The growing optimism that Benitez will remain at Newcastle is a shining glimmer of hope to United fans. More than that, it is a beacon, penetrating through the relegation fog which would have lay thick on the Tyne for months.
Meteorological metaphor aside, the importance of Rafa staying in charge has been made abundantly clear by the Newcastle fans; and Ashley, seems to have taken note.
I must admit that a few weeks ago, I just could not see Benitez remaining in charge should we fall below the relegation watershed. But all the talk following Newcastle’s incredible demolition of Spurs on Sunday is encouraging positive.
Players who I’d assumed would be fleeing the Magpies’ nest quicker than Mark Viduka are even coming out claiming they are open to staying in a bid to get Newcastle back up. Others have been a little more cryptic, expectedly so, in fairness. With relegation confirmed only a week ago, you would normally see players deflect questions of transfer to their agents, neither admitting they want a move away or committing their futures to the club until fully assessing their options. Yet all the noises coming out of St James’ Park seem to be that of togetherness.
That was certainly reflected in the performance on Sunday. This is a squad of players who should never have been relegated. For all the talk of poor recruitment, and yes much of it has been poor. Newcastle were still left with a squad good enough to go the last six Premier league games unbeaten under the guidance of someone who actually knows what they are doing.
As enjoyable as it was to watch Newcastle dismantle Spurs, it was also infuriatingly frustrating. Where has that been all season? Where has Sissoko been? Mitrovic, until his moment of utter madness, was brilliant. The whole side, even when down to ten, in fact, especially when down to ten, were together, organised and hungry. Breaking forwards relentlessly with pace and desire. Where has it been?
Yet strangely enough relegation doesn’t, at the moment, seem like the end. With the prospect of Benitez, and some of the more appealing players still with Newcastle and a humbled Mike Ashley restructuring the model, it could be the beginning. The beginning of something great. With a bit of perspective we should be looking at where Newcastle could be in three years, not where we will be next season. Hopefully next week will bring us the news we all crave and we can look forward to a summer preparing for a promotion drive, with Rafa at the forefront.
A quick personal note from me, SRF, now that the season has finished. Thank you to all you readers and bloggers who have taken the time to read my articles, comment on and discuss them. I have really enjoyed writing for this site since February and hope you have enjoyed reading them.
Remember, we are the fans. We have fans all over the UK, indeed, all over the world. Players, managers, directors and owners will come and go. The club will remain. We are Newcastle, we are United. HTL
Kim – that is class isn’t it. Very clever whoever has put that together.
God bless the attention seeking Pardew. He’ll be as pleased with that individual exposure as he would have been if they won yesterday.
It was a little frustrating listening to the man talking about how the cup is in his blood and all that ***** – yet at NUFC, how many times did he play a full strength team or at least a starting 11 that gave you the impression he was taking any cup competition seriously?!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I see Man Utd have shat on LVG from a great height after he has won them the FA cup after a 12yr wait.
Really classy!!. And I don’t see Jose going in there and making them the dominate force again either personally.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Tom Carroll is available on a free transfer.
I won’t mind seeing Dan Gosling back at the club either personally. I think he’d be a good player in the championship for us as well.
Sharpy17(Quote)
England have made hard work of this one tonight like.
I’m not sold on Sterling personally – couldn’t lace Townsends boots IMO.
I can say I’m overly sold on Wilshire either myself.
You’ve got to love Glenn Hoddle as well there:
‘It was a positive penalty’ – it fecking missed Glenn – what’s positive about that like you pleb?!
Sharpy17(Quote)
It was positive in that it went forward. I can’t think of anything else that was positive about it.
Got to play Vardy and Kane up top together in the Euro’s. They look a real handful. Means a diamond formation then I reckon. Alli just behind them with Dier holding and Wiltshire and either Rooney or Henderson the other side.
