Journalist reveals what Rafa Benitez has just done to 'irritate' Mike Ashley - The irony..
During his latest piece for i News, respected North-East journalist Michael Walker claims that Mike Ashley has been 'irritated' by Rafa Benitez's recent comments claiming it would be a 'miracle' if we stayed up this season.
This is of course incredibly ironic, as the reason Rafa thinks it will be a miracle is down to the lack of investment he has been given on the pitch. Benitez has been managed horribly by Newcastle and totally wasted - he is only still here because of his love of the club and the clause in his contract that means he, until now, had to pay £6m to leave.
Here's a snippet from his latest piece for i News, claiming the board were not impressed by Benitez's comments:
'Benitez’s recent description of possible Premier League survival as a “miracle” is an exaggeration which has irritated those above him. It may also not have lifted the morale of his squad.
'It would be no surprise if Ashley is thinking post-Benitez. Although the team have slipped into the bottom three of the Premier League and there is a belief that Ashley must act to protect an asset, this ignores previous relegations on his watch.
'Ashley may accept relegation reluctantly, then try to rebuild. Newcastle United is a small fraction of his business concerns.'
Ashley is gambling with our future once again, as unfortunately for us, we are not the biggest of his business interests, probably the least important is his eyes. He is happy to run the risk of relegation and it is a farce we have ended up with this transfer stand off; Benitez rightly wont sign a new deal until players are signed yet Ashley wont back the manager until he signs a new contract.
It again is a predictable excuse from our owner to hide behind to not invest, like the takeover talk. Our net spend since he bought the club in 2007 is £32m - under £3m per season. That fact speaks louder than the supposed 'concerns' the hierarchy has over Rafa's comments.
