Rafa leaving official confirmation

[Don Sholeone]

The argument against Rafa so far seems to be "he didn't stay for the sake of my feelings", kinda embarrassing really, the guy got us back to PL and kept us up twice with minimal backing when everyone around us were spending money we would only dream of under this regime, was we supposed to play like Barca and win the league with players we could get on our budget? The same people complaining about style will probably be the same ones complaining when we were getting smashed about by the big boys under Pardew.

[Toondes]

The argument against Rafa so far seems to be "he didn't stay for the sake of my feelings", kinda embarrassing really, the guy got us back to PL and kept us up twice with minimal backing when everyone around us were spending money we would only dream of under this regime, was we supposed to play like Barca and win the league with players we could get on our budget? The same people complaining about style will probably be the same ones complaining when we were getting smashed about by the big boys under Pardew.

Yeah that’s exactly what’s being said, my feelings are hurt and we should've played like Barca and won the league.
What did he achieve that was so spectacular ? He always said the right things in interviews which pointed to himself as a saviour and Ashley as the villain. Ashley was already despised and Rafa knew this. Would you say his great achievement was keeping us up ? For £6m a year he kinda had to really. You mention about the spending which is fair enough but we had way better squads than the dross that’s been relegated the last two seasons.
It seems that you can either be in the “Rafa walks on water squad “ or labelled as a clueless fan of you disagree.

[Tsi]

He honoured his contract and moved on, he’s free to do or say what he wants imo. I’d be surprised if during his 3 and a bit years with us if other better offers weren’t available to him (e.g. West Ham, Leicester) but he stayed with us until the end.

So if it was clear from 16 May that he wasn’t staying then the club has had nearly two months to get a new manager and coaching team in place but there’s no sign of that.

This is the most telling thing out of that article.
It's either Ashley really is selling or he's even more incompetent than we thought.

[Donkey Toon]

He was the best paid manager outside the top 6. He achieved promotion after outspending every other championship club . And in the subsequent seasons he achieved safety which was his job at the end of the day . I liked him but he was hardly treating us to glorious football and I seem to remember a lot of people on here hated the way He set us up to play.
He done a decent job but he’s not the be all and end all for me.
He’s taken a lucrative job offer and he’s no longer our concern. I dont agree that he needs to keep stoking the fire as we all know what Ashley is like. Rafa is a better politician than he is a manger.

This. I've said it before he achieved nothing that Hughton didn't with less money, better football and zero complaining to the media.

Yes he wasn't funded well enough to be challenging for europe, but he was funded enough to be challenging for mid-table and all this "he achieved miracles" or "did wonders to avoid relegation" is hyberbolic nonsense. And the football under him was the most boring i've ever seen from us on a consistent basis.

He's moved on and I realise i'm probably alone in this, but I'm glad he has gone.

Although I do have the usual anxiety I get every time we appoint a new manager, in case we get another McLaren or Kinnear.

[Colly]

I think there's an enormous middle ground as you say, but given he was here for three and a bit seasons it took until the second half of last season for him to finally start playing a formation that suited the team and let us counter effectively rather than just sitting behind the ball. To an extent even that was forced by a bit of an injury crisis, but to his credit he stuck with it despite the likes of Shelvey becoming available. I'm not happy to see him go largely because I think he could have built from here, but yep, a lot of the football in recent seasons (including in the Championship where we had a string side) has been horrible to watch.

No idea what will attract our next manager though, the squad is going to be bare bones by the start of August.

[bodacious benny]

“...glad he’s gone”, I’d reserve that particular statement until we see who the next appointment is

[ALF]

I think there's an enormous middle ground as you say, but given he was here for three and a bit seasons it took until the second half of last season for him to finally start playing a formation that suited the team and let us counter effectively rather than just sitting behind the ball. To an extent even that was forced by a bit of an injury crisis, but to his credit he stuck with it despite the likes of Shelvey becoming available. I'm not happy to see him go largely because I think he could have built from here, but yep, a lot of the football in recent seasons (including in the Championship where we had a string side) has been horrible to watch.

No idea what will attract our next manager though, the squad is going to be bare bones by the start of August.

Agree with this completely.

[Donkey Toon]

“...glad he’s gone”, I’d reserve that particular statement until we see who the next appointment is

Yeah hindsight might end up making me remember Rafa more fondly.


But to me it doesn't make sense to want to persist with something you are not happy with on the basis that the replacement might end up being worse. That is a good way to stagnate and stifle progress.

[bodacious benny]

“...glad he’s gone”, I’d reserve that particular statement until we see who the next appointment is

Yeah hindsight might end up making me remember Rafa more fondly.


But to me it doesn't make sense to want to persist with something you are not happy with on the basis that the replacement might end up being worse. That is a good way to stagnate and stifle progress.

That’s fair enough, and Rafa was very risk averse a lot of the time. When the shackles came off in the second half of the season we played some decent football so it would have been nice to see that all season.

