A win for Sunderland on Wednesday against an unpredictable Everton side will confirm Newcastle’s relegation from the top flight and leave the club in turmoil and in need of a drastic overhaul.
The only circumstance in which the Magpies can stay up is if Sunderland hit self-destruct and lose their final two games of the season and Newcastle manage to beat a Tottenham side who seem to have imploded. In a Premier League season which has seen 5000/1 long shot Leicester City win the title, it still remains a possibility but more than likely, Newcastle will be facing Burton Albion next year.
It will be a sorry end to a dreadful season which has seen some of the most utterly pathetic football from a Newcastle side since our promotion to the top flight over 20 years ago.
Since Kevin Keegan’s Entertainers got promoted, along with Leicester, funnily enough, Newcastle have only been out of the top flight for one season. They bounced back straight away last time; strolling the Championship with over 100 points. Something tells me this time it won’t be so easy to return.
And where there is a glimmer of hope, still in United fans that Sunderland will choke and give us a sniff of survival on the final day, most of us are preparing for life in the second tier of English football for the second time in Mike Ashley’s ownership.
If Rafa Benitez does manage Newcastle to a famous win and Premier League survival on the final weekend, it will most probably follow him feeding the capacity of St. James’ Park with a couple fish after crossing the Tyne via foot.
The question on most fan’s lips is ‘Will Rafa stay should we go down?’ The answer, as unpopular as it may be, is probably not. For one; why would he want to exactly? He will have no problem at all getting another top flight job.
The prospect of building something from scratch with Newcastle may have a certain appeal, but can we really expect a man who was in charge of Real Madrid six months ago to lead us out in the Championship? Secondly; Newcastle can’t afford to keep him. A manager of Benitez’s calibre commands a Premier League wage.
Newcastle will have a colossal job trimming their huge wage bill as it is, to offer Benitez a deal to keep him would be way out of character for a Newcastle board who has tried to run the club on the cheap for years. Only recently has money been thrown at the club in a desperate bid to survive. The trouble was, they were so massively out of practice, that they did finally spend millions, they managed to squander most of it.
But we will leave talk of next season for another day. For now, Newcastle are still in the Premiership and still have a chance, no matter how small, of staying there. Yes they need a miracle, yes the odds are stacked against them, but one thing we can learn from Leicester is that miracles can happen. Allow yourselves one final bit of hope because all we actually need is for Sunderland to lose twice and Newcastle to win once. That, my friends, is possible.
Wasn’t Charnley at NUFC before Ashley bought the club? I thought he was just a money man back then and got promotion over the years.
I really am baffled by people who are predicting we finish top regardless of our manager. That is based on nothing. You’ve no idea what manager or squad we will have. That is basically saying we’re Newcastle and we are better just because.. It’s…. well, not logical is all I’ll say.
funkyjesus(Quote)
Eric, Here is one link, will look for the one I saw
Kimtoon(Quote)
here, http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/business/business-news/charnley-pay-up-wage-bill-11185755
Kimtoon(Quote)
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/514869/Newcastle-Mike-Ashley-Premier-League-relegation-inquest-Sunderland-Lee-Charnley
Kimtoon(Quote)
Kimtoon: I factored in Charnley’s raise to 150k when I calculated that Rafa would be earning 33 times what he is. I think he was on 106k before that.
FJ: have a look at the piece I posted earlier from The Mirror saying Charnley was almost invisible. He was appointed to The Board in 2008 but I think that was making up the numbers. I also saw Ryder refer to him recently as “former reserve team Secretary”. I looked up information on him and there is virtually none, he seemed to come out of nowhere which explains his unbelievably low salary compared to other MDs. I think his previous boss, John Irvine the NUFC Finance Director, was passed over in favour of Lee as he became development director at the Airport. I am not certain he was passed over but the pieces fit as Irvine was also a Director and then quit.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kimtoon: the journalist in that Star article refers to Charnley as “office boy”. If Charnley stays I can’t see The Star getting preferred media access any time soon. But seriously, making such a disparaging remark shows the knives are now out for Charnley. How can he still have a job and how can he be leading the recruitment of Rafa?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I read a comment on Ed’s blog where someone said Charnley reminded them of a roll-on deodorant with glasses.
Nearly made me spill my drink at how true it is.
funkyjesus(Quote)
In 2008 when Charnley was appointed a Director of NUFC he was 30 years old. That’s why I say he was making up the numbers. He was appointed MD in 2014 and his salary went up to 106k. He must have been on much less than that before, probably about what a Partner at a small local accounting firm would be paid. It just seems so bizarre that he was given so much power, but more so that he was given a say in football matters whether he manipulated by Carr or not.
