"The King is dead, long live the King"
historical phrase, uttered by Joey Barton, St. James' Park, 2010

Newcastle United announced on Monday that the club will be parting company with manager Rafa Benitez when his contract ends, releasing a statement saying:

"We have worked hard to extend Rafa’s contract over a significant period of time, however it has not been - and will not be - possible to reach an agreement with Rafa and his representatives."

After the worst start to a season in the club's history in 2018/9, the club record signing of Miguel Almiron for around £20M in the January transfer window and emergence of local prodigy Sean Longstaff gave Newcastle a new lease of life in the second half of the season and The Three Amigos attack of Almiron, Salomon Rondon & Ayoze Perez fired Newcastle to a 13th-placed finish with great wins against Manchester City and Everton.

With the advent of VAR in The Premier League for the 2019/20, it promises to be the most exciting campaign in years with any switched-on observer of Newcastle United realizing that The Magpies have not got the benefit of the doubt from referees for a long-time.

With Lee Charnley and the NUFC top brass currently processing a list of potential successors to Rafa Benitez offering a very competitive wage and £50M transfer budget, here is my shortlist for candidates for the St. James' Park hot-seat:

  1. Jose Mourinho - The Special One

The best manager of the modern generation, The Special One has won 25 trophies including 3 Premier League titles & 2 Champions Leagues and it might have been three if not for the "ghost goal" scored by a Rafa Benitez-managed Liverpool in the 2005 Semi-Final between his seemingly unbeatable Chelsea and The Reds, who went onto lift The Champions League trophy in Istanbul.

The Special One's special affinity with Sir Bobby Robson, legendary manager of England, Barcelona, PSV, Ipswich, Newcastle, Lisbon, Porto et al is the soul reason why Mourinho might be tempted by a Magpies offer and, after winning everything everywhere in the top moneyed jobs, the challenge to lift the sword from the stone and win a trophy at St. James Park, an endeavour not achieved since 1969 and The Fairs Cup, may prove irresistible to a man with a professed love of the city, the club and its people.

“Winning a fifth championship in a different country or the Champions League with a third club are things I’d like to do, but.... I only go where a project convinces me.
“I want to be happy, not necessarily win, I want to be happy and I don’t want to accept a proposal without being convinced of it... that’s why if they told me ‘today there are no conditions to win, but we want you to create the conditions to win’, I would evaluate it."

Paying off a debt of gratitude to his former mentor "Mister Robson" , who gave him his first big opportunity in the beautiful game, by transforming Newcastle back into a successful club might make the unlikeliest of dreams a distinct possibility on Tyneside.

2. Eddie Howe - The Bournemouth Identity

"I want to play attractive football, I want people to want to pay to watch my team"
Eddie Howe

Magpies mogul Mike Ashley is said to favour the appointment of Eddie Howe due to being a fan of his attractive, goal-scoring football and the fact he is an ambitious English manager focussed on the development of young, saleable talent.

The transfer template at The Vitality Stadium - scouring the lower Leagues for youthful promise and unfulfilled potential has produced a conveyor belt of players at relatively scant cost who have succeeded in the red and black stripes of The Cherries - Jordan Ibe, Nathan Ake, Lewis Cook and David Brooks - that is the envy of many a Premier League scouting system and replicating the cost-effective approach at Newcastle like Graham Carr & co achieved with French players a la Yohan Cabaye when returning to Europe in 2011/2 would be music to Ashley's ears.

Howe holds the double distinction of being the youngest Premier League manager at 41 years-old and its longest-serving boss and with over 150 games in the top flight under his belt and would be a manager for both now and the future and luring him to St. James' Park, where his positive approach would turn 50,000 fans into a weapon, would have the added advantage of destablising a direct rival on the eve of the new football season.

3. Roberto Martinez - Another Spaniard In The Works?

Another major proponent of attacking football and teams that score goals, current Belgium boss Roberto Martinez who guided the international Red Devils to 3rd place at The World Cup in Russia in 2018 is said to be missing the cut-and-thrust of club football and might be open to a return back to The Premier League with Newcastle.

A veteran of over 250 Premier League games and seven seasons in the English top flight with Wigan and Everton, his greatest English club achievement to date was either winning The FA Cup in 2013 with Wigan defeating Man City 1-0 to lift English football's historic trophy or his Everton side finishing an impressive 5th place in 2014.

His teams play a refreshing, expansive, intelligent passing style that would come as a welcome riposte to Benitez's more constrained, defensive and negative approach.

4. Phil Neville - Man of the Moment

Lionesses' Head Coach Phil Neville is on course to bring The World Cup home with England in the Women's World Cup in France and if is he able to do that then why not take a chance on the former Man Utd and Everton stalwart, England U21and Old Trafford First Team Coach who is obssessed with the game and ready for a big appointment in club football?

Unlike brother Gary who famously flopped as manager of Valencia, unable to walk the walk (or even speak the language) having talked the talk on SKY as co-commentator and pundit on Monday Night Football, Phil Neville has now held a top role and could draw on an extensive contact list in the game from Sir Alex Ferguson to David Beckham.

5. Shola Ameobi - Club Legend

Another former protege of Sir Bobby Robson and a man whom Alan Pardew described as "so intelligent he could be Prime Minister", Shola Ameobi, Newcastle's 2nd All-Time Top European Goal scorer fits the modern trend of managerial appointments like Frank Lampard's impending one at Chelsea.

Last week Ameobi was announced in a new role for the club as Loan Arranger for young players but that was before talks irrevocably broke down with Benitez and holding a UEFA 'A' Licence, Ameobi is suddenly already in position at the club and highly qualified - could he step into one of the biggest roles in British football next week?

6. Martin O'Neill - One Last Shot At The Big Time

A winner as both a manager and player - as the forthright O'Neill reminds Patrick Vieira and Fabio Cannavaro in the video left - about his two European Cup medals won under the legendary Brian Clough, Martin O'Neill's managerial career of late has stalled after early success with Leicester & Celtic and stints with Sunderland, Aston Villa and Ireland.

Replaced as Nottingham Forest manager just yesterday, O'Neill is once again a free agent and might be seeking one last chance to prove himself in the top flight in England where he helped establish Leicester lifting two League Cups in the mid-90s before more predictable success with Celtic.

Either way, its good for Geordie Jack Colback, who returns for Newcastle pre-season next week having outlasted Benitez, who banished him to the Reserves at the club after an apparent bust-up after which Colback accused the manager of lacking 'respect':

“I’m not sure [why I wasn’t given respect], I’m not the one who should be answering that...I think the disappointing thing is the way it’s been dealt with. I’ve been treated like a number more than a human being...Of course I want to still play for Newcastle".