Stuart79(Quote)
The main talking points from the FA Cup were:
Pardew’s Dance: typical of him to make it about him
Clattenburg: yet another dismal performance. He should have been demoted after Chelsea/Spurs
Rooney: best game of the season, but one of very FEW good games this season. Of course his media friends act like this is normal but believe me he has been *****. I sometimes read the Guardian messages after a Man U game and there are usually 1,000. About 90% were calling for him to be dropped saying he is old and slow and only playing because there is a clause in his contract. Hopefully, he can show up for a tournament which would be the first time in 10 years.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
McClaren now coning out with excuses for why HE failed at NUFC and his Buddy Ryder is only too happy to pass them on because he has been making the same excuses for him ever since he left. He misses the fact that everybody has said that with our squad we should never have gone down and a new Manager turned it around in short order. In other news Steve Black has also come out and tried to absolve himself of all responsibility in stories in the Mail and The Chronic (I will leave it at that about Black though):
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rafa-benitez-bids-full-control-11368011?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
That Steve McClaren article is amazing. It contradicts everything he said when at NUFC. That he was happy with only being the head coach, that transfers were in good hands, that he was happy not having spoken with Ashley, that he said he should be judged after 10 games. Do we believe what he says now or what he said then? He has totally changed his tune, like he never said any of it. Has he seen the light or is he just a Grade A bullshitter?
Of course, Ryder is more than happy to pass on Schteve’s BS without comment or contradiction because he still feels Shteve did a good job.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Moreover, Ashley had set the parameters for success as top 10 finish and McClaren knew when he accepted the job that Ashley had stepped back and Charnley and Carr had control. Schteve was even appointed to the Board which I have never seen before and said he “spoke daily” with Charnley. The only thing that is correct is that he had no initial say on recruitment but he knew who they were and who we had. We didn’t sell anybody. He did have a say in January though and failed to get the best out of his high profile recruits and had basically lost the dressing room by then.
Of course we could have done with proven goalscorer but every manager does not get everything they want . Carr and Charnley f-ed up as well but I think McClaren had enough talent in our ranks to have stayed up easily.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I actually believe what he said then, and I also believe what he says now.
I believe he was happy to take whatever was on the table when he signing for us, coz he knew he wouldn’t get a job at any other PL club – so he was happy with whatever was offered to him. Carver said himself that the summer signings were sorted before Mc even came in. I reckon Saivet was Carrs choice as well.
But, I also believe that he would have much preferred the set up Rafa will get given. But the reality is the outcome would have been just the same under Mc.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy: I agree that Saivet was a Carr choice. It has all of the hallmarks as he was on the books of the Mondial Agency. I read that they had not planned to buy him until the summer but had been notified that other clubs were interested.
I also believe McClaren knew what he was getting into and is describing an ideal situation now. However, he wasn’t far from that ideal as Charnley, who he said he talked with daily, was acting like an owner, he had his expectations and goals laid out for him, he was on the Board and had input in January. He didn’t get everything he wanted, but nobody does. They had given Steve a lot more control than he started with and he would have been close to his ideal at NUFC if only he had done a decent job of coaching and motivating the players.
I will give you an example of how another team coped. In the first month Bournemouth had their two most expensive new recruits injured and out for the season – Tyrone Mings and Max Gradel. Then their best player and top scorer suffered a similar fate – Callum Wilson . They coped.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
We all know that re-signing Coloccini was a mistake and that we needed a goalscorer. They thought Mitro was that man but it turned out he was too raw. That’s a mistake, but every team makes mistakes.
We had bad luck with injuries as well. However, the only one we really missed was Dummett. All of the other first team players remained fairly healthy. You could say Tiote but that was more mental, I don’t think he was physically unfit a lot of the time.
As I said though, Eddie Howe lost his main goalscorer and the 2 players they had bought to keep them in the PL and still succeeded as a rookie in the PL.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I agree with you mate. Mc might not have had much say on the players coming in last summer – but it’s not like he was getting a load of duds.
He also got to bring all of his own coaching staff in. It’s not like they brought him in saying Carver & Stone are under long term contracts so they stay and you work with them.