As I said, there is hardly anything out there on Charnley so it is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle without having the picture as reference.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
“former reserve team Secretary”.
Yes Eric, I’m pretty sure that’s what he was prior to MD
Kimtoon(Quote)
At least a roll on deodorant serves a purpose. At least a roll on deodorant doesn’t waste 80 million etc etc…
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kimtoon: it fits with Kinnear and Pardew hirings as well as the Casino Manager. Has any other club in the history of the world made such bizarre appointments? Not even Leeds.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric, I think Ashley likes to promote people he knows and is used too. He strikes me as not wanting outsiders rocking the boat, pity since this boat has now sunk.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Wow! Stuart will have to revise his mantra of “I told you so” to “oops! I got it wrong again” 😀 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Pyschs
You’ve been quiet again on slagging Pards. A cup final and mid table. Not bad really. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Funky
I agree. I fear the worst.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy: I have moved on. Why don’t you try it 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Well done Gashley for driving him out. If he was still in charge we would be in mid table mediocrity instead of the championship. 🙄
But of course, you didn’t want that did you? 🙄
I blame fans like you for the demise of MY club. 👿
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Pyschs
You move on when it suits cos you’ve been gloating lately when palace were struggling. You mentioned more about Pards than me when he was our manager.
I wish he hadn’t been driven out by fans like you. We woud be siting happily mid table. 😯
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Ashley should be offering every single penny available to ensure Raf stays.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy: that is the nature of blogs man. My narrative changes when things go my way 🙂
Speaking of that, Kilmarnock lost 4-2 at home today.
The Clarkie-O-Meter reads Lost 8, drew 3, won 2. He’s just a thin John Carver, a thin John Carver… a thin John Carver, a thin John Carver.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Psychs
You forget. You share the club with others. I blame you and like minded dim wits for getting us relegated!!
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Clarkie will be our next target if Rafa leaves! Mark my words or mock my warts. 😯
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy: although I think Pardew is an arrogant so and so I don’t mind him that much when he is managing someone else. I might even watch the FA Cup final and cheer him on just to see the look on the Manc supporters’ faces if Palace win.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Troy it was me was it? Wasn’t Carr and Charnley.
I must have super powers to be able to bend others to my will from 3000 miles away.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
If we keep Rafa, we sort a lot of the squad issues out as the few decent players we have will be more inclined to think about staying and any ones we are after may show 5% more interest in us. We’d also likely have our pick of any Championship player.
If Rafa goes, no matter who we end up with is seen as a “back up” and that means we’re freshly relegated and on a back up manager. That is not a nice hook to sign players.
funkyjesus(Quote)
hi all,
sunday,bloody sunday.
well it is for both of our clubs.
what a disgrace.
a villa fan(Quote)
Psychs
Do you know how pathetic that sounds after you drove him oot of the toon and now we are relegated. No wonder I give you no credit whatsoever.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
If Clark doesn’t win the playoff against Falkirk he might get the push. Their finances are a mess and they need to stay in the SPL.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Psychs
You had the same opinion as many at the games. I blame people like you. The same type who drove Sir Bobby out. There’s something in the fact that our fans are generally clueless and we’ve won nowt.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
It’s not based on nothing at all. You are right. We are Newcastle. Not Rotherham. We have far more resources than all the teams in the Fizzy Pop league. Even if we sell our best players, we still have several International players and a basic squad made up of better players than most squads in that League. Plus we will get reinforcements in, who will no doubt be amongst the best in that League. Plus Ashley will not want his SD advertising vehicle languishing in the nether realm for any longer than absolutely necessary. Plus we will have more money than all of the league from our parachute payment, except Norwich and Villa – but we will have bigger gates than all those teams. Plus MA knows as a Chairman what it takes to bounce back up at the first attempt.
We will be fine. Of that I am sure. My worry is what happens when we get back up. That comes down to Ashley’s genuine intentions and footballing ambition.
Shamrock(Quote)
you lot are lucky.
i think rafa will stay.
whereas,my club is deep in the mire.more chance of dropping another league.
oh for past days,
i remember me and my mates on the touchline,when keegan and macdermet were putting there players,
through their paces,and they came over for a chat with us.
great days.
a villa fan(Quote)
Psychs
Rafa couldn’t save us. Its no shame in Clarkie failing at Killie.
Shame you rely on stats and stats alone. That’s why we disagree all the time.
I have vision and foresight, understand football and have incredible insight. I’m never wrong. Deal with it chumps.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy: I was right about Carver. I was right about Clark. I did not back McClaren. You seem to have turned on Stuart now and you used to idolise him 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I’ve never minded Villa fans. They are a great club. But the fans have let themselves down with toon fans over the past decade.
