the next few weeks

[TANYA_]

We will see things unfold, reading between the lines, im not sure Rafa has been lied to.
The fat man has given him assurances on the finances which Rafa deemed acceptable.
NOW the reports are that Rafa is unhappy about what he has been given.
Ashley will have no doubt have decieved him but not lied to him.
Like saying we will get 100+m just for being in the prem, and all proceeds from sales.
BUT the prem cash is payed in installments and he wont be given it all up front in 1 go.

The bloke has had 3 transfer windows and has been shafted in 2 of them.
Either way , we have a world class manager who is unhappy and feels he has been given false promises.
THIS is where we have form, Keegan and Shearer said the same, only the Fat mans lap dogs have kept quiet.
No matter what, he will be leaving sooner rather than later.
If West Ham lose their next few games and sack Billic, Rafa will be off like a shot if they want him.
Ashley has basically given every top flight club accross europe with any ambition the green light to come and get Rafa.
His name will be mentioned everytime a manager is under pressure to keep their job, and the likelyhood is Rafa will be interested in all of them, as we refuse to show any ambition and the owner saying we kant compete with teams we should blow out of the water..

FFS Leeds were offering 18m for Gayle and we didnt even try to get Bony for 12m, Swansea, Bournmouth, Stoke, WBA etc are a more attractive option to players than we are.

Ive said it before, we will end up with Pardew by Christmas, im convinced of it

[Kal]

Pardew will be working on a new dance jig as we speak.

[ex_pat_magpie]

Pardew will be working on a new dance jig as we speak.

IF RAFA MOVED ON then the only reason Ashley would appoint Pardew again is to spite the supporters.

Oh hang on. That alone would be reason enough for Ashley. :mad:

[toonviking]

Rafa is as good as gone.

I wont blame him, he can(should) go to a club with a limited budget but with ambition. That last part is something that went out the door when Ashley walked in.

He deserve better than this shoite

[ghostrider]

IF RAFA MOVED ON then the only reason Ashley would appoint Pardew again is to spite the supporters.

Oh hang on. That alone would be reason enough for Ashley. :mad:

If that happened then I'd be in no doubt as to his motives.
However, I don't think he has any motives to the detriment of this club.

[ghostrider]

Rafa is as good as gone.

I wont blame him, he can(should) go to a club with a limited budget but with ambition. That last part is something that went out the door when Ashley walked in.

He deserve better than this shoite

Which club has a limited budget but ambition enough for Rafa to exploit it?
This club is 5 minutes back from the championship.
5 MINUTES.
We've bought in players that promise a lot more than their cost. Players that rafa can take credit for if they do.
What Have Huddersfield bought and also Brighton that gives them any more of a chance than we have?

Clubs have went out and spewed silly money on players that promise them nothing and could deliver a nightmare.
If Rafa's not happy with what went on and he feels robbed then let him walk right now.
If he doesn't walk right now then he has no other reason not to just carry on and do his utmost with the players that HE bought in to do a job for him.

[Kal]

IF RAFA MOVED ON then the only reason Ashley would appoint Pardew again is to spite the supporters.

Oh hang on. That alone would be reason enough for Ashley. :mad:


Honestly Bill, it wouldn't surprise me if he's already had a discreet word with him, as he ticks ALL of Ashley's boxes.

[TheBigSausage]

Honestly Bill, it wouldn't surprise me if he's already had a discrete word with him, as he ticks ALL of Ashley's boxes.

Ashley wants a Yes man and Rafa doesnt fit the bill anymore now promotion has happened . Coupled with the fact Rafa is open to the press and the wider world are getting the info on how Ashley runs the club. Pardew never uttered a word , took his million a year n smiled like an idiot. I fear you could be right Pardew part deux.

[Zippity]

Pardew will never come back here - not after we made our feelings so clear.
Personally I think Rafa will stay (and not just because he has to-allegedly- pay a rumoured 5 mil if he breaks his contract). I think he feels enough of a responsibility to us and to his staff to stay, at least for the meantime. Will be very interested to hear what he has to say on our business this window and whether Ashley's pet lawyer will be able to put a muzzle on him.

[Jammy89]

I think he's said enough now that even if muzzled everybody knows how he feels. Which may have been his plan all along in making sure that the world knows so if we go down he'll be able to say well i wasn't given what i needed.