I think Mc had a perfectly fair crack of the whip and was actually probably given longer than he deserved. The bloke has no complaints as far as I’m concerned.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Of course there were other injuries such as Krul, but the stand ins did well enough that that didn’t matter. And Taylor, that was probably a blessing in disguise.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy: I knew you agreed. I just wanted to lay out some of the counter arguments to Ryder continually saying that McClaren failed because he did not receive backing at NUFC or clear guidance. They made mistakes but every club does.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
There is enough blame to go around but Schteve was Carr’s man and supposedly they had a long term relationship. Initially, Carr and Charnley wanted total control but soon they allowed Schteve into that inner circle. Even after about 2 months he was no longer JUST the head coach as he was also on the Board and was the main speaker at the Fan’s Forum. He made up his own criteria for judgement as well saying initially 10 games, then stretching until Christmas I think and then saying he needed a full season. Charnley only acted when it was in his own self interest because he knew he would also be sacked if Steve stayed on. I think McClaren actually had as much say on most things as most managers do after only a few months in charge. I mean, the majority of teams have Directors of Football now.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Tufty was given plenty of time, he can have no complaints in that department. He failed, simple as that. I so wanted him to succeed, never thought he was right for us but backed him as I would any manager until proven wrong. Should of gone at xmas we’d still be in PL if he had and Lee should be sacked for that mistake alone imo.
Kimtoon(Quote)
McClaren also knew they had that 3 window transfer strategy so he would have to work with what he was given at least until January. I think his real directive was to get us mid-table but he failed. He managed to weasel himself more power because his fellow directors did not have much experience in the roles they had. Even Carr was a scout and was not a DoF. I think most DoFs are at the club’s facilities influencing matters a lot more than Carr was. McClaren actually had MORE control than most managers in my view, given the inexperience of his colleagues.
His only excuse can be recruitment, but he had worked on that and got 2 players he wanted at a cost of 24 mil in January and still failed. I NEVER SAW MENTIONED ONCE A PROVEN GOALSCORER THAT MCCLAREN HAD PUT FORWARD TO THE BOARD AND DIDN’T GET. Maybe that was because of the obsession with Berehino? But a lot of people have their doubts that we were serious there anyway.
But we were relegated and now we know Rafa has complete power (Steve was getting there though, so he can’t really complain).
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I honestly thought that Mc was going to be a fairly safe pair of hands when they were bringing him in.
I didn’t for a second think he was the man to take us up into the top 8. But I thought he could come in and stabilise the club for a few season – similar to the job Fat Sam did at West Ham when he brought them up, then kept them up.
I thought with his experience would manage anywhere from 9th to 14/15th place for a few seasons at least. 14/15th this season and then gradually climb a few places until we settled the madness down & could build from there.
I did not expect such an epic fail, with such a clueless style of football.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Somebody should write a book about the last few years at NUFC. Last year of Pards with the headbutt, through Carver’s nonsensical press conferences and onto the three-headed monster. It could be a tragi-comedy like “The Damned United”. Alternatively, if Rafa could finally get us a trophy it could be like Fever Pitch.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy: I agree with you about expectations and you have to throw in that everyone thought there was no way he could be as bad as Carver. In the back of my mind I had his recent failures but he had also coached Man U to a treble and Boro to comfortable midtable. There were reasons for optimism and some pessimism but we also saw Ashley really opening the cheque book for the first time. No manager under Ashley had been given that and Carr had made some decent buys previously whatever people say in hindsight about last summer.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
AND: everyone was saying what a great coach Schteve was. It was unanimous, there wasn’t a single dissenting voice. You really could be forgiven for having some hope. And then we get 3 points from 8 games and look a total shambols and Schteve moves the goalposts on how and when to judge him.
Please get Rafa in soon so I can move on 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I was actually left thinking that Carver could probably have done a better job than Mc with the squad Mc started the season with.