I no longer have respect for them and like so many other toon fans if not all.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
It is obvious now that Pardew had one hand tied behind his back but that did not make him any less arrogant, any less of a puppet, playing dire football and going on death spirals. These are some of the reasons I did not like him at NUFC.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Psychs
You were wrong about Clark and McLaren and Stuart has copied my viewpoint costantly.
He is now the man who claimed he was never wrong yet has shown he doesn’t have Baba Vangas powers
I’m the only one now! 😉
Troy the Predictor. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
troy stavers,
mate,
dont paint all villa fans with the same brush.
us older fans have respect.
the young happy clappers,as we call them.
have not only been disrespectful to your club.
they have also been disrespectful to the villa.
as you saw last week.have you ever seen fans,as good as clap their way to relegation.
a villa fan(Quote)
I think it was September 2015 when I predicted Leicester would win the league or finish in the top 4.
I was mocked. 🙄
Oh how I wish Pards had been here and we were mid table mediocrity. 😎
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Sad to see two great clubs fall due to incompetent owners.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
great geordies,
the animals.
brian johnson.
jimmy nail.
newcastle fans.
have i left anybody out. 🙂 🙂
a villa fan(Quote)
The Villa slogans when we last went down were an unprovoked disgrace. Even though we have dropped, I’m glad Villa have too and I don’t rate Villa’s chances of going back up so easily. I think they will make the playoffs if they spend in the right areas and get a decent manager in. Their squad is ultra poor but the parachute payment gives them an advantage over most of the league. They don’t have experience of the league though…
Hats off to Villa fan for coming on here to empathise and separate himself from the others taking the p last down we went down – but my overall view of Villa fans will never change after seeing those slogans and seeing them struggle in the Fizzy Pop league would be sweet justice to me and most Toon fans.
Shamrock(Quote)
Did you see that Brian Johnson stopped touring because his Dr. said he would go totally deaf if he continued. Malcolm Young quit because of dementia and Axl Rose has taken over as singer from a wheelchair because he hurt his leg. I saw a review of the show in Paris and despite all of this the reviewer said they were still great.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
shamrock,
believe me mate.
a hell of a lot of villa fans felt the same way.
ive only come on here,to try to say how we feel.
plus,ive had some good debate with you fans.
i only hope,you dont think we are all the same.
ive always enjoyed our games over the years.
a villa fan(Quote)
Oh, Phil Rudd was out as well after being sentenced to home confinement for threatening to kill 2 people and possession of pot and meth.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
ac/dc,
will never be the same without Brian Johnson.
but,he will be back.trust me.
we had tickets for the manchester gig,but have got a refund,thank ****.
as roger daltry said,its become a tribute band.
i wish the villa had a tribute team,we might do better. 🙂 🙂
a villa fan(Quote)
Haha.
You jokin. ?
It’s like me saying;
Great Villians;
Stan Collymore
Brian Little
Prince William
Is that it?
Troy Stavers(Quote)
troy,
🙂 🙂 🙂
stan collymore,
prince william.
cmon mate,
at least i named geordies with a bit of clout.
a villa fan(Quote)
Haha. Try Cheryl . She’s got a hell of a clout. (Geordie for ******) 😯 😳
Troy Stavers(Quote)
shamrock,
mate,
you may well get your wish.
because i think we will drop another league.
seen it before,wore the tee shirt,and that old squad that did it,was far better than the one we had before.
at least you will come straight back up.
and so for you my friend,revenge will be sweet.
but please just give a little thought for true villa fans.
a villa fan(Quote)
troy,
😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
a villa fan(Quote)
by the way,
we love the newcastle fan on you tube.
one of our posters,regulary put his posts on our site.
even the one,when he says why he hates our club.
better to have a laugh than be angry.
a villa fan(Quote)
They say actions speak louder than words. Actions also make a lasting impression and the Toon Army never forgets. Naturally there will be innocent victims of the villa demise and that is unfortunate. If they so manage to bounce straight up, then I hope their fans have a bit of humility in future when other clubs drop down.
Shamrock(Quote)
right,
for those about to rock.we salute you.
im going back to the villa blog.
if you lot are depressed.just think how us real villa fans are.
have enjoyed the chat.and can understand how many of you feel about our fans.
we older fans feel the same.
goodnight all.
a villa fan(Quote)
Good to see the blog busy. Terry mate, yes I seem to remember somebody by the name of Ashley hiring Kinnear (twice), and Dennis Wise, and Derek Lambeezee, and John Carver, and Steve McTosser. Quite a list of people who have no competence. Still Mike can’t be blamed for it. He’s just a puppet at the top. The club is actually run by the tea lady. Now we know who to blame.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
G2: run by the tea boy, or office boy as that Daily Star reporter called Charnley.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Not for much longer I hope Eric. We’ve got to raise our sights and aim for a bit better than 18th or 19th place. Next season will be a huge challenge and I don’t think Lee is up to it.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
More Rafa quotes here. Mike Ashley to meet him in person Monday. Ashley would not bother unless he was going to make ‘it’ happen, you would think. 90% of the Shamrock-o-meter.
