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Current manager of Newcastle, Rafa Benitez might remain at newly relegated English club, Newcastle as they go into the English championship next season.

The club is edging closer to confirming that Rafa Benitez will stay on as manager next season, Sky sources understand.

Benitez signed a three-year deal to become Newcastle boss back in March, when he replaced Steve McClaren, but the contract is reported to include an option to cancel at the end of the season. The Spaniard was unable to keep the club in the Premier League, leading to doubts over whether he would stay, but it appears a meeting with owner Mike Ashley and managing director Lee Charnley on Sunday was positive. They talked for two hours after the stunning 5-1 win over Tottenham at St James’ Park, giving Ashley a first chance to speak to Benitez face-to-face since his arrival at the club.

After the game Benitez said his heart was leading him towards staying on Tyneside to try and guide Newcastle back to the Premier League, and he admitted that fantastic support from the club’s fans was also swaying him. Sources claim Ashley was impressed by Benitez during their meeting, with the Spaniard keen to find out what ambitions the owner has for their bid to get out of the Championship at the first attempt.

Benitez is reported to be particularly keen to take control over the club’s transfer business before committing his future to the club.
After the stunning victory over the Spurs, the tactician said:

“I said I am quite open and I am quite pleased with everything, the staff, everything, now it’s just to be sure that we have to do what we have to do to be sure that we can go up if I stay here.

“They know, we have been talking. I have the same feeling as the fans, they want a strong team next season to be sure we go up again.

“The way and the ideas will not be difficult to have, to have similar ideas, but we have to sit down and make sure of everything.”

Rafael Benitez was appointed as the manager of Newcastle United on March 11 of the ongoing year and so far it has been a tough start for the Spanish manager as his task is to try to push Newcastle United away from the bottom relegation zone but the only thing that Benitez has managed to do is drop points at a consistent basis.

Since taking charge of Newcastle United, Rafael Benitez has led the club to 3 defeats, 2 draws and 1 triumph, so that means that Benitez has sealed 5 points from the possible 18.
Newcastle United is currently positioned at the 19th spot with 29 points and they will have to start collecting a few more points in order to secure a safe zone that can ensure their survival in the Premier League for at least another season.

The latest league match of Newcastle United was against Manchester City which concluded in a 1-1 draw and Rafael Benitez didn’t take long to voice his thoughts concerning this recent match as the Spanish coach said:

“I have to be pleased because against a team like Man City, to do what we have done from 1-0 down, the reaction of the team, you have to be pleased. I haven’t seen the replay of Sergio Aguero’s goal but they tell me he was offside. You cannot change anything. I think they should get it right but we cannot change it. That’s it. The team has more belief now, the fans are behind the players and they will fight to the end. Today was an example of that.’’ Newcastle United’s Rafael Benitez said as he said that gaining 1 point against Manchester City actually was pretty good.

Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur are the remaining opponents of Newcastle United. Rafael Benitez and his squad will have to get good results against these teams in order to have any chance of staying in the Premier League.

What exactly will the injury of Rob Elliot mean for Newcastle United?

During yesterday’s game, Rob Elliot faced a critical injury to the knee and is now sitting in a Dublin hospital undergoing diagnosis and testing.

Many fear that the future of Rob Elliot could be grim and that this season will go without him after a cruel blow while playing for the Republic of Ireland.

FAI medics have described the knee injury as critically serious as the 29 year old currently lay in a hospital bed. What this means for Newcastle United is now they must pull in Karl Darlow and Fred Woodman for the final eight games remaining this season. This also means that this could cost them a Premier League relegation as well, which was already looking a bit hopeless.

According to the hospital so far, Elliot has suffered severe ligament damage and there’s not any primitive answer or treatment yet until more conclusive tests are run. There’s no set days or weeks that Elliot will remain in the hospital and his future this season for Newcastle United is unclear. The club has asked everyone on his Twitter to send wishes and prayers his way for a speedy recovery.

Updates will be provided via his Twitter feed as they become available and as more tests are done. This comes as a serious disappointment and a hard dampening on the evening for Newcastle. Elliot was just starting to get his career together and was starting to show how fierce of a player he could be. Elliot is not very happy and while he’s not available for a direct quote, the doctors have stated that he’s quite frustrated with the situation right now.

Will Elliot return this season? Will Newcastle’s games plummet or can they make a huge comeback?

Newcastle United is positioned in the bottom relegation zone of the Premier League but this might change soon enough after having gone through a fairly busy winter transfer window which includes having signed: Henri Saivet, JonjoShelvey, Andros Townsend and SeydouDoumbia.

The owner of Newcastle United Mike Ashley had to offload around £29million in order to bring in all of those players and Steve McClaren believes that this is only the beginning of what Ashley is planning to do with the club.

