West Ham - Rafa

[Geordie1974]

Oh man.

The tenth place finish with not a single World Cup player in the side.

A ground sold out a month before a home game.

50 plus points if you want to support them away.

The pubs and clubs making a mint pre and post match.

Momentum. And if you can't feel it, you're an even bigger mug than you come across as being on here.

PBoro is a foreigner.An out of town mackem.He doesn't understand the area and he doesn't understand what Rafa has done here.Not just in terms of the football on the pitch,what he does in the community.You need to be in the local area to realise this.
He will never get it.He calls everyone plastic.Well he lives down south with the rest of the southern monkeys(his term for northerners not mine).So who is plastic?.
That's why he is on ignore.I like to communicate with fellow Geordies.He will never be one as long as he has a hole in his ar5e.Or is it arris or whatever the Cockneys call it.

[Jammy89]

Definitely a watershed moment in our history.If Rafa stays I can see good things happening at our club-he can be (well, already is) a powerful unifying force both on and off the field. just look at our (the supporters') response during our 9 game winless run-in the same situation with a different manager there's a good chance the fans would have turned and the manager would have been sacked-and this would have happened at a lot of other clubs too; but, because of Rafa, the fans stayed behind the team and the players stayed behind Rafa and we pulled through it-together. So if the players and fans stayed united through a really rough patch, imagine how good it'll be when we're actually making progress!

But, before anyone asks 'if we attracted Rafa, why couldn't we attract another 'big-name' manager?' I think Rafa was a one-off. I've no doubt the money offered was an attractive incentive but I think he saw the chance to build something really good at a big club (and he was right). But if he leaves because he feels he's being denied the right tools to do a proper job then that will send out a message to all other managers, i.e. don't bother with the Newcastle job because the owner wouldn't back one of Europe's best managers so why would he back you. That means we'd be left with the likes of Pardew, Moyes, McClown Allardyce, and their ilk who would be desperate enough for a 'big' job to work under Ashley's constraints. (by the way, I'm not saying we'd go for any of them-I mean managers of their calibre). I think the comments about a 'puppet manager' are spot on because I don't think anyone decent would come near us after Rafa. Not while Ashley is here, anyway.

I think this is spot on Zip.

Rafa moving to West Ham, who on a similarish level to us because he can't get assurances sends a powerful message. If he moved to a top 4 club that is one thing, or a big European one but to a rival because our owner won't give him the tools he needs.

As you said Watershed moment.

[andyj73]

.. Going to a much bigger club must be tempting. Not sure West Ham will be willing to pay over the odds in compensation though. And Rafa's not going to want to lose out on his dosh unless someone else is going to pick up the tab ..

[Sclox]

...people say the championship is a tough league to get out of. Bollox I say.

Its tough to get INTO it.

[Nufcian]

yep sold their ground sold of their heritage ,struggling in the prem

your blind hatred for ash does make you look stupid sometimes

have they been relegated under the golds

has ash sold our ground

doesn't all their managers complained about funds

what a statement you have made

Oops... used an apostrophe by mistake there... sloppy.

[ex_pat_magpie]

...people say the championship is a tough league to get out of. Bollox I say.

Its tough to get INTO it.

It is a tough league to get out of but congratulations to the Muckem. They made a very easy job of it.

[MidsMagpie]

yep sold their ground sold of their heritage ,struggling in the prem

your blind hatred for ash does make you look stupid sometimes

have they been relegated under the golds

has ash sold our ground

doesn't all their managers complained about funds

what a statement you have made

agree 100% there scrounging the new stadium instead of staying at their historical home