Newcastle United journalist Liam Kennedy has given his thoughts on reports surrounding Paulo Fonseca and the vacant manager’s job.
The Portuguese tactician Fonseca, previously of AS Roma, Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Porto and SC Braga appears to be the front runner for the job, with noted journalist Fabrizio Romano claiming in a tweet that ‘the agreement is getting closer on a long term contract’, following the departure of Steve Bruce from the role last week.
However, speaking about the issue on the latest edition of NUFC Matters (32:18), Kennedy claimed that there should be some caution attached to the claims surrounding Fonseca, because most of the positive claims appear to be coming from his camp rather than both his and the club’s:
“There has been a lot of talk of Fonseca, and I’m keen not to go into too many details about that there’s been a lot, but I do think a lot of that’s come from the Portuguese side. It does sound like he impressed when he’s been spoken to, but he hasn’t been the only manager spoken to.
“There were suggestions from the likes of a really well-respected journalist like Craig Hope and others that it wasn’t quite on as far as had been suggested, that was kind of my understanding as well, which is why you get the surprise from the Portuguese side that it’s done, that he’s accepted the deal.
“But I’m just hearing a lot of ‘I’m willing to go, I’m ready to go, the deals there I’m ready to sign it’. And those kind of noises do concern you when it’s not a one-horse race, which it isn’t, there are a number of managers they’ve spoken to.”
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So judging by Kennedy’s claims, it appears as though the deal is some way down the line and not close to being confirmed just yet. Which should raise some concern as he mentions, but perhaps not in the way that Kennedy hints at there.
If the deal is still some way to being completed, that obviously means that it’s not official, which means that the club are still taking their time over the deal, which might not be the smartest thing to do.
Whilst they obviously need some time to assess all of their options, given where they are in the table, time isn’t exactly a luxury that they have when it comes to getting someone in who can help move them up the table, with every game that passes being crucial in their efforts to stay up.
So they had better start moving quickly if they want to appoint him, or they might end up regretting taking their time in the first place.
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