Rafa Benitez was brought in as Newcastle boss in March, but the Spaniard s arrival came too late to save the Magpies from relegation
Newcastle will be playing Championship football next season after Sunderland’s 3-0 home win over Everton on Wednesday night secured the Black Cats safety for another season. Norwich were also relegated alongside the Magpies and Aston Villa.
Newcastle performances have taken a turn for the better in recent weeks under high-profile boss Rafa Benitez.
The Magpies are now unbeaten in five Premier League games, but there upturn in fortunes were too little too late for the north east side to survive the drop this season.
A terrible summer appointment
Last summer Newcastle appointed former-Middlesbrough boss Steve McClar…
West Brom needed penalties to beat League One side Peterborough United following a 1-1 draw in the fourth-round replay at London Road on Wednesday.
Ben Foster saved spot kicks from Martin Samuelsen and Lee Angol as Tony Pulis side edged the shootout 4-3, Darren Fletcher having missed for West Brom.
Jon Taylor scored one of Peterborough s two late equalisers in the first game at The Hawthorns and he put his side ahead after 54 minutes, shooting low across Foster.
Fletcher levelled the scores after 71 minutes, smashing home after sustained West Brom pressure as the visitors sought to avoid an embarrassing exit to lower-league opposition.
Foster s efforts in denying teenage midfielder Samuelsen and 21-year-old striker Angol earned West Brom a trip to Champio…
Jose Mourinho has urged Manchester United to offer David de Gea a bumper new contract and take his Old Trafford career into a second decade.
De Gea has established himself as one of the leading goalkeepers in world football since moving to United from Atletico Madrid in 2011.
He almost moved back to the Spanish capital and joined Real Madrid in 2015, with a faulty fax machine infamously cited as the reason for the move breaking down.
The 27-year-old s current deal at Old Trafford runs until 2019, with an option to extend for another year, but Mourinho is looking longer term.
It s obvious that we re not going to let the option disappear, he told reporters.
This is how I like to start the year! Happy 2018!
Así me gusta empezar el año F…
Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta would have two Ballons d Or if he was named Andresinho, according to Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos.
Iniesta, 33, is expected to announce he will leave Barca at the end of the season after 16 trophy-laden campaigns with the LaLiga giants.
But the superstar midfielder is set to finish his career without a coveted Ballon d Or, despite top-three finishes in 2010 and 2012.
Ramos believes Iniesta was unfortunate not to win the individual honour at least once.
If Andres was called Andresinho, he would have two Ballons d Or, he said after Madrid s 2-1 win over Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.
Spain international Iniesta has won eight LaLiga titles and four Champions L…
Former Real Madrid and West Ham defender Julien Faubert has signed for Kilmarnock until the end of the season.
The 32-year-old had been without a club since leaving Ligue 1 club Bordeaux at the end of last season.
He now joins the Scottish Premiership side and becomes new manager Lee Clark s first signing since taking over at Rugby Park.
Faubert spent five seasons playing in the Premier League with West Ham and had a brief loan spell with Madrid in 2009.
Lee has taken a risk on me and when you feel like that as a player then you can break your neck for him on the pitch, said Faubert, who could make his debut against Hearts on Saturday.
You will fight for him because he has taken a risk on you. I want to play football, I m hungry to play competit…