Ouch! – Two Biggest Worries For Newcastle United This Summer
Forever and always, Newcastle United are consistent in their inconsistency. We always know that some sort of drama is round the corner, though frankly the fact that a certain Mike Ashley still owns the club means controversy was never likely to be far away.
The club were going backwards, then came Rafa Benitez. The Spaniard is the managerial equivalent of the club signing Ronaldo and the fans knew it. They adore him. They fully recognise his quality, his experience and his influence.
Then they were relegated. Bad times. Then Rafa decided to stay on. Good times again! Then the club wouldn’t allow him to sign who he needed in January, before a bad run when the likes of Ciaran Clark and Isaac Hayden got injured. Bad times. Then they won the Championship on the last day of the season. Good times!
Then Rafa has a meeting and declares he will get what he wants in terms of funds and that NUFC can be a top five club. Even more good times! Then Newcastle do not appreciably add to their squad, Benitez is publicly unhappy and the club lose their first three games of the domestic season. Bad times again.
That’s just a tiny snippet of what life is like in and around Newcastle United. In football terms at least, Newcastle is not a place for the feint hearted and so it’s almost impossible to break worries down to two. But here we go:
Rafa May Walk Away
In a scene eerily similar to 2008 and the Kevin Keegan saga, Rafa has essentially been told to “shut up and get on with it” by Lee Charnley on behalf of Mike Ashley and even he may eventually decide he does not need this hassle.
Keegan ended up walking amid this sort of pressure, leaving his beloved club for the second time as boss but also winning a legal challenge proving he was essentially forced out. It has happened once, it can happen again.
No Deadline Day Signings
If you live in Newcastle, you will be familiar with people going on social media on deadline day saying they are excited, only to post again after midnight, declaring their despair!
Newcastle NEED more signings – quality ones too and not just fillers – by Thursday evening or they are in trouble. Rafa is so good that he may outwit the likes of West Ham, Watford, Brighton etc and still keep this club in the Premier League, but it’s not guaranteed. If no signings come in and he walks away though, it’d be an entirely different story I’m afraid.
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