Newcastle will stay up this season because they have Rafa Benitez but he will still quit at the end of the campaign
Their is no lack of fight among the team and with the Spaniard at the helm, we should be fine come the end of the season
IF NEWCASTLE fans trust my judgement then I have good news.
We are staying up. Just! It will be tight and may even come down to goal difference but I firmly believe we will do it.
I saw the draw at Palace and there is no lack of fight and commitment among the players.
But more crucially, we have a top class manager in Rafa Benitez.
Someone whose love of the Newcastle fans has kept him at the club through a tough time.
He will not desert the ship and let it sink but nobody could blame him given the lack of support he has had from the helm.
With the exception of attendances, there are no good stats where owner Mike Ashley is involved.
The 52,400 that attend St James’ every week is not down to him either but a deep-seated loyalty which he will never understand.
SEL-THIRST PARK Crystal Palace draw with Newcastle interrupted by thirsty pitch invader at Selhurst Park
Newcastle’s a very big club but one that in 11 years under Ashley, has a net transfer spend of £49million.
Given the gates and TV money the club has had, even with yo-yo years, that tells a shameful story.
Staying in the Prem alone is probably worth around £110m a season. Benitez got the club back up but was not backed to make the next big stride.
He was clearly struggling with a lack of quality in the squad ahead of the January transfer window so what happened?
He saw Brighton and Swansea both break their transfer records and Palace spend £9m on a striker.
Benitez, meanwhile, had to scramble around getting players in on loan.
The hope generated by news of a possible takeover has disappeared. It is not going to happen.
Ashley is holding out for more than is being offered up front and is gambling on a bumper new TV pay deal increasing the value of the club.
Meanwhile, Benitez works with what he has got — a team lacking in quality but not heart.
Yesterday’s draw makes it just two league defeats in seven. And while just two of those have been wins, that’s not bad in this scrap.
Newcastle had a very good first half at Selhurst Park and here is a stat; their six shots on target is the most they’ve had in a first half in four years.
I’m not sure if that is good or depressing!
The penalty they conceded was incredibly soft.
If refs are going to give those for the slightest of shirt pulls by Ciaran Clark on Christian Benteke than we’ll be seeing ten a game.
Not one Palace player appealed for it, not even Benteke, and the referee clearly saw nothing wrong.
But a very excitable linesman did.
Credit to Clark for his double block in front of goal later on that helped Toon to what could be a vital point.
So if Newcastle are not going down, who is?
West Brom are gone and joining them will be Huddersfield and Stoke.
Paul Lambert gave the Potters an immediate bounce with a win over the Terriers in his first game.
But the problems Mark Hughes had, have quickly become apparent.
I fear, too, for Huddersfield.
It was a great story as a team tipped to tumble out of the Championship got promoted.
And there was early hope as well with victories in their opening two games and a memorable home win over Manchester United.
The fantastic atmosphere at the John Smith’s looked like it could be a major weapon in keeping the Terriers up.
But along with Newcastle, Town were the only Prem team not to spend in the January window — and they desperately needed to.
The last two games have shown they have run out of legs and ideas — dreadful against Liverpool in midweek and on Saturday their aim appeared to be to kick United off the pitch.
It didn’t work and a fifth defeat in a row was duly chalked up. Those three clubs are struggling but Newcastle will just have enough. But it should never be about such fine margins.
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Newcastle should be bigger and better than this but under Ashley we never will be.
Unfortunately Benitez recognises it too and we will probably lose him at the end of the season.
Another huge chance has been missed.