Or i might be reading to much into it XD

[Zippity]

In footballing terms, my worry for the next few weeks is that the limitations of our squad will be laid bare.

I think, in the main, we've bought pretty well-the problem lies in the business Rafa hasn't been allowed to do. We've got 'keepers Rafa doesn't fully trust, ditto our main striker whose Premier League record is slightly poorer than 1 in 4 and who had confidence problems before we tried to sell him and we don't have a recognised left back...and even when our 'left back' does return from fitness he's not a proper LB.

I know NR and Ghost have made very admirable and optimistic posts about the positives in our squad- and they make some very good points-but Rafa himself said we absolutely needed a couple more in which we didn't get.

Think it's going to be a long, hard slog up until Christmas.

[NorthernRock]

I'm disappointed as **** but I agree with some of ghosts points.

End of the day fat man's not purposely trying to **** up his investment and the lack of deadline activity probably coincides with Rafa going home early, maybe he was only expecting either Targett or Kenedy tbh.

He's appointed and given full control to Rafa, that's a positive move, aye the club have held up negotiations sometimes, but that is also for good reason, **** paying millions more to greedy agents or £15m on players like Wood man ffs.

Don't forget we have more than a 25 man squad and apart from deadline day this has been one of our most productive transfer windows in recent years with 6 players through the door tbh.

People need to stop looking at money spent, especially in this crazy market because it doesn't mean **** lads.

Liverpool spent around 40m on Oxlade-Chamberlain... Whos the say Murphy isn't a better player?

Who's to say just because Brighton and Huddersfield have spent **** loads they've got a better squad than ours? They needed to spend money so all the pundits are saying yeah good on them showing ambition but I still don't think that their first 11's are as good as ours, I honestly don't.

We should have definitely brought in a left back and another striker but I can see why we didn't and I don't believe it was because they're amateurs or that Benitez didn't know the reasons why either.

By the end of this season our signings values could well look like the following...

Joselu £10-15m
Merino £25m
Lequene £30
Manquillo £10
Murphy £15m
Atsu £15m

You look at relative players and with a good season (which I still think we'll have, nothings changed for me) those prices definitely aren't unrealistic.

If we'd have paid their potential values would that have showed more ambition and allowed pundits and a-like that we're ambitious and heading in the right direction?

Like I said, watch this space, this guy can get this team winning consistently, then January add a few additions and in the summer with the tv money we can proper spend more on the squad.

Patience is key in my opinion. Let the man do his job and let them all show us what they can do before writing the lads off who DO play for our football club.

[Zippity]

I totally agree that the amount of money spent isn't the big issue. What matters to me is the failure to strengthen in the key areas Rafa had identified.

[pboromag]

rafa has full controll of his squad
he was told you can have every penny the club generates

he got rid of carr

against ashlys advice

he didnt ship enough out
he didnt have enough lined uopp

it seems to me the biggest area rafa wanted to strengthen was a goalie

we have been linked with more goalies than we ever have yet have 3-4 good enough goalies

yet it has been blatanty clear noy in just this window but previous ones we needed a left back

i just feel rafa is a decent coach but a footy manager
know way

the adoration from the fans has gone to his head and he is taking on ash

with hugely uninspiring footy and a complet lack of knowledge of suad building

will we miss him
no

any manager would have got us up last season
most with more inspiring footy than we played

but the geordies love a badge thumper

[toptoon]

I totally agree that the amount of money spent isn't the big issue. What matters to me is the failure to strengthen in the key areas Rafa had identified.

Rafa clearly rates Dummett otherwise he would´ve signed a LB instead of Murphy.

I´m happy with lejeune, Merino and the jury's out on Joselu (but made a good start).
I´m not happy that we didn´t sign a LB and another striker. As far as goalies. I hope Woodman is nearly ready to step up.

