Daily Mirror. Pretty pathetic to be honest. A few platitudes but little substance.

      (Quote)

  24. Stuart79:
    See Charnley has done a “interview” with Daily Mirror. Pretty pathetic to be honest. A few platitudes but little substance.

    Stu – I read that mate. It’s all well and good telling us they’ve backed the manager & will continue to be so – but he might want to take note – his manager is essentially saying he hasn’t felt backed. If he doesn’t get on the same page as Rafa, those contract negotiations aren’t going to go too well I reckon.

      (Quote)

  25. Sharpy17: Stu – I read that mate.It’s all well and good telling us they’ve backed the manager & will continue to be so – but he might want to take note – his manager is essentially saying he hasn’t felt backed.If he doesn’t get on the same page as Rafa, those contract negotiations aren’t going to go too well I reckon.

    Lee Charnley 150k

    Rafa Benetez 6 million.

    If your “boss”gets paid 1/40th of you he is not really your boss.

      (Quote)

  26. Just pre ordered the Bobby Robson doc/film on Amazon, looking forward to it.

    As for Charnley, he can go **** himself, we all know the truth and so does Rafa.
    He must be dizzy from all that spinning 🙄

      (Quote)

  27. Charnley is still spouting the same nonsense. We are still playing catch up to clubs. Well, if we are still playing catch up with the likes of Bournemouth, Burnley and Palace God help us!

      (Quote)

  28. Stu, what gets me is the banging on about how a £10m player ends up being say 30m when you take into account wages, agents % et al, yet this is true for ALL clubs , and still we can’t match the likes of Huddrs and Brighton transfer fees!. It makes no sense that they have more ability to pay more than us, we are a bigger club with bigger gates. Something is seriously wrong somewhere.

      (Quote)

  29. The timing of the accounts and this interview are setting us up for yet another disappointing window. We know it, Rafa knows it, the players know it and if they’re honest the press know it too.

      (Quote)

  30. kimtoon:
    Stu, what gets me is the banging on about how a £10m player ends up being say 30m when you take into account wages, agents % et al, yet this is true for ALL clubs , and still we can’t match the likes of Huddrs and Brighton transfer fees!. It makes no sense that they have more ability to pay more than us, we are a bigger club with bigger gates. Something is seriously wrong somewhere.

    It is a false equivalency because they are not saying what NUFC will earn over the period of the contract. Let’s say Jonjo earns 5 million a year and is on a 5 year contract. Charnley would say that is 25 million to NUFC when we “only” earn 170 million. NOT TRUE. If you extend the 170 million 5 years it is 850 million and that 25 million figure doesn’t look so bad. People like Chris Waugh swallow it and pass it on for clicks.

      (Quote)

  31. kimtoon:
    The timing of the accounts and this interview are setting us up for yet another disappointing window. We know it, Rafa knows it, the players know it and if they’re honest the press know it too.

    Kimtoon: if you have a look at the headline numbers NUFC released to the press you will see that they were trying to paint the accounts in the darkest light. NUFC.com have the initial press release and then an accountant’s analysis of the actual books. They paint totally different pictures and yet the journalists just took the headline numbers and mined them for clicks.

      (Quote)

  32. I don’t really mind some sensationalism as long as you explain yourself and do some serious analysis in the body of an article. That’s my problem with Chris Waugh now, he says he is doing a breakdown of the accounts and he did nothing of the sort. He just spewed out the company headline numbers with no detail and no analysis.

      (Quote)

  33. Oh, and Sunderland are screwed, by the way. The NUFC accounts showed the club got 41 million of TV money in The Championship as a parachute payment. These are paid in declining amounts from 41 mil 1st year, 34 the 2nd year and 15 million the 3rd year. So Chancer Donald has basically this year to get the Mackems back to The Championship but even then will only get 15 million more than the other clubs a 1st year in The Championship.

    He is betting on double promotion because the payments end after you have been out of the PL for 3 years. He may as well have stuck with Easleigh FC because that’s where the Mackems are headed when Ellis Short comes back for his pound of flesh (the parachute payments).

      (Quote)

  34. Since the international transfer window is not open there really is no NUFC news so I will bore anybody that wants to bother with some Mackem analysis.

    Stewart Donald has a free hit. If by some miracle the Mackems get double promoted he is quids in. But there is no price for failure. He just walks away and Ellis Short gets the 40 million of parachute payments leaving SAFC in administration. He suffers a hit to his reputation but who knew who he was anyway?

    The parachute payments might keep the club ticking over this year, but they have nobody to sell and ticking over becomes a ticking time bomb next year.

    They are done. So tell any of your Mackem friends that Donald is not the messiah, he is a chancer and they are Coventry.