Steve McClaren told the media: “We wanted to take this club forward, and that will only progress through investment. Really it’s just the beginning. It’s not the end, it’s only the beginning. It started in the summer, it’s continued this window. I think we said it would, and now we’re thinking yeah, the squad, when you look, is progressing towards ultimately what we want. We are delighted with what we have got and it’s enough to see us through and score goals.”

These signings are expected to help out Newcastle United in their journey of making it out of the relegation zone but according to the head coach, Steve McClaren says that Mike Ashley has a list of things that he wants to accomplish with the club but surviving in the Premier League is the primary task right now.

SaidoBerahino was one of the players that Steve McClaren was mostly focused in signing but even with a club record bid of £21.2million, it wasn’t enough to lure the English forward away from West Bromwich Albion, nonetheless, fans of Newcastle United were happy to see the club being active in the previous transfer window and now it’s all up to Steve McClaren to make the most of his newly assembled team and fight for survival.

Newcastle United have been battling against relegation since the start of the season.

This has led to suggestions that the club will consider resting some key players in the upcoming FA Cup match against Watford. Many clubs who are involved in the relegation battle try and avoid domestic cup matches since it would be a distraction once the club enters into the latter stages of the competition. Steve McClaren may be under a lot of pressure, but he has promised to field a strong line-up against Watford.

Newcastle have lost three games on the bounce and it has once again put the club under tremendous pressure.

There appeared to be a brief spell in the sunlight when the club managed back-to-back victories against Liverpool and Tottenham. This lifted them out of relegation trouble momentarily. However, for matches without a win has seen them drop back into the drop zone once again. Newcastle have not done well in the FA Cup since Mike Ashley took over the club in 2007. They have failed to progress past the fourth round of the competition since then. Keen to get some people to back him, McClaren may consider the possibility of taking the FA Cup seriously.

“It’s another game we want to win.I’m absolutely confident we can have a go at that.We’ll play a strong team and every game is important. The FA Cup is as important as any other game. It’s another game we want to win,” said McClaren. The manager will want to avoid the same embarrassment that came upon the club when they were knocked out of the Capital One Cup earlier in the campaign at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday. However, the club’s view with regard to the domestic cup competitions appears to have changed since McClaren took over.

Shay Given completed his move to Stoke City and the 39 year old Irish shot-stopper will have to battle with Jack Butland for a starting role in his new club.

Even though Shay Given is 17 years older than Butland, the veteran player said that he will be giving it his all and he is prepared to do everything it takes to snatch a consistent spot at the Britannia Stadium.

“Obviously Jack Butland is an excellent goalkeeper. He’s an Under-21 international for England so he’s got a big future. So yeah, there is competition for places but it’s the same in every club and you need that competition. I’m delighted to be here.”

Asmir Begovic was the former star goal-keeper of Stoke City but Begovic was offloaded to Chelsea and now Mark Hughes decided to bring in Shay Given as a way to provide competition for his younger shot-stopper Jack Butland and depending on who plays better or is available to play, having 2 active goal-keepers who are willing to show their worth, this is a good option for Hughes to not have to depend on just 1 shot-stopper for an extended period of time.

Before Shay Given completed his move to Stoke City, it was believed that he was going to make a move to the English Championship League club Middlesbrough FC but Stoke City arrived and swooped the veteran player up. Given gave thanks to the supporters of Middlesbrough as he played with the club for a few months by serving as a cover to Jason Steele who was injured.

During Given’s stay in Middlesbrough, he managed to keep 10 clean sheets in 16 league games which is very impressive but despite his noteworthy stay in the club, Given said that he couldn’t turn down the chance to continue competing in the Premier League and that’s why Shay Given decided to make a last minute move to Stoke City.

Earlier in January of 2015, John Carver took charge of Newcastle United after Alan Pardew announced his departure as he decided to become the coach of Crystal Palace.

John Carver’s stay as the coach of Newcastle United lasted for less than a year as he was sacked 5 months after his appointed was confirmed. The reason of why Carver lasted such a short period of time was because of the string of underwhelming results and performances that Newcastle United displayed during with Carver at the helm of the club.

When John Carver was in charge of the Premier League club, Newcastle United suffered 12 defeats in 16 matches and only barely managed to avoid being relegated.

Following such a disappointing stint, it didn’t come as a surprise to see John Carver being sacked as he was replaced by Steve McClaren. Even though Carver had a very disappointing campaign as the coach of Newcastle United which was plagued with a string of defeats, the English manager has recently stated that he would like to make a return to St. James’ Park and have another shot as the coach of the Premier League club.

