Chop chop! Lets all gawp at Newcastle (again)

[Mark Albrighton]

15 minutes ago, kurtsimonw said:

That's hardly £90m though, is it? And getting £17m for Amavi and Gestede is essentially robbery by the club.

As for Bruce being great. Never said that, never will. He's far from it.

My point was that a positive of Bruce you have previously referenced is our net spend during his tenure. I know you didn’t say he was great, in the same way I don’t think you’ve said Rafa is crap. Paraphrasing to make the point.

Edit FWIW I bet if we added up the value of the squad he inherited, it wouldn’t be too far off £90m. 

Edited August 13, 2019 by Shropshire Lad

[Zatman]

34 minutes ago, sne said:

I'm going to guess that Bruce didn't have a full season was really important while Rafa taking over in the middle of March isn't somehow.

 

See Bruce magic only works when he has a pre season

[VILLAMARV]

There's 2 Steve Bruce threads isn't there  

[Zatman]

Quote

"I’ve encouraged supporters to get behind Steve Bruce and his new team — but I’ve been made aware of what Lee Charnley, Newcastle’s managing director, claimed in the club’s match programme last weekend and I think it’s important I address that," Benitez said.

 

"Newcastle’s board had a year to sort out my contract but, when we met after the end of last season, they didn’t make me an offer I could accept. They told me they didn’t want to invest in the academy or the training ground — if they like, I can explain the reason why Mike Ashley refused to do that."

Benitez went on to say that their transfer policy was to sign players under the age of 24 and felt that the budget available to him was not enough to compete in the top half of the Premier League.

"I knew they would not come back with a serious offer and, when it arrived… it was for the same salary as three years earlier and with less control over signings. After three years of unfulfilled promises, I didn’t trust them," Benitez added.

"In front of us we had three options: nothing serious from Newcastle, the hope of a possible takeover or a different project. Yes, it was a big offer in China — I have never denied that — but it was also another continent and another league, from a club giving us a lot of recognition and respect. That decision wasn’t easy, but it was clear.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/08/13/rafa-benitez-hits-back-accusations-left-newcastle-money-insisting/

[Genie]

So Rafa left because MA didn't give him a pay rise, only same salary as he was already on.

[Zatman]

21 minutes ago, Genie said:

So Rafa left because MA didn't give him a pay rise, only same salary as he was already on.

He made that comment as Charnley said they offered him a payrise

Edited August 14, 2019 by Zatman

[alreadyexists]

59 minutes ago, Genie said:

So Rafa left because MA didn't give him a pay rise, only same salary as he was already on.

Well he says same as three years earlier and less control over signings... MA only cares about one thing and that’s the cash in his back pocket. 

[rodders0223]

3 hours ago, Genie said:

So Rafa left because MA didn't give him a pay rise, only same salary as he was already on.

In an industry where everyone's salary has increased exponentially the past 3 years. Rafa more than most should have saw a pay rise.

[bannedfromHandV]

2 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

In an industry where everyone's salary has increased exponentially the past 3 years. Rafa more than most should have saw a pay rise.

Yep, my heart bleeds for him and his family.

Hope they make it through these tough times.

#prayforRafa

[Stevo985]

1 minute ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Yep, my heart bleeds for him and his family.

Hope they make it through these tough times.

#prayforRafa

Are you Richard Keys?  

[rodders0223]

1 hour ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Yep, my heart bleeds for him and his family.

Hope they make it through these tough times.

#prayforRafa

lol what?!

I could quite comfortably have lived comfortably without my cost of living rise this year. I still took it. I deserve it. I earned it.

Same with Rafa, or any job, or industry, get paid your worth. Don't let some company absolutely mug you off.

 

[bannedfromHandV]

20 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

lol what?!

I could quite comfortably have lived comfortably without my cost of living rise this year. I still took it. I deserve it. I earned it.

Same with Rafa, or any job, or industry, get paid your worth. Don't let some company absolutely mug you off.

 

The greatest trick Rafa ever pulled was convincing the world he was worth more money.

[villa4europe]

25 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

lol what?!

I could quite comfortably have lived comfortably without my cost of living rise this year. I still took it. I deserve it. I earned it.

Same with Rafa, or any job, or industry, get paid your worth. Don't let some company absolutely mug you off.

but when a rival company comes in offering 4x as much you make sure everyone knows you really wanted to stay but had no choice

[Keyblade]

4 hours ago, bannedfromHandV said:

The greatest trick Rafa ever pulled was convincing the world he was worth more money.

Yeah man all those trophies he won were some elaborate magic trick.

[Jimzk5]

1 hour ago, Keyblade said:

Yeah man all those trophies he won were some elaborate magic trick.

When you look at what he's won it was always with someone else's squad

Valenica built by Hector Cuper 

Liverpool won the CL with the team houllier left

Chelsea europa winning team wasn't his

The napoli team that won the cup wasn't his team

Took over Milan after winning the champions league and did **** all with them, real Madrid got sacked

 

 

 

[Zatman]

29 minutes ago, Jimzk5 said:

When you look at what he's won it was always with someone else's squad

Valenica built by Hector Cuper 

Liverpool won the CL with the team houllier left

Chelsea europa winning team wasn't his

The napoli team that won the cup wasn't his team

Took over Milan after winning the champions league and did **** all with them, real Madrid got sacked

 

 

 

Valencia was broke up when he took over. Mendieta, Farinos, Claudio Lopez all left by then. Won the league again in his 3rd season and were prob best team in Europe that season

[Keyblade]

Forget all of that, his achievements at Newcastle in the last 3 years definitely warranted an improved contract. Won the Championship on the first try, then stayed up in back to back seasons with minimal investment. Giving him a worse contract than the one he started on is an insult tbh.