      (Quote)

  35. Just read in The Chronic that Chancer Donald has only paid 5 million to Short so far. In addition, both Rodwell and Clattermole are on 40k+ a week. That’s 4 million a year. They are well and truly Donald Ducked. Unless this new St Mirren manager is the second coming of Brian Clough they are a dead team walking.

      (Quote)

  36. St. Mirren is in Paisley. It has a tie named after it and also Gerrard Butler is from there. Fred Goodwin (Sir), the failed Scottish banker is also from there. The football ground holds 8,023 which is about 8,000 more than the Mackems will get at the SOL.

      (Quote)

  37. I imagine the questions were sent via email. One journo said they could only ask about the accounts. Talk about carefully orchestrated! They couldn’t question any of the answers. It’s like North Korea.

    One question I would like to ask is this: Why does Jabba think a yo-yo club that has ***** infrastructure and can’t compete with Bournemouth, Burnley or Palace is worth £400m?

      (Quote)

  38. Not the best news – Arsenal face competition from RB Leipzig to sign Chelsea’s Brazilian winger Kenedy, 22.

      (Quote)

  39. Anyone watching the Villa Fulham match..? Is this still the most recent thread?

      (Quote)

  40. If Villa don’t do it this time, I think they will really struggle, not much in the way of parachute payments left for them…

      (Quote)

  41. Fulham very lucky… should be down to 10 for that stamp. Nothing given by ref.

      (Quote)

  42. Dubai Toon:
    Fulham very lucky… should be down to 10 for that stamp. Nothing given by ref.

    ime here mate,nobody standing out,should have been at least a couple of sending off

      (Quote)

  43. The game isn’t on here. Waiting for CL final. Trying to decide if I want to go to the pub to watch it.

      (Quote)

  44. icedog: ime here mate,nobody standing out,should have been at least a couple of sending off

    Hi Ice… agreed… and now Fulham down to 10 with just a 1 goal lead … getting interesting now…

      (Quote)

  45. Eric Sykes:
    The game isn’t on here. Waiting for CL final. Trying to decide if I want to go to the pub to watch it.

    easyEric gan to the boozer

      (Quote)

  46. So that’s Mitro gone. But I think he is off to Palace. I just have a feeling that Mr. Roy want some Mitro.

      (Quote)

  47. so Kenedy says he would prefer toon move than elsewhee,good on you son,stump up jabba

      (Quote)

  48. Dubai Toon: Heartbreaking isn’t it… oops!

    they are going to struggle now little cash coming in now plus they may lose a couple of their better players,not that i would want any of them imo

      (Quote)

  49. icedog:
    so Kenedy says he would prefer toon move than elsewhee,good on you son,stump up jabba

    Ice – too true mate, if he wants to come to us over some of the clubs reportedly chasing him we have to spend the Mitrovic money on him. Even if it comes with a sell back clause or a buy out fee – providing it’s £30m plus, I can live with that.

      (Quote)

  50. Actually, congrats to Mitrovic on his promotion with Fulham – he’s still a toon player just now so I feel he still deserves our support.
    He was a big contributor to their promotion and from what I saw of him, he proved to me he’s capable – but Rafa doesn’t fancy him so we have to expect him to move on. But he’ll have a number of interested parties I reckon.

      (Quote)

  51. A real professional foul by Ramos on Salah there like, cheating *******!!.
    I just hope he hasn’t ruined the lads WC as well.

      (Quote)

  52. Sharpy17:
    A real professional foul by Ramos on Salah there like, cheating *******!!.
    I just hope he hasn’t ruined the lads WC as well.

    Yeah, Sergio Ramos knew exactly what he was doing there like. Took out Liverpool’s best player without any hint of a card. That could really change the outcome of this game. With Salah I really thought they had a chance. Without him… well let’s see.

      (Quote)

  53. Can we call Villa an established Championship team, now that they will spending their 3rd consecutive season there and their parachute money is pretty much gone? Oh the irony of their bed sheets.

      (Quote)

  54. Dubai Toon: Yeah, Sergio Ramos knew exactly what he was doing there like. Took out Liverpool’s best player without any hint of a card. That could really change the outcome of this game. With Salah I really thought they had a chance. Without him… well let’s see.

    It’s was a cobra kai move mate

      (Quote)

  55. Shamrock:
    Can we call Villa an established Championship team, now that they will spending their 3rd consecutive season there and their parachute money is pretty much gone? Oh the irony of their bed sheets.

    Sham – you can call them what you like mate, but I’m gonna continue calling them fucking ***** & laugh at their fans ?????????

      (Quote)

  56. The Ramos throw was clearly deliberate and wouldn’t have been out of place in a wrestling match. Deserved a red. Poor ref.

      (Quote)

  57. Sharpy17: Sham – you can call them what you like mate, but I’m gonna continue calling them fucking ***** & laugh at their fans

    ???

      (Quote)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *