Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer agree what needs to happen after Mike Ashley sells Newcastle United
Gary Lineker laughs about Tottenham fans moaning about their club not spending more on players and instead points to Newcastle United as the real basket case.
Rafa Benitez having been blocked from buying any players costing more than £10m since promotion and yet again this summer, having to rely on free transfers, loans and bargain buys, simply so he can have a team and squad that might avoid relegation.
The £20m+ profit on transfer deals that Mike Ashley insisted on in the summer, meant that pretty much all of Newcastle’s likely relegation rivals had net spends a minimum of £50m higher, though many of them spent far bigger.
A typical example is next Saturday’s opponents, Fulham having had a net spend over £100m higher than Newcastle’s, yet Rafa somehow keeping Newcastle in a relatively healthy position.
It was a brilliant three points but a quite shocking performance in terms of quality from Newcastle, as well as their hosts, Huddersfield had 74% possession and this is easily the highest figure any Premier League club have had when failing to win a game this season.
Alan Shearer was loving the three points and the excellent winning goal BUT gave a reality check as well, saying it was the only bit of quality all game.
With the ongoing Newcastle United takeover saga, like every other Newcastle fan, Shearer is desperate for it to happen.
The NUFC legend agreeing with Gary Lineker and Danny Murphy, the trio saying any new owner would need to make it an absolute first priority to convince Rafa Benitez to stay on.
Newcastle fans are watching some truly desperate and boring football much of the time but they are completely behind the manager because they know that almost every point that is won, is against the odds.
The fact that not a single NUFC home game has sold out so far this season shows that not everybody is willing to carry on giving Mike Ashley their money, even though Rafa Benitez has stayed on for the time being.
However, Mike Ashley leaving and Rafa staying on under new owners would equal guaranteed sold out signs every Premier League game, as Rafa Benitez might say…FACT.
Talking on Match of The Day:
Alan Shearer:
“This is how you do it (playing it out from the back), it (Newcastle’s winning goal) was superb, great confidence.
“It was the only bit of quality, from both teams, in the game.
“Lovely run down the line, starts from the goalkeeper…seven or eight seconds later it’s in the back of the net from Rondon.
“Good run from Perez down the side, Manquillo continues his run and puts it on a plate for Rondon, can’t really miss.
“Fans go wild and that got them the three points.
“It was a wonderful goal, superb passing, superb movement and a great finish.”
Gary Lineker:
“He is doing a great job isn’t he, Benitez, good manager and you talk about no budget at Tottenham….?”
Danny Murphy:
“I thought what Rafa Benitez did last season on limited resources was incredible.
“If he achieves the same again…he deserves a medal.
“If there is a takeover, the first thing Newcastle United must do is to keep hold of him.”
Alan Shearer:
“Rafa Benitez is their biggest asset, definitely.”
Stats from BBC Sport:
Huddersfield 0 Newcastle 1
Goals:
Newcastle: Rondon 55
Possession was Huddersfield 76% Newcastle 24%
Total shots were Huddersfield 15 Newcastle 8
Shots on target were Huddersfield 5 Newcastle 5
Corners were Huddersfield 10 Newcastle 1
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Newcastle United:
Dubravka, Manquillo, Schar, Lascelles, Clark, Kenedy (Dummett 89), Ki (Hayden 72), Diame, Atsu, Rondon (Ritchie 81), Perez
Unused Subs:
Woodman, Joselu, Muto, Murphy
Crowd: 24,036 (Newcastle 2,400)
(Instant NUFC fan/writer reaction to the win HERE)
(David Wagner can’t believe that Huddersfield lost to Newcastle – Read HERE)
(Rafa Benitez warns after Huddersfield 0 Newcastle 1 “If you ask about referees I won’t say anything” – Read HERE)
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