[Rds1983]

7 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

lol what?!

I could quite comfortably have lived comfortably without my cost of living rise this year. I still took it. I deserve it. I earned it.

Same with Rafa, or any job, or industry, get paid your worth. Don't let some company absolutely mug you off.

 

Agreed, the cost of living has risen in the last three years, by offering the same pay they're effectively offering him a paycut and less money then they did three years ago; and that's ignoring how the market has increased in that time with pay/transfers etc going up. However, I still think Rafa  will have had priorities more important than just pay and he highlights these.

[sidcow]

Sports direct in all sorts of bother.  Wouldn't be suprised to see them go under and if they survive it will have to be with Ashley removed. 

He's clearly a twonk, should have sold it to some proper business people and pocketed the huge dosh but instead he has let his personality run it into the ground by trying to be too clever.

[Zatman]

This guy also writes for Tifo so is quite credible journalist

Quote

Mike Ashley and Newcastle: The punditry silence is deafening

Conspiracy theories are not cool. People who have a conspiracy theory for everything are also a little bit frightening.

Let’s draw a quick distinction though, because there are different grades. Believing that Lee Harvey Oswald didn’t act alone is actually quite rational. But nodding along to the manipulative rhetoric of a David Icke lecture? That categorises someone as a particular type of person.

 

What follows falls into that first category and is intended more as an open question than anything else.

Why is Mike Ashley not criticised more than he is? Why, to be more precise, is there such a disparity between the way Newcastle supporters speak of him and the reaction he engenders during discussions on television, radio and in the more visible parts of the written press?

Whatever your take on that situation, it’s inarguably odd.

There are some exceptions. People who have worked under Ashley’s regime are typically damning. The sections of Kevin Keegan’s autobiography which deal with his second spell at the club, for instance, are both a must-read and also a highly descriptive account of the toxic dysfunction which characterised the organisation at the time. Similarly, among his peers, Alan Shearer’s withering anger makes him an outlier. Even within the agenda-free confines of the Match Of The Day studio, he manages to exhibit an anger roughly commensurate with the situation.

There are also journalists who have routinely thrown sticks and stones. The Times’ George Caulkin has been consistently honest and excellent over the years, while our own Daniel Storey has written many strong pieces condemning the route Newcastle United have taken. But elsewhere it’s surprisingly quiet.

Picture the scene: Newcastle have slumped to another insipid defeat during a televised game and the pundits are gathered in front of the cameras, constructing the post-mortem. In many a season gone by, the club’s on-pitch failings have been directly attributable to under-investment or a failure to address obvious positional weaknesses. More often than not, though, those issues are skirted around in favour of something less accusatory. A bad tactic, perhaps, or a poor refereeing decision.

What you don’t hear, which you do in every other place where Newcastle discussions regularly occur, is people wondering aloud about the bigger picture: how did Joe Kinnear, Alan Pardew, John Carver get this job? Where is the money from the sale of Yohan Cabaye? Why is more not being done to keep Rafael Benitez at the club?

It’s especially strange when it’s considered how often such questions are asked of other clubs. In some instances, that can be explained by those teams’ involvement in title races or battles for the European places. How often, for instance, is Daniel Levy’s ambition questioned and how regularly, particularly in the last year, have those same pundits speculated publicly about Roman Abramovich’s commitment to Chelsea? Conversely, with Newcastle there’s always a different energy in the room – a silent, invisible something which has to be talked around and which leaves ex-professionals and presenters nervously playing with their hands and shifting awkwardly in their seats.

And when they aren’t tongue-tied, they make remarks which bear no scrutiny whatsoever. Rio Ferdinand’s infamous, on-air defence of Ashley is the most prominent example – that came back in January – but Richard Keys continues to peddle his own bizarre take on the situation, possibly to be provocative, but more likely because he’s bound by this same, nebulous omerta.

Richard Keys

 

✔@richardajkeys

 

 

‘The owner here doesn’t share my ambition (so I’m off to China for £12m/year)’ Rafa Benitez. ‘I couldn’t be more proud to manage this club. It’s my club. It was my Dad’s club’ Steve Bruce. I hope the Toon Army eventually works it out. Get behind your team today guys. .

 

341

12:00 PM - Aug 11, 2019

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Often, it’s more than silence and involves the habit of portraying the supporters in a negative light – as an army of modern football caricatures, who can never be satisfied by any level of investment. Within those conversations, Ashley is almost portrayed as a hero character, and as the long-suffering custodian selflessly labouring on behalf of those who can never understand the complexities of ownership.

He’s allowed to wear that costume, too. The most recent interview with him actually read like a press release. It was thousands of words built on unchallenged half-truths and false-equivalencies. It was a rambling page of feigned self-pity, during which none of the pertinent questions were answered and no journalistic challenge seemed to be offered. It was applauded, of course, because football writing culture dictates that any interview is now a good one, but it would have been better had it never been published.

From a supporters’ perspective that’s certainly true; they probably could have done without another affront to their intelligence.

So what is this? Not a conspiracy, but one of those bizarre curiosities that nobody ever seems able to explain. Like Piers Morgan being pally with all of those famous people who seem to be otherwise decent. It doesn’t seem logically right and, as a result, implies a sort of sub-text.

On the first day of the season, thousands of Newcastle fans boycotted the game against Arsenal. It was the manifestation of years of dissatisfaction and widely-held consensus over how their club is being run. Given how rare that sort of uniformity is and how long it has been sustained, is it not incredibly strange that, even now, those supporters are drawing little more than bemused smirks and disingenuous rhetoric from the game’s talking heads?

https://www.football365.com/news/mike-ashley-and-newcastle-the-punditry-silence-is-deafening