Craig Hope Tells Us Rafa Staying Is More Than Hope

Here at Coming Home Newcastle we put a high degree of faith in our glorious leader Jim. Jim, in turn, puts a high degree of confidence in what the Daily Mail's Craig Hope reports. Last Tuesday Jim wrote about how Rafa remaining at Tyneside was more than just a "verbal" agreement. Hope reports Rafa Benitez has "agreed to stay", noting that Rafa was "pressing ahead with plans for next season".

While those words were a welcomed salve to the wound of relegation, the week since has been filled with little more than speculation and reports of productive talks. Hope, however, recently tweeted this:

For those asking for an update on NUFC & Benitez... don't worry, it's happening.

— Craig Hope (@CraigHope_DM) May 24, 2016

Three days earlier Craig set the terms of when Rafa would sign.

Rafa Benitez has been working all week on assumption he's staying at NUFC & that will (almost certainly) be confirmed officially next week.

— Craig Hope (@CraigHope_DM) May 21, 2016

Until news breaks of the contract being signed we are all waiting on the edge of our seats, grasping at any bit of information that will allow us to believe Ashley and his crew will make the right decision. Yet the waiting really is nothing more than a form of Pascal's Wager. If you have to trust someone, why not trust the person who is telling you what you want to hear? Should Rafa sign, and I believed Rafa would sign, then I have optimized my happiness.

We have been so starved of happiness that I will sit squarely in Craig Hope's camp until he proves me wrong.