trooper

All we can do is sit tight & hope.

I hope Rafa tells him to do one now the bastard

Monochrome Acquisitions ? https://www.sportsdirect.com/SearchResults?DescriptionFilter=monochrome

Guess we'll find out properly tomorrow when the fixtures are officially released

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/premier-league-201920-fixtures-leaked-16504606.amp Looks like someone leaked the first day of the seasons games. Were away to Everton by the looks of things

Probably not as hes contracted until 30th June. This has had all the hallmarks of Shearer for a while I.e. frozen out. Yeah they've offered him a new contract. But its obvious it's no were near what he was asking for.

19 days left on his contract, it would have all been tied up now if he was staying. Cheers Rafa & good luck at your next club. Oh & fanks Mike you utter toss pot. I'm half expecting to see Pardew unveiled as the "new manager" on July 1st

Who knows what's going on ?

Apparently Rafa's at the training ground.

Nufc 360 Sports Direct signs removed from inside the ground will be replaced by new ones in time for the beginning of the new season as Mike Ashley prepares for his 13th season in control of #nufc. [@mhardysport]

Not for me mate I dont like the bloke. I know hes called "The Special One" but it's going to take someone "Extra Special" to fill Rafa's shoes. I hope it's not him. Plus I dont think he'd work under Ashley's constraints he'd want to spend big.

Sour faced Mourinho instead of Rafa ? No thanks

A - HA

Take it for what it is, why would Ashley be offering Rafa a new contract if he was selling up & sodding off ? Northern Echo report – Thursday 6 June 2019: ‘Newcastle United’s current owners will not be conducting fresh contract talks with Rafael Benitez, and are adamant their final offer is already on the table. Benitez’s current contract is due to expire on June 30, which means he has just over three weeks in which to decide whether to accept the terms that have been submitted via his representatives. Having met Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley in London last month, Benitez and his negotiating team have been in contact with the Newcastle hierarchy via telephone and Email in the last few weeks. That has resulted in a formal contract offer, which Benitez is currently understood to be considering.’

Genuine questions 1.) Is this likely to be really happening now ? (I.e. takeover) b.) How far along is it ?

Someone called Odin over on N.O. has posted this.... Nesreen Osman and her team in both UAE and the UK office are the lawyers looking out for BZG’s interests. No idea about Ashley’s side. Conflict of interest in having the same firm is correct. BZG have used Pinsent on major construction work before so they have history. My source at Pinsents tells me her team have already been in discussions with Benítez but at an early stage. All very relaxed as this is a totally new contract with a new employer but he’s probably having to sell his vision all over again so it will take time. As far goes Pinsent yes, I moonlight as a recruiter for high level positions. Legal is one of the areas I dabble in along with Localization and Digital. I’ve pinched a few for them (Pinsent Masons) in the last 2 years. Especially when they were setting up a new Dublin office. 2nd post from Odin.... I didn’t post all day yesterday as am on holidays in Italy right now but when I saw all the news yesterday evening I reached out to my guy and he was aware of it so I didn’t need to fish too much for the info. The takeover is a formality at this stage I’ve been told. Pinsent have a big team working on this, I assume Ashley does too with his lawyers so it’ll get trashed out in due course. The main thing now is for BZG to move funds into a holding account controlled by the law firm. He doesn’t know for sure as he’s not working directly on this but he says deals of this size are usually done in instalments over the course of a few weeks and if the club has been broken up into smaller pieces like it has, each transaction will be a tranch of parts of the club, until it’s all transferred over in full.

Any chance we can get "Aladdin" side to see what's going on ?

What splendid repartee

"2 pints of snakebite playing Lindisfarne on the jukebox"

Ha ha ha howay lads let's have it

Latest from George Caulkin... If I had an update, I’d give one! It’s not like I’ve forgotten. And I don’t want to fan the flames unnecessarily. This week should bring news and I hope it’ll be positive, but I’m not going into more detail than that because I can’ Wether theres news on Rafa or "The Sheikhover" hes not saying

Yeah The Mirror newspaper said "talks had concluded" & the club were waiting on a decision from Rafa. A sort of take it or leave it situation

It looks like the clocks getting well & truly run down on Rafa's contract. What should have been almost a formality looks like it's going right to the wire.

Just seen this I always thought he was on £6 million a year ? From the Times: If it’s tough at the top in business, in professional football the pressure is off the scale. The impatience for success and intolerance of perceived failure is such that the average tenure as a manager in the Premier League is 1.7 years, according to the League Managers Association. The rewards, however, while usually not in the same stratosphere as they are for the players, are buoyed by the vast sums sloshing into the game from TV rights and foreign owners with deep pockets attracted by trophy global sports brands. Even the serial underachieving “big club” Newcastle United pay Rafael Benítez £4 million a year, a fact that must make the owner, Mike Ashley wince.