TOON: THE UNCIVIL WAR!
RAFA BENITEZ and Newcastle United are trapped in their own intractable football version of Brexit.
No deal in the transfer market. Which means no deal on a contract extension for the Spaniard.
No deal on a takeover, with owner Mike Ashley failing to conjure a £300million Sports Dir-exit – which leaves Toon in limbo. No takeover deal means no significant transfer funds for Rafa, and no significant gamechanging signings.
So it is increasingly likely Newcastle could crash out of the Premier League a couple of months after the nation falls off a cliff edge out of the European Union.
There’s been months, years, of rancour about how Ashley and the club are getting it wrong. As Benitez warned on Friday: “the risks” being taken are “no good for anyone”.
Agitated
Stuck in t he middle, managing the mess, Benitez gets criticised for claiming it will be a “miracle” if the club avoid relegation. Or if he plays a back five trying to stay in a game against the elite. Too negative.
So he sent the message out that United ARE strong enough, even if they don’t sign anyone in January.
No one can make that claim with any certainty, but as Rafa likes to say during long chats about the minutae of the game: “Football is a big lie.”
A year ago, Benitez was agitated about the lack of backing and failure to move swiftly to build up his squad.
These days he seems more philosophical. He knows the war is lost. Even armed with experience, trophies and realism, he can’t change Ashley’s approach.
His last try was to line up Atlanta Atl t United U it d star t Miguel Mi l Almiron in November, and ask the club to strike early this month.
But, as it stands, Newcastle won’t pay £ 25million, or Almiron’s £100k-a-week wages. The deal is stalled, just like any prospect of Newcastle b becoming i a proper ambitious biti football club while Ashley remains in charge.
So Benitez, who has banned himself from talking transfers, vowed to knuckle down to organise, motivate and inspire his current players.
He has one recurring message f for f fans and d players: l Stick together and we will get the points to stay in the Premier League. Nothing else matters. Don’t waste the energy.
Toon fans see a manager ground down by the inactivity and strife at St James’ Park, knowing his long-term battle to change the club is lost. New owners, with Peter Kenyon said to be the most credible bidder, wouldn’t even need tens of millions of pounds to pump in.
Just spending wisely what the club has, and demonstrating they care and want to go places, will be a good start.