BREAKING: Steve McClaren has been sacked with Rafa Benitez set to take over

Newcastle have finally put Steve McClaren out of his misery and are set to announce Rafa Benitez's much-anticipated arrival on Friday lunchtime.

McClaren has been hanging on to his job by a thread after picking up just 24 points in 28 Premier League matches - a total that leaves Newcastle languishing in 19th place. The looming threat of relegation has prompted Mike Ashley to take action and, after intense speculation all week, the Daily Mail and others report that Benitez is now set to be announced as McClaren's replacement. https://twitter.com/SimonBird_/status/708253644081254400 The Spaniard will be in charge for Monday's meeting with league leaders Leicester City, but not everyone is convinced he's the right man for the job...

He's not everyone's first choice for a start

https://twitter.com/JonnyGabriel/status/707514449419214850

But maybe there's some logic to the move

https://twitter.com/awinehouse1/status/707884264910667776

It's a real head-scratcher

https://twitter.com/Hannamayj/status/707691856298119169

People are anticipating a car crash

https://twitter.com/robbro7/status/707933524909756416

While there are plenty of conspiracy theories doing the rounds

https://twitter.com/hmclandress/status/707945089780338688 https://twitter.com/chrs00/status/707691360242016257

But maybe the problems go deeper and even Rafa can't fix them

https://twitter.com/TheM_L_G/status/707694331965022208 https://twitter.com/cathgibs/status/707877177057001472