Carver really did have a shocking time of it with injuries and suspensions – with Cisses spit & Willos red card against Leicester for example.
I’m not for a second saying I wanted John boy to stay on, but I do think with hindsight he can feel a little aggrieved.
But maybe we had to hit absolutely rock bottom under Mc, to finally get it right. If we had got 14/15th this season, then Mc would still be here & we’d probably looking at a similar season next season.
I’m far more optimistic with Rafa in the Championship that we will eventually get where we want to be, than if we had got mediocre finishes under Mc.
Sharpy17(Quote)
The strange thing to me is that the conference of newly minted Masters Graduates in Football Managing Directing asked Schteve to speak. If it was because they could learn from his failures then I understand that, but he seemed to be giving them a blueprint for success that had smacked of making excuses for himself. Why get someone to give a speech when his recent record was:
England : Epic fail
Twente: success
Wolfsburg: Epic fail
Twente: fail
Forest: Epic fail
Derby: fail
NUFC: Epic fail
Will he ever get a top line job again? If not, then what use is he to these graduates except to say don’t pick someone like me to manage your team.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy: I didn’t think anybody could make Ugly John look good! I have admitted he was dealt a bad hand with injuries even though I don’t think he helped himself in press conferences and the job was out of his league. As I have said, I don’t think many of our injuries under Schteve were that consequential as they weren’t first choice anyway or had decent cover. Only Dummett and maybe Mitro’s suspension hurt.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
We topped the injury league but a lot of that was Curtis Good, Steven Taylor, Obertan and Haidara. Would they really have played that much?
Maybe Aarons, but he was 19 years old at the start of the season with only a handful of games played.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The funny thing about Pardew’s dance was that there was no way it was spontaneous. Those moves were so contrived that he must have practiced them, probably hours in front of the mirror and convincing himself that he looked good. This one is for all of the ladies watching.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
you could forgive pardew had he been pissed – but he was fucking sober!
he’s a ***** of the highest order..
roy cropper(Quote)
We know Pardew’s default celebration is the giant exaggerated fist pump. So that little dance was premeditated. I am telling you he had spent hours in front of the mirror, he even had a little hip swivel for the ladies.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Roy: I found it quite funny but also vindication of him wanting to be centre of attention and his absolute smug arrogance that we all saw but some criticised us for not liking.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
eric
i wouldn’t worry about what people think of your views – especially not troy’s.
anyway it’s time for the scratcher.
nighty night.
roy cropper(Quote)
Roy: I was thinking about fans of other teams. If ever Pards gets mentioned in relation to NUFC in a national newspaper there are always a lot of fans saying we are delusional and Pards was actually great for us. Me and Troy know where we stand on Pards – miles apart, never to meet 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I missed the Pardew dance. The other day I said he was half decent and hold him in higher esteem than Carver, Schteve, Soundness etc. Not any more. Not after that dance. What a smug git. He is bottom of the pile, except for the Grin Reaper.
Shamrock(Quote)
That Pardew dance will go down in FA Cup lore now. During every trip to Wembley, probably even the semi-finals, that dance will be shown. It will be shown in 10 years time when Pardew’s time at NUFC is a distant memory. It will be like the Billy Bremner / Kevin Keegan walk off the pitch at the Charity Shield, one of the moments that will never die.
I haven’t seen British TV coverage of the FA Cup for many years – 26, so I don’t know what they show. Probably an old Alex Ferguson celebration or Steven Gerrard lifting the cup. I bet Pards now becomes part of the montage though. He will live in infamy.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Do you know why Pardew is called Chunky? Apparently, he used to eat tins of pineapple chunks because he thought it made his semen taste better for the ladies. I don’t know if it an urban legend or not but that story is pretty widespread.
I just googled it and got a hit on a Fulham blog saying what I just said above.
Sorry Kimtoon, I didn’t mean to put you off pineapple chunks for life.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
He probably said it as a joke and it stuck.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
So fixtures out 22nd June and press season likely to be in Ireland.
