Rafa Benitez plans 10 year Newcastle stay.
Conspiracy here: I get a feeling Mike Ashley is using every inch of this to finally sell the club. Benitez, big money etc. He's going to throw down a massive set of dice, spend big and get Newcastle where they need to be in order to recoup the money he's spent overall. Obviously that's not a bad thing because it's the best possible advert you could deliver.
On the other hand, Ashley is supposedly delighted at the way things are unfolding and hopes to finally restore the ties he had with fans at both home and away games and become the supporter style owner he was first known for... In geordie terms, the fat guy that downed the pint on TV at the Emirates. Then lied and said it contained no Alcohol:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...ne/7592350.stm
We're also set to confirm our sponsor, which is supposedly another club record deal, supposedly a Chinese Betting firm offered big money on the basis Newcastle were promoted. It comes after Newcastle themselves failed to re-acquire Brown Ale as a sponsor in a move to please fans. There is no deal for stadium rights and they weren't offered any as Mike Ashley claims to have learned from his mistakes and no such deal will be in place again.