Mollema wins Tour 15th stage
THE rain was still falling and the 1892 Cup – a competition devised by Rafa Benitez – had not even been awarded when one of the schoolchildren, still dressed in his black and white strip, looked up and asked the manager of Newcastle United a question he could not answer: ’Which player will you sign in the future?’
Benitez would later make a joke of the incident, but it could not hide the concern of a city and its manager. Newcastle are floundering and Benitez’s future at the club is now in serious doubt.
The financial drawbridge has been pulled up. Benitez and the club’s support has been left marooned. Even the talk of potential signings are slowing. Benitez has been left isolated. It is not, as the well worn phrase in Newcastle folklore goes, like it was in the brochure.
Momentum has given way to mistrust. Twelve months at Newcastle is a lifetime. It rained then, at the inauguration of the Newcastle United Foundation 1892 Cup, on the same venue, at the club’s academy 12 months ago.
Once again 120 schoolchildren were given free strips and, as Benitez said, created memories they would never forget. “The children enjoy,” he said. “They come, they have their relationship with the club and then it is a positive message for everyone. This link that we have with the community, everybody can feel closer to the club and the city and everyone. It costs nothing to make people happy.”
The bonds Benitez tirelessly forged are slipping away. It was no easy task to galvanise Newcastle following their second relegation in seven years under the ownership of Mike Ashley. A fragmented club was rebuilt with haste. Benitez overhauled a squad and he repaired a damaged relationship between the club and the supporters. Some of his methodology came from Kevin Keegan; changing the personnel, the facilities and opening the doors to future generations of supporters.
Benitez delivered the two ps; promotion and profit and for that he was given promises, about recruitment and spending.
He wanted to hit the ground running in the summer. He was never overly concerned by the talk of a huge transfer warchest, but he was bothered about action, about being clever in the transfer market, about loan signings and finding clauses in contracts and about getting players in whilst others were still on holiday. He even gave up his own, but nothing, bar the signing of the Eibar central defender Florian Lejeune, has been new.
He thought a deal had been done to sign Tammy Abraham from Chelsea and he has pushed for Pepe Reina to join from Napoli. Abrahams went to Swansea and Reina’s BAUKE MOLLEMA