RAFA BENITEZ new Newcastle Manager

tailgunner

sky88 wrote: »

Would have been a great appointment at the start of the season not sure if he can turn them around in short amount of games left after the damage mcleaen and the board have done.

I'd be pretty confident. Grand run of fixtures left after Leicester.

Cyrus

great appointment, if the club get behind him things should pick up!

ricero

McClaren is such a jabroni.

HalloweenJack

Brilliant appointment for Newcastle.

Win-win for Benitez I reckon. If he can't save them, everyone will blame McLaren and I imagine he'll leave in the summer. If he keeps them up, it's a job well done and I reckon he could improve the side a lot, given time and the right backing.

You'd have to think he's been given a lot of reassurances that things will be different for him than it was under previous managers. I think he's far too intelligent to walk into that situation otherwise.

Flint Fredstone

A good appointment for both. I'd say he's glad to finally get a job where he won't be expected to be in the mix for everything.

NukaCola

Will turn out to be an amazing appointment.......very surprised that Rafa is willing to work under Ashley, must have been given full control and if thats the case Newcastle will be looking good in a few years time......

alchemist33

Newcastle are going to get a whole new bunch of fans on boards.ie now!

BMMachine

Poor Rafa, going to the Elephant Graveyard. I also think hes been very mediocre as a manager since he left Liverpool

keeponhurling

Other managers with good track records have gone to Newcastle before.
Players too.

It always ends in tears.

Francie Barrett

Not sure what Rafa was thinking in taking that job. Currently on 24 points with 10 games to go. To have a chance at staying up, you'd have to think that they need 4 wins from that at least. No easy task.

Gbear

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Not sure what Rafa was thinking in taking that job. Currently on 24 points with 10 games to go. To have a chance at staying up, you'd have to think that they need 4 wins from that at least. No easy task.

Think it's easier if you just consider it in terms of finishing above Sunderland and Norwich.

marklazarcovic

SlickRic wrote: »

Hicks and Gillett. Fiorentino Perez. Mike Ashley.

Rafa is a slow learner.

david moores brought rafa to lfc i think

Billy86

I'm heavily in the side that finds behind overrated and considers it a mystery goe he kept getting use high profile jobs. That said, he is a very good manager (especially tactically) and this could be a ln amazing pickup for them. I like Newcastle's scouting department also, will be interesting if those above them can just sit back and let the football people do the football things.

As well as the fans having patience when he doesn't win his first 10 games 5-0 with 80% possession. :pac:

Moneymaker

keeponhurling wrote: »

Other managers with good track records have gone to Newcastle before.
Players too.

It always ends in tears.

Like who?

We havent had a manager like this since Sir Bobby.

marklazarcovic

he can leave if they go down,so easy to take it on really

Harry Palmr

Wot not comment from Mr Alan? (only joshing if you are reading this)

I dunno, this could go either way. I keep wondering why someone hasn't made Ashley an offer he can't refuse. The grief he gets and the trouble at his other mill would surely tempt him to sell up at some point.

Hope he does well there. Many managers have tried and failed with Newcastle though!

Billy86

Moneymaker wrote: »

Like who?

We havent had a manager like this since Sir Bobby.

Why did he get sacked by the way?

M5

Billy86 wrote: »

Why did he get sacked by the way?

You didn't answer the question asked...

astonaidan

Getting Newcastle out of relegation isn't going to be that hard they have a strong squad far stronger than the position they are in and now the best manager outside Hiddink in bottom half

Moneymaker

Billy86 wrote: »

Why did he get sacked by the way?

Disgraceful decision. Shepherd got rid of him because we didn't get top 4.

I'm pretty sure he said years later he regretted it and it was a bad decision.

No manager we've had since is anywhere near the level Rafa is. Not even close.

~Rebel~

Will be an emotional trip to Anfield for him on April 23rd!

Happy for Newcastle, always had a soft spot for them and this is an unreal appointment. Really have to think he's been given assurances he'll be the head honcho there, and if that's the case, you can expect everything in the club to improve, from the youth system to the first team's defensive abilities.

Paully D

Moneymaker wrote: »

Disgraceful decision. Shepherd got rid of him because we didn't get top 4.

I'm pretty sure he said years later he regretted it and it was a bad decision.

No manager we've had since is anywhere near the level Rafa is. Not even close.

The fans had also turned on him at that point too and were calling for him to be sacked:

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11678/2277260/robson-hurt-by-boo-boys

Berserker

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Shít timing for Leicester though, makes the fixture a lot more challenging.

My first thought on the matter when it was confirmed that he would be in charge for Monday night. I hope he does well there, as I really like the Geordies but I hope they delay their improvement for one more week.

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Will be an emotional trip to Anfield for him on April 23rd!

He went back there as manager of Chelsea.

5starpool

I hope this works out well for all. I still have a lot of love for Rafa, and I like Newcastle as well generally, a real 'proper' club, although they have been mostly a basket case for the last 10 years. I hope Rafa keeps them up and does pretty well (except against Liverpool) as well. I fear though that it won't turn out well for either party though.

~Rebel~

Berserker wrote: »

He went back there are manager of Chelsea.

Oh I know, but every trip back will be like that, especially after a few years since his last one. He'll have the whole ground chanting his name.

I'm hoping for 7 wins out of his 9 (losses to Leicester and Liverpool please!)

glued

Really good coup for Newcastle. It'll be interesting to see what he does if he's given a few years to develop the squad.

That_Guy

alchemist33 wrote: »

Newcastle are going to get a whole new bunch of fans on boards.ie now!

We might even get 2 superthreads a season now.

