ARE NEWCASTLE UNITED A MID-TABLE TEAM?

Premier League side Newcastle United are already facing relegation threats this early in the season. With Aton Villa getting a draw, the Magpies dropped to the 18th spot on the log. Despite hosting struggling Brighton & Hove Albion next, going away to Leicester City and then facing Manchester United and Chelsea, there are no sure hopes of picking any point in the next four games.

Under former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez, Newcastle finished in the 10th and 13th position at the end of the season. It seems those mid-table finishes made the fans and management forget that they were nowhere there, and required substantial urgent investment like the Spaniard asked for.

Newcastle Shortlist Three Men to Replace Rafa Benitez

Newcastle looks forward to beguiling Nice’s Patrick Vieira to step into the shoes of the head coach. Vieira had a pretty good season with Nice as they finished 7th in the French Ligue. Newcastle United had communicated with the former Manchester City and Arsenal midfielder previously. In 2015, he had interviewed for the managerial position. However, the job went on to Steve McClaren. It is not yet clear as to whether Vieira would agree to leave Nice after he spent 12 months as the in-charge of the club.

Nevertheless, he might be tempted to give his ears to any offers, in case Newcastle goes over with a proposal. In the meantime, Steven Gerard has stated that he is happy with his position at Rangers as he got a decent start to his career as a manager. Rangers have been successful in putting Celtic in the race for the title, for the first time after several years. Gerard prefers to move with this project prior to moving on to some other club. The name of Mikel Arteta has also come up in the context for the managerial job at Newcastle. At present, he is Guardiola’s number 2 at Manchester City.

Ben Dawson, Newcastle United Coach Insists Players to Learn from Their Heavy Defeat

The coach of Newcastle United, Ben Dawson states that his players have now come to learn a jarring lesson as they were knocked off by Manchester United. It had been a one-sided game and Dawson’s Newcastle blew off their opportunity to secure the title in an astonishing manner as Manchester United won by 5-0.

This means the best chance for promotion for the Red Devils is going to be plated-off in the second leg of Premier League. Dawson looks back at the game and says that they have they had created excellent opportunity in the 1st minute as Rosaire Longelo went past. Nevertheless, Paul Woolston rushed off the line to make a save. Following this, it has only been one-way traffic and the most difficult lesson against one of the best teams that they have played in this season.

NEWCASTLE CLOSE TO SIGNING HOFFENHIEM STRIKER

According to report making the rounds, Newcastle are close to completing a big- money move forHoffenheim strikerJoelton, with Leipzig coachRalf Rangnick, surprised by talk of his side making a bid. He admitted that RB Leipzig would not be able to match Newcastle United ‘s reported €60 million (£52m/$68m) bid for the player. Although he doesn’t think the Magpies would make such a move.

Many also believe the Premier League side would not want to splash that much on a player when they can budget for more legs. Despite reports in Germany that Newcastle are close to a deal, it remains largely open.

Benitez happy with win

Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez said that he is happy with his players following their win against Burnley. He said that this makes it three wins in a row for Newcastle United and that he wants his players to continue in the same way.

He said that this shows that the players are working hard on the pitch and he wants them to continue to improve. He believes that there is some good potential in the team and it is up to the players to deliver the goods.

SOUTHAMPTON CLASH – A MUST WIN FOR NEWCASTLE

Newcastle have muddled themselves into the most indefensible positions this season.The Magpies are experiencing a long bout of bad luck in the Premier League and canny manager Rafael Benítez has comeunderfire.

Benítez, who formerly managed clubs Real Madrid and Chelsea, leading the latter to Europa Cup glory during his short stint at Stamford Bridge, has yet to record any success in the Premier League this season.

Newcastle United boss defends conservative tactics versus Chelsea

Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has defended his conservative tactics during the recent league meeting versus Chelsea. The Magpies lined up in a 5-4-1 formation during the game and they nearly secured a draw despite commanding less than one-fifth of the overall possession at St James Park.

Speaking after the match, Benitez was appreciative of the efforts of the squad and stressed that he would have welcomed a more open encounter, had he possessed a player of Eden Hazard’s attributes, he said:  “It depends on the players you have. If I had [Eden] Hazard I would give it to him and he would make the difference. We know that we can be better with the ball, but I think we did well until the end.”

Benitez on Newcastle

Rafael Benitez is quietly preparing the next season with a list of potential transfer dealings. He said that he already has a good squad and that he wants to add more quality to it in order to challenge for the European places.

 

The Spanish manager has been promised an improved transfer budget by Newcastle owners and Rafael Benitez will be hoping that this time around Mike Ashley could keep his word.

The former Liverpool manager has already had to deal with three difficult transfer windows and will be hoping that this time around he could get enough money to revamp the side.

It is also reported that the manager will be looking to sell some players that are deemed to be surplus to requirement. At the top of the list, we have defender Mbemba who is reportedly attracting interest from Fc Porto. The player is currently valued at £8million and Rafael Benitez will be hoping that he can raise additional money from the sale of this player.

Some pundits believed that Rafael Benitez already has a clear idea on how to improve Newcastle United but he is being hindered by a lack of transfer budget. He has successfully managed to help them win promotion back to the Premier League and help them secured a 10th place finish last season in the top flight.

This time around he will be looking to improve this finishing position and for this, he will need to have access to more funds. So far, Mike Ashley has said that he will be giving the manager enough money to build a competitive team and we will have to wait and see whether he actually keeps his words.

Rafael Benitez has yet to sign a new deal with the club and is perhaps waiting to see whether the Newcastle United owner keeps his word.

Rafael Benitez admits Newcastle United players will have no excuses for underperforming

Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez admits that his Newcastle United players have no excuses for not performing in the Premier League despite the reduced transfer activity this summer.


The former Real Madrid coach took over the Magpies’ reigns during the tailend of the 2015/16 season, but he was unable to prevent them from beating them from beating the drop.

Despite this, he committed his future to the Tyneside outfit on a three-year deal whilst guiding them back to the Premier League as Championship holders. Speaking to reporters prior to their league opener against Tottenham Hotspur, the Spaniard admitted that every single player and staff will have to be up for it as they cannot make excuses for his reduced summer spending.

He said: “The main message from me for the fans is get behind the players because it’s now the way. I was telling the players that we cannot make excuses, so we have to be ready and try to win the games and that’s it. Sometimes we will do it and sometimes we will not do it, but we have to be sure that every single game, the players give everything and myself and my staff will do the same.”