[Donkey Toon]

Yeah hindsight might end up making me remember Rafa more fondly.


But to me it doesn't make sense to want to persist with something you are not happy with on the basis that the replacement might end up being worse. That is a good way to stagnate and stifle progress.

That’s fair enough, and Rafa was very risk averse a lot of the time. When the shackles came off in the second half of the season we played some decent football so it would have been nice to see that all season.

Which is true. But what bothered me about that is that at the end of the previous season he had changed to a more expansive style from Feb to the end of the season and performances/results improved. He then reverted to the ultra negative tactics again at the beginning of last season before changing again to good effect during the later half. I cannot explain or understand his persistance with tactics that weren't working when he had already found a system that worked better. Had he stayed i'd bet money that next season would have followed the same script.

[Blue & Maroon]

That’s fair enough, and Rafa was very risk averse a lot of the time. When the shackles came off in the second half of the season we played some decent football so it would have been nice to see that all season.

Which is true. But what bothered me about that is that at the end of the previous season he had changed to a more expansive style from Feb to the end of the season and performances/results improved. He then reverted to the ultra negative tactics again at the beginning of last season before changing again to good effect during the later half. I cannot explain or understand his persistance with tactics that weren't working when he had already found a system that worked better. Had he stayed i'd bet money that next season would have followed the same script.

My main problem with Rafa leaving is that we won't replace him. I'm not his biggest fan, I don't think he's a miracle worker and manager with a decent amount of organisational skill and a head for a bargain could keep us up but we are f***ed bacause we will end up with Gary Monk or Steven Gerrard, at least that's the rumour today. With a decent amount of backing we'd have probably won an FA Cup or League Cup under him and he'd be a proper legend.

Like most things at this club the problem isn't the actual problem but the fact we won't solve it. I suggest getting down to Gateshead to watch Iron Mike's first season as boss

[Remember Colo]

He honoured his contract and moved on, he’s free to do or say what he wants imo. I’d be surprised if during his 3 and a bit years with us if other better offers weren’t available to him (e.g. West Ham, Leicester) but he stayed with us until the end.

So if it was clear from 16 May that he wasn’t staying then the club has had nearly two months to get a new manager and coaching team in place but there’s no sign of that.

This is the most telling thing out of that article.
It's either Ashley really is selling or he's even more incompetent than we thought.

Well I think do genuinely think Ashley wants to sell, I've believed that for years - I just don't think he's good at selling the club (consistent with his skill at everything else relating to owning a football club). So I wouldn't be surprised if Ashley thought the manager would become the next owner's problem, or worst case scenario and the sale wasn't done in time, believed Rafa was bluffing and they'd keep him on at the last second if need be.

[Tsi]

In his first blog post in five years, Rafa Benitez has written about his first week at Dalian Yifang. In a blog post entitled My first seven days – what an experience, Rafa details his first week at the Chinese club.

As we all know from experience, in football, just as in everyday life, when people show you respect and affection and do everything they can to make things easier for you, life is much happier, even when you face difficult moments. I must say that I have had more meetings with the Chairman, the President and the General Manager this week, than I had in 3 years at Newcastle. They haven’t just been work meetings, rather signs of respect in which we have been able to appreciate the differences and similarities in our cultures.

[overseasTOON]

In his first blog post in five years, Rafa Benitez has written about his first week at Dalian Yifang. In a blog post entitled My first seven days – what an experience, Rafa details his first week at the Chinese club.

As we all know from experience, in football, just as in everyday life, when people show you respect and affection and do everything they can to make things easier for you, life is much happier, even when you face difficult moments. I must say that I have had more meetings with the Chairman, the President and the General Manager this week, than I had in 3 years at Newcastle. They haven’t just been work meetings, rather signs of respect in which we have been able to appreciate the differences and similarities in our cultures.

We get it Rafa.

[Remember Colo]

We get it Rafa.

He knew what he was getting into when he moved to Newcastle. Ashley isn't involved or interested in the everyday running of the club, and that was widely known by anyone who has ever read anything about the club. I'm sure it is a welcome change for him in the first weeks in China to have an owner take that interest, but I'm sure he had no allusions of that when he took over at SJP.

[Toondes]

I give Rafa a year max

[seaside nipper]

£25m after tax for two years.............could see him suffering that. In all honestly though, Rafa and Chinese football , come on.
Anyway, he's gone, he was the Newcastle high water mark in recent years in terms of managerial appeal, albeit not everyone's pragmatic answer. He set a standard and has raised the bar for the next manager that's appointed.
I now just fear what's coming next........for over a decade now you just think , seriously, wtf can happen next

[krully]

£25m after tax for two years.............could see him suffering that. In all honestly though, Rafa and Chinese football , come on.
Anyway, he's gone, he was the Newcastle high water mark in recent years in terms of managerial appeal, albeit not everyone's pragmatic answer. He set a standard and has raised the bar for the next manager that's appointed.
I now just fear what's coming next........for over a decade now you just think , seriously, wtf can happen next

It's the optimism