[Nufc24Mag]

rafa has full controll of his squad
he was told you can have every penny the club generates

he got rid of carr

against ashlys advice

he didnt ship enough out
he didnt have enough lined uopp

it seems to me the biggest area rafa wanted to strengthen was a goalie

we have been linked with more goalies than we ever have yet have 3-4 good enough goalies

yet it has been blatanty clear noy in just this window but previous ones we needed a left back

i just feel rafa is a decent coach but a footy manager
know way

the adoration from the fans has gone to his head and he is taking on ash

with hugely uninspiring footy and a complet lack of knowledge of suad building

will we miss him
no

any manager would have got us up last season
most with more inspiring footy than we played

but the geordies love a badge thumper

F*ck off u muppet, he shipped out nearly all the dead won except 2-3 players but I forgot u said we needed a full new squad so he still has another 25 players rid of!!!


He had players lined up but can't sign them if numptys won't pay what the clubs or the players are asking!!!!

The only Newcastle fan that won't miss him is u!!!


No wonder everyone calls u a idiot I've never talked too or met a Newcastle fan like u



ASHLEY OUT!!!

[pboromag]

F*ck off u muppet, he shipped out nearly all the dead won except 2-3 players but I forgot u said we needed a full new squad so he still has another 25 players rid of!!!


He had players lined up but can't sign them if numptys won't pay what the clubs or the players are asking!!!!

The only Newcastle fan that won't miss him is u!!!


No wonder everyone calls u a idiot I've never talked too or met a Newcastle fan like u



ASHLEY OUT!!!

i thought rafa had contacts and players wanted to play for him

he couldnt even get a loane to come here

one of our own players was head phucked after a meeting with him

one of our ex players who i was out with during the week said the squad of players he talked to was totaly confused as to what he was trying to do

[pboromag]

Rafa clearly rates Dummett otherwise he would´ve signed a LB instead of Murphy.

I´m happy with lejeune, Merino and the jury's out on Joselu (but made a good start).
I´m not happy that we didn´t sign a LB and another striker. As far as goalies. I hope Woodman is nearly ready to step up.

woody wants out
he feels let gown by rafa

was told to stay and fight for his placeand wouldnt be going out on loan
only to be told rafa wanted a goalie

making him 4th choice

this is a player with 6 clubs after him all willing to pay his wages in full

[NorthernRock]

Losing carr didn't effect this window, how could it when Benitez gets who he wants?

With inside knowledge I would have thought that youd have known the ONLY keeper he wanted was Reina for a lot of reasons, the rags just ran with it that he was after another keeper so linked us with **** loads, did you ever hear this from the horses mouth/

He couldn't ship enough out because clubs/charnley held up sales.
He didn't have enough lined up because of the above, I said this weeks ago.

Replying to Zip, I agree but if you think that we did add Joselu and he only plays one up front, I'm not saying it's ideal but I'm sure not many clubs wanted to sell their best finisher, Perez apparently rejected us too.

The left back situation is piss poor BUT Manquillo, Mbemba and Clarke can play there, it's not ideal but it's not a disaster, when Yedlin comes back Manquillo can switch and try and make the position his own to keep Dummet out, left back funnily has constantly been a weak area but we do have Haidara also, who I actually used to rate then never saw the **** play again, maybe it's a blessing for him to prove his worth mate?

I know there's a few bits in there trying to rub jam on ****, but lets face it, the windows shut, I want/believe we'll have a good so wtf can we change except whats in front of us?

OUR players need more credit tbh, these lads got us up because they wanted to be here, now lets give them the chance to push on and evolve into a good prem team.

We've only been back a few weeks lads, lets keep the buzz and kick on with Rafa man, **** players who we haven't got man.

HTL

[NorthernRock]

one of our ex players who i was out with during the week said the squad of players he talked to was totaly confused as to what he was trying to do

Bull ****ing ****.

Why don't you give us a laugh and share who it was XD

[pboromag]

Losing carr didn't effect this window, how could it when Benitez gets who he wants?

With inside knowledge I would have thought that youd have known the ONLY keeper he wanted was Reina for a lot of reasons, the rags just ran with it that he was after another keeper so linked us with **** loads, did you ever hear this from the horses mouth/

He couldn't ship enough out because clubs/charnley held up sales.
He didn't have enough lined up because of the above, I said this weeks ago.

Replying to Zip, I agree but if you think that we did add Joselu and he only plays one up front, I'm not saying it's ideal but I'm sure not many clubs wanted to sell their best finisher, Perez apparently rejected us too.

