TalkSPORT 'pundit' gets it horribly wrong in shameless Rafa Benitez rant - Another Ashley crony?
Michael Gray has got himself stuck into one of the most ill-informed and shameless rant you are ever likely to hear live on talkSPORT - making some clueless claims about Rafa Benitez in an argument full of lies.
I don't actually know where to start with this one, so it's probably best you read his ridiculous comments first, with us picking it all apart below.
Here's what the ex-Mackem has had to say when speaking on talkSPORT this week:
“Well if i’m brutally honest whatever I will say about Newcastle I will get criticised anyway but I’m bored..bored of hearing all these things that are coming out about Newcastle whether it’s on the field or off the field, I’m sure the Newcastle supporters are exactly the same,”
“They probably get to a transfer window and go 'alright let’s rub our hands together we’re gonna see some new faces and get ourselves mid-table, owner is gonna leave, gonna get a new chairman' and Rafa will be saying it’ll be a miracle if we stay in the Premier League.
“And this just adds to the list, he’s after a couple of players that we both probably agree that they’re not going to get, and he has stuck with the players who should be good enough to stay in the Premier League.
“Rafa’s contract ends at the end of the season and I’m sure I’m right about that, he will not been backed in any transfer window if this chairman is still involved in any capacity, so Benitez gets his pay-off at end of the season and it’s a thank you very much, packed his bags and he’s off.
“Why would he stick around? He has done what he has had to do at that club, got relegated, got back up, spent a huge amount of money on getting them back up, gets them in the Premier League, finish 10th last season, why they can’t finish 10th again? It’s the same squad of players and they brought Rondon in, Newcastle when I’ve seen them on their day are a decent team, I’m not saying they’re fantastic because they’re not, they are a million miles away from that.
“But it’s excuse after excuse and I for one am getting sick of hearing what Benitez has to say and the chairman doesn’t come out anyway with anything, he doesn’t need to.”
He claims Rafa will get a big pay out when he leaves. Not he won't? He was due to pay Ashley £6m IF he broke his contract but even that has expired. This is example number one of him failing to know the facts.
He claims Rafa will STILL be saying it'd be a 'miracle' to stay up if he got a new owner and new players. This is subjective, but I think we all know Benitez would be anything but this if he finally got his wish and was able to take the club forward. He didn't swap the Bernabeu for Burton away a few years ago to 'moan' once he got the club exactly where he wanted us to be.
He asks 'why can't we finish 10th again as our squad is better than last season's'. Ok, it's improved in areas, with us having a much better suited striker in Rondon, Dubravka for the entire season and an impressive quarter of centre-backs, but this comment is generally so moronic it's untrue. Our lack of spending over the summer saw us lose so much momentum as a club - emphasised by the fact practically all of our rivals (including newly promoted teams) showed far more ambition than us in the summer.
He claims Rafa spent a 'huge amount of money' getting us back up from Championship. Firstly this isn't true as we made a big profit that summer given Wijnaldum, Sissoko, Janmaat & Townsend were all sold, but the worst part of this is the idea Ashley should be praised for simply attempting to make up for a mess he created!
And finally, he claims Rafa's making excuses and he's sick of it - claiming Ashley shouldn't have to come out and defend his lack of spending. Rafa has every right to complain - after all, he's been lied repeatedly.