Shamrock(Quote)
So Cabella was dropped for the final few Marseille games but will still be moving as he had already made enough appearances to trigger the agreed fee. Good riddance. Now to see Thauvin **** off.
Shamrock(Quote)
Sham – is that right about Cabella?. I hope Thauvin can be moved on as well and that money is spent on someone like Matt Phillips or Joel Campbell – players far better suited to the English game and could compliment Townsend on the other wing.
Sharpy17(Quote)
If we had Townsend, Phillips and Aaron’s as wing options through the season I’d be happy with that.
Shamrock(Quote)
If Janmaat goes as I suspect he will, do we need another RB or do we go with Anita in there with Mbabu & Sterry as back up?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Based on Anitas performances of late I’d be happy to keep him and sterry as back up. Both Sterry and Mbabu are talents and need developing, this season in the Championship is the ideal time to properly test his metal. I’d probably look to move Heidara so Mbabu can back fill for Dummett. I know he is primarily a RB but he has done very well in the left and that gives Sterry an opportunity then. It’s CBs and strikers we need.
Shamrock(Quote)
I think we’ll all be surprised by the summer signings. Benitez, who is very high on self belief, will only sign players good enough for a year’s time in the PL. He won’t sign the fighters and cloggers talked about for the physicalities of the championship. They’re qualities you’d expect but it’s generally the best footballing teams that get promoted and STAY there. He might even have demanded that no players are sold if he disagrees. Those that want to leave may be allowed a year’s loan. Townsend maybe?
Georgio(Quote)
Sham – I’d stick with Anita too mate. I’d like to see us bring in Caulker at CB and maybe Agger but I seem to remember he struggled with injuries at Lpool – might be wrong on that though.
As for forwards. We have Mitrovic, Perez, Armstrong who I think could **** it in the Championship.
I reckon Riviere & Toney could well get goals in that league too – if they keep them that is.
I would like to see wide men in personally. I think Townsend & Aarons are superb players – but if they get injured, who steps in?.
I’d like to see us get 2 wide men to force competition in those areas.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy , who ever plays up front ,they are gonna need decent service so yep quality wide men a must. I would stick with Anita at RB too if Janmaat goes.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Eric, I have pineapple and grapes every night for supper, might give it a swerve for a bit now like. 🙄 🙁
Kimtoon(Quote)
So Man Utd who apparently never sack their managers according to their fans and former players have just sacked their 2nd manager in 2 years! Welcome to the world of normal football clubs.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – I seem to remember the media world slagging us off about the way we strung McClaren along whilst working on securing Rafa – I wonder what they will write about Man Utd and the way they have dicked on the bloke who has won them the FA Cup for the first time in 12yrs.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Oh and just putting on SSN and it’s still just according to reports.
This wonder club still haven’t had the decency to confirm or deny anything. But there again, this Jose link has ran most of 2016 and they never spoke out, so what’s the rush.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy – The journo’s on Twitter basically backing up Man Utd saying how else could they do it? The double standards are incredible!
Stuart79(Quote)
I can’t believe the fans think Jose is the way to go to be honest.
Man Utd have always been a club that develop youth team players – or that was always the case since I’ve grown up with them.
That’s not how Jose works from what I’ve seen of him. He buys trophies from what I’ve seen & talk is that he gets £200m to spend.
So if I was the likes of Lingard, Blackett, McNair, Borthwick Jackson, Nick Powell or Will Keane, I’d be looking for a way out now.
Just think about how many youth players made it through at Chelsea?. Is he a world class coach, or is he just very good at managing very talented players?.
Is it harder to manage some of the best players in the world, or harder to develop players into becoming some of the most talented players in the world?!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
So Danny Murphy thinks Rafa is stalling and will end up at Everton… He’s such a ****!
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – REALLY?!. I used to like Danny Murphy & thought he was a decent pundit – but with craic like that I guess not!!. What a truly stupid thing to say!!.