Shamrock(Quote)
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/newcastles-rafa-benitez-set-face-7970313
Shamrock(Quote)
Only lowlife would steal from a grave Kimtoon lass. Disgracefull. What can any decent person say other than that.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
G2 I think Joe Kinnear was one of Ashley’s better appointment’s. For one he didn’t make the manager resign. Also he wasn’t given any money to spend. He also made money by selling Cabaye and replaced him with no one but the club was 10th at the time. He also rejected Graham Carrs defender called Douglas and listened to Pardew instead. He was nowhere near as bad as Dennis Wise. He probably would of done better than Lee and Carr with 80 million as well.
Terry(Quote)
I’m not saying Joe Kinnear was great or anything but he would of been told to do nothing in the transfer window by Mike Ashley. I wonder if Joe could of found a better replacement than Carbella ? I mean Graham Carr must be **** to make me believe Joe Kinnear could’nt do any worse.
Terry(Quote)
Glad that Ashley is meeting face to face as there can then be no ambiguity. Maybe Rafa might even get his mobile phone number?
Looks like Everton are interested in de Boer which means Koeman stays at Southampton. What other English clubs are left that could afford Rafa? Watford, c’mon!
I think Ashley will bow to most of Rafa’s demands as he does not want to be involved in NUFC day to day. Even he must see the folly of his ways letting Charnley have a say in football matters and the one trick pony Carr pick players based on calls from French Football Agency Mondial. Rafa could call them direct and ask who they have and cut out the middle man. Better still, he could set up an actual scouting network whose idea is to build a team and not just buy based upon the fact a player’s contract is running down. The vulture approach to recruitment has left us with a lot of scraps.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I don’t care what Troy said about Leicester either. If he was so sure he would have had a fiver on it and e-mail a pic of the betting slip to this blog. So, it is pretty meaningless really like another throw away remark of his that Clarky or Pearce should have been our manager or that he mentioned Benitez 5 years ago. Yes that Benitez who was Manager of Chelsea, Inter, Napoli and Real Madrid since Troy’s ever so timely call. YCMIU.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
It’s obvious that Rafa is playing a straight bat and making all the right diplomatic noises whilst he weighs up his options. However it’s not a shoo-in straightforward choice for Rafa because unfortunately he made the “small club” comment about Everton, which won’t go down to well with the blue half of Merseyside.
Were Rafa to choose the toon he would be greeted with pretty much unbridled adulation, devoid of the background noise emanating from Merseyside, at the end of the day Liverpool are building a massive Klopp inspired momentum which will relegate Everton and Rafa to an insignificant side show anyway….
Rafa will realise that to a certain extent that due to his own poor decision making Ashley has been forced into a difficult position which will cost him tens of millions. Is Ashley willing to engage Rafa with the massive investment which it will obviously take, because let’s be honest if Rafa says yes we will need to bounce straight back up… Or will Ashley look for a cheaper option?
The toon job is a graveyard for manager’s (apart from the wily Alan Pardew who deftly jumped ship), is Rafa up for the challenge and the associated risk? Maybe he is the right age and at the right stage of his career to give the toon a go?
I reckon the biggest risk of “losing” Rafa will come from Spain. Ashley won’t give him an open check book to sort everything out, but he will stand back and allow him to do the job the way he wants. I reckon the job description for the toon job is what may prove to be the main obstacle. Looking in as a fan, it seems as if the whole structure of the club needs to be addressed from academy to first team. Rafa would need to provide a blueprint of how to take the club forward, and an idea of the resources and finances involved. There would probably be too many long words in there for Charnley and Ashley to understand. Ashley as the businessman will want to keep the costs involved within reason, after all he’s already been forced to pay off an Allardyce inspired entourage, and probably doesn’t want to do it again!
Interesting times ahead, is Ashley going to stick or twist?
Munich Mag(Quote)
NEW ARTICLE
https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2016/05/15/benitez-may-stay-as-newcastle-play-spurs-in-sorry-season-send-off/
Andy The Magpie(Quote)
Psychs
I recommended Benitez when Pards left. Unfortunately they appointed McLaren and I quickly identified he wasn’t up to the job. I was suggesting we sack McLaren early doors but others including you were dithering. My point at the time was, anyone is better than McLaren including Clarkie and Pearce and that still stands.
It was a point to get across that we shouldn’t dither. Lost on you though. Typical. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)