The left back situation is piss poor BUT Manquillo, Mbemba and Clarke can play there, it's not ideal but it's not a disaster, when Yedlin comes back Manquillo can switch and try and make the position his own to keep Dummet out, left back funnily has constantly been a weak area but we do have Haidara also, who I actually used to rate then never saw the **** play again, maybe it's a blessing for him to prove his worth mate?

I know there's a few bits in there trying to rub jam on ****, but lets face it, the windows shut, I want/believe we'll have a good so wtf can we change except whats in front of us?

OUR players need more credit tbh, these lads got us up because they wanted to be here, now lets give them the chance to push on and evolve into a good prem team.

We've only been back a few weeks lads, lets keep the buzz and kick on with Rafa man, **** players who we haven't got man.

HTL

well clearly he doesnt get who he wants

he was in for 3 keepers over the window

the players held up sales as they were mislead by rafa ( you have no future here .ps your on the bench or strting the bnext game )

the left backsituation was there in the last window and the one before that

[Zippity]

Losing carr didn't effect this window, how could it when Benitez gets who he wants?

With inside knowledge I would have thought that youd have known the ONLY keeper he wanted was Reina for a lot of reasons, the rags just ran with it that he was after another keeper so linked us with **** loads, did you ever hear this from the horses mouth/

He couldn't ship enough out because clubs/charnley held up sales.
He didn't have enough lined up because of the above, I said this weeks ago.

Replying to Zip, I agree but if you think that we did add Joselu and he only plays one up front, I'm not saying it's ideal but I'm sure not many clubs wanted to sell their best finisher, Perez apparently rejected us too.

The left back situation is piss poor BUT Manquillo, Mbemba and Clarke can play there, it's not ideal but it's not a disaster, when Yedlin comes back Manquillo can switch and try and make the position his own to keep Dummet out, left back funnily has constantly been a weak area but we do have Haidara also, who I actually used to rate then never saw the **** play again, maybe it's a blessing for him to prove his worth mate?

I know there's a few bits in there trying to rub jam on ****, but lets face it, the windows shut, I want/believe we'll have a good so wtf can we change except whats in front of us?

OUR players need more credit tbh, these lads got us up because they wanted to be here, now lets give them the chance to push on and evolve into a good prem team.

We've only been back a few weeks lads, lets keep the buzz and kick on with Rafa man, **** players who we haven't got man.

HTL

Aye, again good points, man.

Joselu surprised me the way he played the lone striker role. I'm aware of his poor goal-scoring record in the last couple of years (ok, piss poor) and although I hadn't noticed at the time, I take on board Mick's comments about his first touch but he did, I thought, very well indeed in all aspects of his role.

Like Merino and Lejeune one good game (and in Lejeune's case, 30 minutes) doesn't necessarily mean more than one bad game...but I was definitely encouraged by what I saw.

[Nephy]

he was in for 3 keepers over the window

Says who? The Sun? The Star? Lee Ryder? They all make it up as they go along to get clicks or sell papers.

One thing I've noticed in recent years is that Ashley's regime is a very tight ship, nobody outside the club knows anything about who we're actually looking to sign until pretty much the day it happens. None of us has any real idea who we tried to sign this window, except for the deals that actually happened. We could've enquired about a dozen goalies, or none at all - only those inside the club know for sure, and you certainly have no more clue than the rest of us.

[Kal]

Pboro is ITK. He's a geezer !

[ex_pat_magpie]

Pboro is ITK. He's a geezer !

He must have overheard it while doing his milk round.

[toptoon]

well clearly he doesnt get who he wants

he was in for 3 keepers over the window

the players held up sales as they were mislead by rafa ( you have no future here .ps your on the bench or strting the bnext game )

the left backsituation was there in the last window and the one before that

Aye that´s right. Rafa has gone from being world class to not even being able to communicate to his players since he arrived at Newcastle. Jesus.

There was a time on here when you could be suspended for making misleading/wild claims without a source - not calling for one for you - just saying. (I think it was made to stop mackem trolling)

[ghostrider]

I'm disappointed as **** but I agree with some of ghosts points.

End of the day fat man's not purposely trying to **** up his investment and the lack of deadline activity probably coincides with Rafa going home early, maybe he was only expecting either Targett or Kenedy tbh.