Could he ever go to Everton with his Lpool connections.
It would be like KK going to Sunderland or Peter Reid (monkey heed) coming to the toon.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Jose plays defensive footie too, lots of 1. 0 wins, Manure fans won’t enjoy that one little bit. They like to be entertained with lots of goals, don’t think this is a comfortable fit one bit if he ends up there. LVG has known about the Jose link all season and it’s no different to us being linked to Rafa when SM was in the job. In fact our rumour was for a short time compared to this farce at Manure but the press will ignore that of course.
Re- Danny Murphy, knows FA. If he knows Rafa won’t stay then I would be very surprised if he ended up at the Toffees after his ‘small club ‘ remarks whilst at Pool.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Jose has no class. Fancy openly touting for a bloke’s job whilst he is still in post. I know with football managers it’s a bit of a dog eat dog situation because as soon as a manager is sacked there is no lack of applicants. However most hold back until the vacancy occurs. Jose and his agents have been openly touting for the Man U job since he was sacked by Chelsea. Disgusting in my view and I couldn’t see RAFA behaving like that.
On the FA Cup I thought Rooney had a reasonable game but I wouldn’t go overboard about it because Crystal Palace most of the game did not contest midfield so Rooney was not put under much pressure. Not contesting midfield takes me back to NUFC under Pardew.
Groucho(Quote)
Totally mate, stuff of nightmares
Kimtoon(Quote)
Not that I care that much, but I think Man U should have give the job to Giggs and got an older head in to help him out.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I agree with Kim that Jose is unlikely to give the fans the attacking football they were once used to. Heard Phil Neville saying on TV that all the Chelsea players loved him. Maybe true of the previous players but not the present squad. They stopped playing for him.
Groucho(Quote)
Barcelona appoint a club legend in Guardiola and Man Utd just have their legend sitting on th bench watching two managers fail.
Jose will be a failure at Man Utd.
Stuart79(Quote)
Why are so many people saying Man Utd should have given the job to Giggs? Just because it sometimes works to go from senior player, to coach, to manager, doesn’t mean it always does! Look at Gary Neville! Look at McClaren, who was assistant at Man Utd for years.
Man Utd. fans are pretty spoiled with success. And currently they’re whinging because they’re not a shoe in for the CL. Mourinho will bring some success back to the club, then cause a mess and Giggs might be able to ride in after getting 2 or 3 years experience at another club.
Besides…I care more about whether Rafa is going to be our manager. Or perhaps we should just give the job to Colo????
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
who rattled your cage 😆
Seriously, I think all the chat about Manure is pretty natural footie chat, given we are still waiting on our own managerial news and filling in time.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Barca have done it many times and it works for them so why shouldn’t they give Giggs the job? Ajax have also had success with it too.
Stuart79(Quote)
When Jose gets the Man U job there should be quite a few of their young players available on loan so we should have a look. I think we would be ideal with massive crowds and a respected Manager.
I am sure there will be a lot of player turnover at Man U as Mourinho has had 6 months to think about it. Even some of the young players who got PL experience this year might be available. They won’t all be great though but on loan it is worth a look.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The obvious loan clubs are Man U, Chelsea and Man City. They all stockpile young talent but all have new managers who will have huge funds to bring in new first team players pushing the young players further down the pecking order. We need Rafa and some scouts in ASAP to have a look at what is available. Someone familiar with their youth systems which I am not sure we have at the moment.
Carr’s main approach has been to sign from Europe and about half have been from that one Agency Mondial so I am not sure what our scouting network is like in the UK.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I know some fans are averse to developing other teams’ talent but it makes sense to us at the moment. We can cut our wage bill by selling some players who want away and have a couple of replacements with buyout clauses even. It really is going to be a juggling act with finances, even with the parachute payments. That’s why the club are talking about an overdraft facility (mainly because of the timing of payments from the league to us).
