I SAVED YOU, CHELSEA
Rafa claims he revived Bridge fortunes until he was forced out by disgruntled fans
RAFA BENITEZ believes he “saved” Chelsea – but was forced out by a vocal minority of fans.
The Spanish coach returns to Stamford Bridge with Newcastle today, trumpeting his trophywinning months as Blues boss.
Benitez took over from Roberto Di Matteo in November 2012, and revived the side, with a third-place Premier League finish and victory in the Europa League.
But he was only given the title “interim manager” and left after seven months.
Benitez said: “A group of fans weren’t good to me. You can always have those who were more vocal, it doesn’t mean they are the majority.
“I can tell you, a lot of fans were happy with me. At the end, I had a lot of messages telling me I did really well.
“A teenager in the Czech Republic had put on Twitter that I once said I would never manage Chelsea. But that is simply not true. Then this story was created.
“I’m telling you, the fans in the street at the end, they were saying, ‘Carry on, you’re doing a great job’.
“All the feedback I had from the professionals and the board was very positive.
“But they couldn’t manage with what happened with some fans. Most fans realised the best way was to stay calm and let us do our job. We achieved what they were expecting.”
Benitez (below) is the last Chelsea boss to win a European trophy and had a positive relationship with Blues owner Roman Abramovich.
It is his first time back at Stamford Bridge as a rival manager is the fourth time in 14 matches his club have been penalised by having less rest than his opponents.
Chelsea have already spoken to the Premier League about the scheduling of matches against Manchester City, Watford and Liverpool.
“I must be honest, it and he said: “The atmosphere in our training ground was really good. The players were working hard. The staff were brilliant, everyone was happy.
“When we finished, they all congratulated me. We won the Europa League. Everything was fine. The majority of fans were happy.
“But maybe some of them, because of my past with Liverpool, were unhappy. On a daily basis, the atmosphere was very positive.”
Benitez would have loved to stay another year, but discovered in the March that Jose Mourinho was lined up to replace him.
He knows Antonio Conte from his spells in Italy and added: “We have taken coaching courses together and he is a very competitive manager who has done a great job.
“To come to another country and win the league at a massive club, he did really well.” happened again,” said the former Juventus coach. “Newcastle played on Tuesday night (Ciaran Clark’s goal, right), we played on Wednesday, and now have to play on Saturday at 12.30.
“It can happen once. Against Watford we should have played on Monday, and then they changed it to Saturday at 12.30, after we played on Wednesday. “Twice it can happen. Against Man City. The third time, you start to be perplexed.
“And now, against Newcastle. I don’t want advantages for my team. I want the same rest as our opponents. But there is a strange coincidence.”
Conte’s rant is his second of the week after he was sent off against Swansea (far left).
But after an £8,000 fine, he joked: “My wife is angry. It is her birthday in two days and I said for this reason I will not buy a gift!”