CSF

glued wrote: »

Really good coup for Newcastle. It'll be interesting to see what he does if he's given a few years to develop the squad.

Job 1 is keep them up. After that, he buys his own time. Time in a crisis is not a luxury you get in the bottom half of the Premier League at any club.

Paully D

Interesting comments from Jamie Carragher who has obviously worked very closely with Benitez at Liverpool:

"Motivation? That's not Rafa's biggest strength. He will look at how they suffer tactically. Rafa was probably the best I had with setting up a back four. There's probably going to be a lot of repetition and he won't apologise for that.

"Those players will work hard - whoever they're playing, it will be a difficult game for them. It won't be the open expansive style the fans want, for now he will be focusing on trying to make Newcastle difficult to beat."

Sorting out the defence and making them tough to beat is exactly what they need at the moment anyway.

Ulysses Gaze

He'll keep them up.

But the way he has fallen out with the boards at Valencia, Liverpool, Inter and Napoli means this won't be a long term thing.

Can't see Ashley putting up with his manager slating him in the press because he won't get lots of money to spend.

Paully D

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

He'll keep them up.

But the way he has fallen out with the boards at Valencia, Liverpool, Inter and Napoli means this won't be a long term thing.

Can't see Ashley putting up with his manager slating him in the press because he won't get lots of money to spend.

There probably will be lots of money to spend. They're one of the highest spenders in Europe this season and spent nearly £40m last season. Though whether he'll have much say in who comes in or not will require a dramatic shift from Ashley.

You'd have to think that, despite really wanting to get back to work in England, he'll have been given assurances regarding the way things will be done on the recruitment side of things before agreeing to take the role.

Guy:Incognito

Paully D wrote: »

It'll be ironic that Newcastle change their manager just before the derby and win it considering Sunderland have done it every year for the last 4. :pac:

Sack Sam and go all in.

Utopia Parkway

astonaidan wrote: »

Getting Newcastle out of relegation isn't going to be that hard they have a strong squad far stronger than the position they are in and now the best manager outside Hiddink in bottom half

The bottom 4 are cut adrift a bit though. Looks like 3 of them will go down and only one will survive.

Optimalprimerib

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

The bottom 4 are cut adrift a bit though. Looks like 3 of them will go down and only one will survive.

I think 3 go down every year Michael.

Mantis Toboggan

He'll be gone within 6 months

bucketybuck

HalloweenJack wrote: »

You'd have to think he's been given a lot of reassurances that things will be different for him than it was under previous managers.

Those reassurances won't be worth the paper they probably weren't written on.

Magico Gonzalez

Must have been fairly bored at home, Mrs Benitez obviously told him to get out from under her feet! Anyone actively wanting to work with Mike Ashley needs a long hard think about how that will pan out.

marklazarcovic

Magico Gonzalez wrote:

Must have been fairly bored at home, Mrs Benitez obviously told him to get out from under her feet! Anyone actively wanting to work with Mike Ashley needs a long hard think about how that will pan out.

Hes come from madrid circus,doubt it could be worse

Paully D

I thought this move would virtually guarantee them survival but it wasn't to be.

24 points from 28 games when he took over and 1 point from safety. Relegation is confirmed 9 games later with 34 points from 37 games with the club 4 points from safety.

9 games in charge, 2 wins - at home to Swansea and Palace, 4 draws - Sunderland (H), Manchester City (H) Villa (A) and Liverpool (A), along with 3 defeats - Leicester (A), Norwich (A) and Southampton (A).

What next for Benitez? Does anyone think he might stay? How do you think he did at Newcastle overall? Could he have done better? Does he deserve any blame at all or not?

Mr.Nice Guy

I'm sure Rafa has an escape clause in his contract. I'd be very surprised if he managed in a lower tier. I reckon he may well be tempted to go back to Valencia.

HalloweenJack

I reckon they'd have gone down a lot sooner if it weren't for him.

As soon as he took over, you could see they were far better organised and had more bite. If he had come in in January and signed his own players, I reckon they'd have survived. Unfortunately, the shoddy job done by Steve McClaren had sealed their fate.

bucketybuck

Paully D wrote: »

How do you think he did at Newcastle overall? Could he have done better? Does he deserve any blame at all or not?

I don't think he could have done any better, no. They were a mess when he took over and he made them a much better team, it wasn't enough in the end but there wasn't much more he could have done.

monkey9

I actually think he should stay, give himself one season down there in the Championship and see where they are this time next year. I think he could build something great at Newcastle.

Skylinehead

I think 5 more games and he'd have kept them up. They were noticeably better than under McClaren.

Although, why Benitez kept playing Papiss Cisse over Mitrovic is baffling.

Mantis Toboggan

Tyson Fury wrote: »

He'll be gone within 6 months

Surely will be gotten rid of, he's a fraud.

Utopia Parkway

Paully D wrote: »

I thought this move would virtually guarantee them survival but it wasn't to be.

In fairness I don't think anyone anticipated Sunderland picking up so many points on the run in a few weeks ago.

monkey9

Tyson Fury wrote: »

Surely will be gotten rid of, he's a fraud.

Why would Newcastle get rid of him? Your quote of your own post makes no sense.

J. Marston

Started the season at Real Madrid, ends it getting relegated with Newcastle. Crazy.

He's not going to stay there though. He probably looked at Ashley and thought "A fool and his money...."

Paully D

Skylinehead wrote: »

Although, why Benitez kept playing Papiss Cisse over Mitrovic is baffling.

Yeah, that was the key thing that stood out for me. And while he was also very good at changing things around at half-time, they were generally always much better in the 2nd half of games than the 1st. I'm not sure why he couldn't get them firing from the off in games.