Derby rivals Sunderland’s 3-0 home victory over Everton on Wednesday evening consigned their neighbours to the Sky Bet Championship once again along with Norwich and Aston Villa, casting doubt on the future of manager Rafael Benitez, who has a release clause in the contract he signed in March.
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Newcastle’s relegation could cost the club at least £100 million ($144 million) in lost earnings, in part from a far more lucrative Premier League TV deal kicking in next season that will greatly increase broadcast revenues for each Premiership club.
‘Right now, of course, Rafa and the team must prepare for the final game of the season but after that, please rest assured we will communicate more fully with supporters’.
On May 24 past year, as Newcastle prepared for a final-day clash with West Ham which would decide their Barclays Premier League future, owner Mike Ashley gave a rare and impromptu television interview in which he promised to invest in the club in the search for success. Whilst the fans generally expected this fate, it was quite apparent that the club failed us miserably in the time that it took to make a decision to terminate Steve McClaren’s employment and bring in Rafa Benítez.
Sources on Tyneside have revealed the tone of the discussions was positive, although there is a long way to go before fans discover whether or not the man they want to remain at the helm will do so.
“The supporters and their feelings are very important but we are professional”, Pochettino said.
– Spurs have allowed fewer shots on target against them than any other team in the Premier League this season (112). “They bought players for the future but sometimes maybe you have to buy players for the present”.
Following a few early teething problems, he has overseen a revival in which Newcastle are put together a five-match unbeaten run to prompt hope they can maintain their Premier League status. For a manager as notoriously risk-averse as Rafa Benitez, coming in with 10 games to go must have given him a nosebleed.
Theoretically, that could leave Newcastle with enough time to attempt to secure promotion back to the top tier of the game at the first attempt – and free Ashley from the stringent Football League rules.
Were Benítez – who will face the media on Saturday ahead of the Spurs game – to stay, the managing director would be nearly certain to remain in post but, even if he left, Charnley could still expect to be tasked with overseeing the recruitment of an alternative. I can’t see it happening. “It would be brilliant if he was to stay”, Shearer told BBC Radio on Thursday.
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“I don’t think there is any expectation that he sells them soon”.