I don’t agree with those who say we can keep all of the players and cover the wage bill. I think me and Sham talked about this a while ago and I thought it would be pushing 100 million with the new additions and he thought about 80 million (not absolutely sure on those numbers). However, either way, that would probably be double any other team in The Championship so we have to get it down to free up space for new additions and to get transfer fees in. As I said, it will be more of a juggling act than many people are thinking and I would not be surprised if the Fat Man has to put in a bit. Remember his net worth has more than tripled since we last went down and the riches of the PL TV deal have at least doubled so he has the incentive.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – you are dead right mate. It could be that City are prepared to loan Iheanacho, Utd could be willing to loan out Rashford and Chelsea’s Bamford has already proven he can cut it in that league.
Man Utd and City also have decent young defenders who they may be willing to loan out too.
But there is also his connections with Liverpool & Madrid he could maybe draw on too.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – I’m more averse to loaning playing who either rot in our reserves – like Doom & Facunda (or whatever he was called) as well as Luuk De Jong who had little to no impact at all.
If we loan players in I want it to improve us, or at least create competition for places.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I said the other day that us topping the injury league was a bit deceptive as the players that contributed most to this would not have been picked anyway. The Chron ran an article on this today and only Dummett would have made a difference. Here are the top 8 from The Chron article:
“Forgotten defender Curtis Good was ruled out for a staggering 86 per cent of the campaign, while left-back Massadio Haidara (79 per cent) and goalkeeper Tim Krul (76 per cent) also missed more than three-quarters of Newcastle’s matches.
Gabriel Obertan (64 per cent), Emmanuel Riviere (57 per cent), Steven Taylor (55 per cent), Sylvain Marveaux (52 per cent) and Paul Dummett (50 per cent) were also available for more than half of the campaign.”
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Haidara would have been useful to have as well but we ended up having decent backup for Krul who now may be surplus to requirements having only a year left on his contract. It is unlikely he would sign a new deal with us in the Championship and it is bad business for NUFC to let him run the contract down and be a free agent.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I wouldn’t care if we get rid of all of the sicknotes bar Dummett. Haidara hasn’t proved himself, so I don’t care. Those 7, plus the high earners clears a lot of room in the squad.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I was back in England last year and on the Sky lineup they had ManU.TV and Chelsea.TV. It would be a simple matter to watch all of their U21 games from last year I think as I am sure they were all televised to fill up space on these subscription services. I am sure the same applies to Liverpool, Arsenal and Citeh.
Do we do that on NUFC.TV? Maybe not as I think those other clubs take their internet presence more seriously.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
They have weekly hour long shows for Madrid and Barca over here and sometimes show like 15 minute clips of their U13-15-17 games. There is so much information out there and it is about time our lot got wise to it. Old Man Carr fielding phone calls from Mondial is about 20 years out of date, although I do think his record is not quite as bad as some are now making out (maybe a C minus).
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Miles Starforth
@milesstarforth
Agreement in place with Rafa Benitez, but could be a day or two yet before everything’s formalised/signed. http://bit.ly/1Tubghc #nufc
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4:35 a.m. – 23 May 2016
Kimtoon(Quote)
At Barca, the role is a coach. The President and his team do most things regarding transfers, contracts etc. The Man Utd. role is more of a manager. Giggs would be a bit of a leap of faith. Not as familiar with Ajax, but I imagine they develop a lot of talent, so again the role is more that of a coach.
Both clubs have very well established identities and fantastic infrastructures that the coach can just fit into. Man Utd are struggling as Fergie basically WAS Man Utd. So nobody can easily replace him.
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
It’s highly unrealistic to think players like Rashford and Iheanacho would join us on loan. Why would players scoring regularly for a top PL team drop down to the Championship? Crazy talk…
Use the loan market to fill any gaps, but I’d like to think we would comfortable have what it takes to get promoted, while also giving several of our youngsters some experience. Mitrovic, Arma, Lascelles, Mababu and Aarons would certainly benefit from a season where they play plenty of games for us and build up an understanding with their teammates.
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)