Former Newcastle United manager John Carver expressed his desire to make return as a coach to the English club as he said: “If I didn’t have any confidence in what I was trying to do, then I would probably settle for being a coach or in the background. But I do. I do have the confidence’’

“I don’t want to take the easy way out and be somebody’s assistant unless I have to. I want to get into a football club and build a football club. I’ve got a point to prove, to myself and to the fans of Newcastle. Not all of them because the majority have been very, very good, but to the people who were critical’’

Carver wants to restore his reputation which crumbled but it seems highly unlikely that any fan or executive of Newcastle United would be willing to give him a 2nd chance as the coach of the club taking into consideration how badly the team performed under his charge.

Manchester City’s Manuel Pellegrini has already confirmed that a few of his main figures including: Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho, Pablo Zabaleta and Martin Demichelis will be given some additional time off from matches as the Chilean manager wants to give those players more rest as they were competing in the Copa America.

None of those players have participated in the pre-season tour to Australia as Pellegrini is being very careful and cautious in relation to the physical condition of his squad.

The opening match of the 2015-16 Premier League season of Manchester City is scheduled to take place on August 10 as Manuel Pellegrini and his squad face off against West Bromwich Albion and its unlikely that any of the previously mentioned players will be performing in this opening match of the season.

Manuel Pellegrini said: “I think in football it’s so important to work hard, but also resting has the same importance. You have so many games throughout the year that if you don’t give them 30 days after they’ve finished their internationals, it’s very difficult for them to work hard. It’s more difficult for the South American players because Pablo Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis, Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho finished later, the first days of July, so they won’t have 30 days’’

Manchester City wants to have a good start of the season but it might be difficult to accomplish if Pellegrini decides to leave out some of his most influential figures and the squad of the Chilean manager is not in the best shape after having suffered a 4-2 loss against Stuttgart.

Sterling is versatile enough to play as a winger, attacking midfielder or a forward and during the absence of Sergio Aguero, the €49 million summer signing Raheem Sterling might have to be placed in the position of the Argentine striker during this opening match of the season as well as in the occasions when Aguero or another offensive player is unable to perform.

Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley said that the team will wake up when it comes to doing business in the transfer window.

After several years of being prudent when it comes to spending, Ashley saw the club only narrowly avoided a second relegation in his tenure. He has promised to spend significantly more in order to help the club win trophies in the future. Ashley looks set to keep his promise after Newcastle have been linked with QPR striker Charlie Austin for several weeks now. The England international was relegated along with QPR and is widely considered as the biggest asset for the West London outfit.

QPR are expected to sell a number of top players like Austin in order to rebuild the squad with players of lesser value so as to remain financially viable even in the Championship. After having finished the last Premier League season as one of the top scorers with goals to his name, Austin is a player in demand. He recently admitted that he would like to stay in the Premier League in order to improve his chances of becoming an England regular. He was recently called up for the England duty after an impressive run of form in the domestic league.

“I just want to concentrate on the next two weeks, enjoy the moment and what will be will be.Who knows what the future will hold for me? I feel like I’ve worked hard enough this season for QPR to try to be a Premier League player but, at the moment, I’ve still got a year left at QPR. So the future’s up to the club and my agent to sort out. I’ll sit down with my family and my agent.I’ll speak to Chris Ramsey and Les Ferdinand and tell them my thoughts, and they’ll tell me theirs,” said Austin.

Newcastle United slumped to a fifth straight defeat after the 2-0 loss against Liverpool at Anfield.

Even though this does not raise concerns about an immediate relegation to the Championship, it does put the future of manager John Carver of the doubt. After the departure of Alan Pardew, Carver was put in charge of the club on a caretaker basis until the end of the campaign. The club continue to be linked with big-name managers like Frank de Boer of Ajax.

However, they will be unlikely to secure any of them if they are relegated to the second tier of English football.

The club has taken 35 points from the 32 games so far. Even though they have a healthy nine-point advantage with six games left in the campaign, the supporters are concerned by the club being dragged into a relegation dogfight in the final few weeks of the campaign. Manager Carver, though, have different views as he insisted that Newcastle showed a lot of positivity compared to last week when they were beaten by local rivals Sunderland in a feisty encounter. Clubs below them have been picking up points consistently and this is a major source of concern. The club’s next match is at home to Tottenham.

“I think they got a response. They didn’t get a result.But there was a response after last weekend. I’ve seen enough.We’ve now got Fabricio Coloccini coming back to strengthen the defence.There are positives to take.A lot of people thought we were coming here and expecting us to get a hiding.We held our own for long periods of the game against a top side.The first nine minutes until they scored, we were tentative.After Sterling’s goal we grew into the game.After the performance against Sunderland we could have crumbled. But we grew into the game,” said Carver.