He's appointed and given full control to Rafa, that's a positive move, aye the club have held up negotiations sometimes, but that is also for good reason, **** paying millions more to greedy agents or £15m on players like Wood man ffs.

Don't forget we have more than a 25 man squad and apart from deadline day this has been one of our most productive transfer windows in recent years with 6 players through the door tbh.

People need to stop looking at money spent, especially in this crazy market because it doesn't mean **** lads.

Liverpool spent around 40m on Oxlade-Chamberlain... Whos the say Murphy isn't a better player?

Who's to say just because Brighton and Huddersfield have spent **** loads they've got a better squad than ours? They needed to spend money so all the pundits are saying yeah good on them showing ambition but I still don't think that their first 11's are as good as ours, I honestly don't.

We should have definitely brought in a left back and another striker but I can see why we didn't and I don't believe it was because they're amateurs or that Benitez didn't know the reasons why either.

By the end of this season our signings values could well look like the following...

Joselu £10-15m
Merino £25m
Lequene £30
Manquillo £10
Murphy £15m
Atsu £15m

You look at relative players and with a good season (which I still think we'll have, nothings changed for me) those prices definitely aren't unrealistic.

If we'd have paid their potential values would that have showed more ambition and allowed pundits and a-like that we're ambitious and heading in the right direction?

Like I said, watch this space, this guy can get this team winning consistently, then January add a few additions and in the summer with the tv money we can proper spend more on the squad.

Patience is key in my opinion. Let the man do his job and let them all show us what they can do before writing the lads off who DO play for our football club.

This is a very fair assumption.

[ex_pat_magpie]

I'm disappointed as **** but I agree with some of ghosts points.

End of the day fat man's not purposely trying to **** up his investment and the lack of deadline activity probably coincides with Rafa going home early, maybe he was only expecting either Targett or Kenedy tbh.

He's appointed and given full control to Rafa, that's a positive move, aye the club have held up negotiations sometimes, but that is also for good reason, **** paying millions more to greedy agents or £15m on players like Wood man ffs.

Don't forget we have more than a 25 man squad and apart from deadline day this has been one of our most productive transfer windows in recent years with 6 players through the door tbh.

People need to stop looking at money spent, especially in this crazy market because it doesn't mean **** lads.

Liverpool spent around 40m on Oxlade-Chamberlain... Whos the say Murphy isn't a better player?

Who's to say just because Brighton and Huddersfield have spent **** loads they've got a better squad than ours? They needed to spend money so all the pundits are saying yeah good on them showing ambition but I still don't think that their first 11's are as good as ours, I honestly don't.

We should have definitely brought in a left back and another striker but I can see why we didn't and I don't believe it was because they're amateurs or that Benitez didn't know the reasons why either.

By the end of this season our signings values could well look like the following...

Joselu £10-15m
Merino £25m
Lequene £30
Manquillo £10
Murphy £15m
Atsu £15m

You look at relative players and with a good season (which I still think we'll have, nothings changed for me) those prices definitely aren't unrealistic.

If we'd have paid their potential values would that have showed more ambition and allowed pundits and a-like that we're ambitious and heading in the right direction?

Like I said, watch this space, this guy can get this team winning consistently, then January add a few additions and in the summer with the tv money we can proper spend more on the squad.

Patience is key in my opinion. Let the man do his job and let them all show us what they can do before writing the lads off who DO play for our football club.

That is perfectly true NorthernRock.

In the position this club is in with the restraints Ashley has imposed on Rafa the patience is the only way forward as I see it.

What we need to do is to be able to produce a good enough team so as not to be sucked into the usual relegation fights so that the team at least finishes the season with a bit of confidence, and build from there, window by window, at first tweaking and improving the squad and then splashing out on one or two key players per window.

It can be done over a couple or three seasons, but it needs a settled manager with the patience and guile, exactly like Rafa to do this.

[ghostrider]

In footballing terms, my worry for the next few weeks is that the limitations of our squad will be laid bare.
They could be or they might just be the opposite in terms of players actually producing some of what they promise, whilst others come to the fore knowing that they are retained as part of the system.
Rafa has been known to turn certain players into altered positions.
He did it with Carragher and he could do it with certain players we already have.
Look at Mbemba. He played left back and didn't look out of place.
Sometimes we assume that some players just aren't capable of change but in cases like Mbemba as an instance, he's more than capable of adapting to that role when required.
There are others that could equally do it and could end up doing a sterling job until we get to the stage where we can literally go into the next season in a proper strength addition for that role.

