If we had a goalscorer we would be top 10

[ghostrider]

That's why I chose my words carefully - I used the phrase 'as though' because I don't think anybody here is so silly as to think the situation comes down to a single person's decisions. But they often present their opinion as though they think it is. Like, for example, when you say you "guarantee" that if (e.g.) Eddie Howe was in charge we'd be clamouring for his head under the same set of performances and results (I assume that's what you mean, apologies if I've misread it but I've had a few!) I think that's an odd claim for a number of reasons.

I made the claim because I've got experience of seeing the discontent over managers that can go from hero to zero in short order and I believe this would be the same with the type of managers I mentioned...especially in this scenario.
If fans take to a manager as have belief in him for whatever reasons then that manager is generally afforded some time before the claws come out. Rafa is in this category by reputation and no past history with us fans in any way.
It's the nature of the beast and isn't exclusive to Newcastle fans.

Firstly, I don't understand where you think Rafa gets this mythical status from amongst Newcastle fans. I don't remember ever - not even once - having a conversation with a Newcastle fan about how good a manager Rafa was before he joined Newcastle (at least, not more than anyone else who has been successful elsewhere). Rafa was just yet another manager who's won trophies/done a good job elsewhere before he joined the club. People warmed to him here specifically because he talked about things we hadn't heard recent managers talking about in the years before him - getting us back to where we were prior to the Ashley era, making the club reconnect with the fans and the community etc. And he has actually delivered on some of that stuff. We've had other managers here with big profiles who we never liked (e.g. Kenny Dalglish) so I just don't get the idea that we're somehow besotted by his past successes and can't see past his present failures.

I remember having loads.
I remember when we were linked.
Suddenly we were a club on the up. The new messiah could be taking over. The praying hands, etc, for him to put pen to paper as the saviour.
His history was talked about not argued about.
I was one of them that was twiddling my fingers like a kid thinking this is it.

From that to where I am now with the feeling that I'm being slapped with a wet fish every time I think Rafa will change things up.

Secondly, I think Newcastle fans on the whole have a decent enough understanding of the game to know that Eddie Howe is a top class manager who, if he was having similar results, would be struggling for largely the same reason - the squad can't deliver on his style of football. It would, of course, be worse for Eddie Howe, because our squad is even less qualified to deliver on his style than it is Rafa's. But it's incapable of delivering on either approach because both sides need someone who can put the ball in the net more often to actually win games. I think we'd feel equally privileged to have Eddie Howe I think, and we'd be getting behind him in the same way, and moaning about the fact that we don't have anyone who can put the ball in the back of the net etc.

The weird part is this squad is not geared up for defensive football as a rule. It really isn't.
However, Rafa brought in more wingers for a very valid reason which was to use pace on counter attacking and actually play both roles. A game of two halves if you like.

Thirdly, the idea that Rafa resorts to 'extreme park the bus tactics' is exactly what I was getting at as an example of the extreme view you're saying nobody has. He's done that in literally one game. We've been defensive in others, but in other games we've pressed from the front, tried to get forward in numbers as often as possible, and so on. For Rafa, it's horses for courses. I totally get why you aren't impressed by Rafa, but it looks to me like you're genuinely struggling to look at the situation impartially, or that what you're really annoyed by is people always defending Rafa's approach, rather than Rafa's approach itself.

Against the bigger teams we've parked the bus.
Against Palace at home we played ultra cautious, as did they. We came out lucky.
However, against Huddersfield away we could have taken them to task but for some reason decided to hold onto a one nil defeat rather than change the game to gain the spoils of that game. It was worse than mental and isn't an isolated game, either.

In the first half of many games we show we are far better than we are being dealt throughout the season and especially second halves of games.

And I think that if that's happening, it's only happening because of the abrasive style of the anti-Rafa views presented, in particular, by pboro, who clearly winds people on here up. Sorry if you think that's overstepping, but I just don't get where this idea of us as a delusional fanbase comes from, because I guess I don't hang out with people like that.

We aren't all going to agree and without getting into arguments, it's six of one and half a dozen of the other with certain posters who dish plenty out as well, so there's really no innocents in that respect...but....that's football forums for you. It's gonna happen.
Also molehills can easily be turned into mountains on forums.
I've had to ignore a few myself just so I'm not tempted to take them on and create a tit for tat game with them.
They know who they are and it's fairly easy to see who I've binned by looking at the profiles of them and seeing my name in there as visiting. that was to ignore the person just as many will have done to me.

So as much as you think pboro winds people up you also have to look at those that go out of their way to wind him up.

I also never wanted Rafa, so perhaps it's easier for me to see both sides of things - I'm neither disillusioned nor am I overly impressed. I think he's simply doing a decent job with the squad he's got. Could be doing better, could be worse. But he's only two wins from the top 10 and two defeats from bottom, so that stands up.

Fair enough but remember he's on 5/6 million a year and by rights has a duty to provide better football than he's doing.
However, let's see if he's got a method in his madness.

I'd like to see him given a chance to build a Premier League side because, as you point out, he has actually shown he can get us to perform in spells. Perhaps, with a decent striker to put away the chances we create, he could get us winning more often. If he did, we'd be in the top 8, which is mental!

I'm more than happy to set my hopes up with how he sets us up with Slimani and a fully match fit Kenedy, etc.
I'll give him a clean slate from this point on. Let's see what he's got.