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Opinion

Newcastle United now heading towards ‘Would be like a new signing’ territory

5 years ago
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Newcastle United fans could once again find themselves in familiar territory.

In the pre-Rafa Benitez days of puppet managers/head coaches, they were willing/eager to say anything to please Mike Ashley and keep their jobs, such was the desperation.

Alan Pardew was probably the top of the tree when it came to following orders to the letter, willing to say absolutely anything and everything as the sole mouthpiece of NUFC, no matter how ridiculous it might sound to any rational fan/person.

One classic which he became infamous for, was when Pardew would declare that a particular player ‘Would be like a new signing’…

This would usually refer to a player who hadn’t been very good before but was either shortly due back from injury, or had been out on loan elsewhere.

These ‘positive’ messages almost always coinciding with (the many) times when no ambition had been shown in the transfer market.

The media, especially the local papers, were usually compliant in this, slavishly repeating these ‘positive’ messages from the likes of Alan Pardew and others.

Now we may have just seen the first summer awakening of  ‘Would be like a new signing’ this summer…

The Chronicle report today (21 June 2019):

‘Achraf Lazaar has asked Newcastle United for another chance next season – regardless of who will be manager on July 1.

The Chronicle understands Lazaar is heading back to the club with an open mind this summer.’

If Rafa Benitez is still at the club after 30 June 2019, he will most definitely not be saying Achraf Lazaar, Jack Colback, Rolando Aarons or  Henri Saivet ‘Would be like a new signing’ this summer.

None of them are good enough for the Premier League and Rafa has made clear that is what he thinks of them. Dwight Gayle is a little different as Rafa Benitez didn’t want to lose him last summer, only forced to do so when Mike Ashley refused to allow him to buy Salomon Rondon and the manager had to agree to a Rondon/Gayle loan swap.

Not that Rafa would talk about Dwight Gayle as being like a ‘new signing’, he would just be coming back into the squad, and as the striker played in 35 of Newcastle’s 38 Premier League matches of 2017/18, the manager would hardly be lying if he said he valued him.

However, if Rafa Benitez is forced out by Mike Ashley, then all bets are off.

Newcastle fans not wanting to consider what would then come next, no doubt a failed out of work manager desperate to take the NUFC job under any conditions and willing to say whatever Ashley would want them to.

The club ordered statements would be along the lines of the new manager is giving everybody a clean slate and players who have been out on loan and/or excluded from the team/squad, will all be getting their chance to impress me in pre-season blah blah blah. Going to take time before deciding whether to bring in new signings until have seen what the current players are capable of etc etc etc. Such and such ‘Would be like a new signing’ if he can show the form he did in those two matches back in….

No thanks.

That’s the thing as well, forget about all the other issues such as ownership and whatever, when it comes to the Rafa Benitez situation, it isn’t just that we would be losing a very good manager it would also be a certainty that we would be getting a new JFK, Pardew, Carver or McClaren, a case of the cheapest willing puppet and not the very best alternative to Rafa if he went.

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