Equally it could all go teets up and all of what looks good could turn to crap. It's possible and will be more possible if the mood around the club goes negative.
I think that what we have as it stands and with a bit of tweaking, for now... Rafa can get the best out of most of these players, or at the very least the better half of their potential.




I think, in the main, we've bought pretty well-the problem lies in the business Rafa hasn't been allowed to do. We've got 'keepers Rafa doesn't fully trust, ditto our main striker whose Premier League record is slightly poorer than 1 in 4 and who had confidence problems before we tried to sell him and we don't have a recognised left back...and even when our 'left back' does return from fitness he's not a proper LB.
Left back is an issue. The main issue to be fair.
However, all we can do is hope that players like Mbemba and the likes can do a good covering job, or some out of the woodwork player pops up and comes in to be a revelation as a free.
It's possible and if all else fails, we actually do have cover at left back. In fact a lot of cover.
It's not totally ideal but could serve us well enough till January or even produce a shock regular contender to start regularly.

Like I said, nothing about it all is ideal but then again it's a rarity when everything has ever been ideal at most clubs but especially ours.





I know NR and Ghost have made very admirable and optimistic posts about the positives in our squad- and they make some very good points-but Rafa himself said we absolutely needed a couple more in which we didn't get.

Think it's going to be a long, hard slog up until Christmas.I know we all love Rafa and after all of the managerial dross we've been subjected to it's almost like kids being tortured by nanny after nanny and praying for a Mary Poppins to appear.
We now have Rafa and the fans want to hold him and cling onto his coat tails and grab his feet just so he doesn't walk away, or fly out of the effing window. :D
It blinds us all to the task ahead.
We get all doe eyed at the prospect of Rafa being given a nanny McPhee stick where he can just smack it to the floor and everything will turn out great and all will fall into place.

If he doesn't get what we think he deserves or he shows his discontent, then the scrutinisation starts and the hierarchy get it in the neck before we actually really know the ins and outs.
This is when negativity rears its ugly head. It's a cloud that zaps the players and the entire club and city in general.

We all know everything isn't ideal.
We all want more and we always hope for that one signing that will excite us and get us plotting.
We're getting battered from head to foot by media and pundits who are creating a negative mood around us all and which is spreading into the club.

We are getting told that Huddersfield and Brighton are leaving us behind and are showing us how to spend money, etc.
We are told that the Burnley's and the Bournemouth's are spending big and leaving us standing and standing ourselves out as sitting ducks for relegation problems.

Look at the signings all those teams have made.
Literally none of their signings...or very few would whet the appetite of us lot any more than what we've already bought in.

I personally think that we've bought some absolute class and I genuinely believe that if we can all stay positive, including Rafa and the squad, then we can actually do quite tidy this season and easily banish any talk of relegation fairly early.

Just to give people a heads up as to what we can use and who could actually do a job for us at left back, from extreme potential to lesser effectiveness, I'll name a few.

Manquillo.
Haidara.
Mbemba.
Clark.
Colback.

I could add the likes of Aarons in but the issue I'm making is, we can cover for Dummett and could unearth a shock contender for that position...or like I mentioned, we could still sneak a freebie in that appears to be not worth the effort but who could...I say... could turn out to give us a smile.

Like I said before. I'm not exactly jumping for joy at what's gone on but I'm content enough to see what this squad can actually do now that we've trimmed the excess from it.
3 games in and 3 points says nothing about anything, good or bad. It simply says that we can compete but guarantees nothing.
The premier league guarantees nothing for teams like us, except for dodgy ref's and decisions and we all knew this. ;D:D


Anyway let's see what transpires over the coming months.

[pboromag]

says who? The sun? The star? Lee ryder? They all make it up as they go along to get clicks or sell papers.

One thing i've noticed in recent years is that ashley's regime is a very tight ship, nobody outside the club knows anything about who we're actually looking to sign until pretty much the day it happens. None of us has any real idea who we tried to sign this window, except for the deals that actually happened. We could've enquired about a dozen goalies, or none at all - only those inside the club know for sure, and you certainly have no more clue than the rest of us.

no woody

[pboromag]

they could be or they might just be the opposite in terms of players actually producing some of what they promise, whilst others come to the fore knowing that they are retained as part of the system.
Rafa has been known to turn certain players into altered positions.
He did it with carragher and he could do it with certain players we already have.
Look at mbemba. He played left back and didn't look out of place.
Sometimes we assume that some players just aren't capable of change but in cases like mbemba as an instance, he's more than capable of adapting to that role when required.
There are others that could equally do it and could end up doing a sterling job until we get to the stage where we can literally go into the next season in a proper strength addition for that role.

Equally it could all go teets up and all of what looks good could turn to crap. It's possible and will be more possible if the mood around the club goes negative.
I think that what we have as it stands and with a bit of tweaking, for now... Rafa can get the best out of most of these players, or at the very least the better half of their potential.



Left back is an issue. The main issue to be fair.
However, all we can do is hope that players like mbemba and the likes can do a good covering job, or some out of the woodwork player pops up and comes in to be a revelation as a free.
It's possible and if all else fails, we actually do have cover at left back. In fact a lot of cover.
It's not totally ideal but could serve us well enough till january or even produce a shock regular contender to start regularly.

Like i said, nothing about it all is ideal but then again it's a rarity when everything has ever been ideal at most clubs but especially ours.




I know we all love rafa and after all of the managerial dross we've been subjected to it's almost like kids being tortured by nanny after nanny and praying for a mary poppins to appear.
We now have rafa and the fans want to hold him and cling onto his coat tails and grab his feet just so he doesn't walk away, or fly out of the effing window. :d
it blinds us all to the task ahead.
We get all doe eyed at the prospect of rafa being given a nanny mcphee stick where he can just smack it to the floor and everything will turn out great and all will fall into place.

If he doesn't get what we think he deserves or he shows his discontent, then the scrutinisation starts and the hierarchy get it in the neck before we actually really know the ins and outs.
This is when negativity rears its ugly head. It's a cloud that zaps the players and the entire club and city in general.

We all know everything isn't ideal.
We all want more and we always hope for that one signing that will excite us and get us plotting.
We're getting battered from head to foot by media and pundits who are creating a negative mood around us all and which is spreading into the club.

We are getting told that huddersfield and brighton are leaving us behind and are showing us how to spend money, etc.
We are told that the burnley's and the bournemouth's are spending big and leaving us standing and standing ourselves out as sitting ducks for relegation problems.

Look at the signings all those teams have made.
Literally none of their signings...or very few would whet the appetite of us lot any more than what we've already bought in.

I personally think that we've bought some absolute class and i genuinely believe that if we can all stay positive, including rafa and the squad, then we can actually do quite tidy this season and easily banish any talk of relegation fairly early.

Just to give people a heads up as to what we can use and who could actually do a job for us at left back, from extreme potential to lesser effectiveness, i'll name a few.

Manquillo.
Haidara.
Mbemba.
Clark.
Colback.

I could add the likes of aarons in but the issue i'm making is, we can cover for dummett and could unearth a shock contender for that position...or like i mentioned, we could still sneak a freebie in that appears to be not worth the effort but who could...i say... could turn out to give us a smile.

Like i said before. I'm not exactly jumping for joy at what's gone on but i'm content enough to see what this squad can actually do now that we've trimmed the excess from it.
3 games in and 3 points says nothing about anything, good or bad. It simply says that we can compete but guarantees nothing.
The premier league guarantees nothing for teams like us, except for dodgy ref's and decisions and we all knew this. ;d:d


anyway let's see what transpires over the coming months.

i would play jesus at left back
he was good when he played last season

i would give haidara a chance to get his confidence back as he was good before the assault

[Jammy89]

Before the assault is the key word (i see Macmanamum plays for Sunderland now) He's not looked same since in first team games or reserves.

[ghostrider]

i would play jesus at left back
he was good when he played last season

i would give haidara a chance to get his confidence back as he was good before the assault

Yeah, another one into the mix who I forgot to add in.

[TANYA_]

no woody

you mean to tell me Woody Woodpecker told you that the squad were confused about what Rafa was doing??

you are so full of shlt! everybody knows Woody is a Palace fan, he always wears red and blue