...but Benitez refuses to commit for next season
RAFA BENITEZ last night celebrated leading Newcastle back to the Premier League — but refused to say whether he will still be in charge next season. After sealing the £200million promotion jackpot after one season out of the top flight, manager Benitez avoided committing himself to the club. He said: ‘You never know. That is football. What we need is to enjoy today, play another two games and see where we are after that. ‘The fans have been amazing with me. Their loyalty means everything, being at a top team like this with the city behind you. That is why I decided to stay and now I am even happier than before that I made this decision. ‘I am really pleased to be here and really happy and proud for everything we have achieved. Hopefully, we can put in the foundations for something that will be a guarantee for the future. ‘But now is the time to enjoy what we have done. I am sure if we do the right things, we can prepare everything to be strong enough for the Premier League.’ Newcastle started the season as favourites for promotion and Benitez added: ‘At the beginning when everyone was saying, “Rafa has no experience in the Championship, it will be tough”, it was right. ‘But the commitment of the players, the hard work of the staff involved and the support of the fans has made a difference. It is a day we have to remember because it is not easy to go down and go up first time.’ Newcastle winger Matt Ritchie said the players never lost faith that they would gain promotion, even after only winning two of their previous eight games to come under pressure from Huddersfield. He said: ‘It’s been a bit tense but the lads always believed. We are disappointed we are not top given where we were a few weeks ago.’ Ritchie added that the players want to go up as champions, even though they are four points behind leaders Brighton with two games to go. He said: ‘Now hopefully we can win at Cardiff on Friday and put Brighton under pressure.’ Skipper Jamaal Lascelles added: ‘It was an excellent performance. I’m so proud of the boys this season. And the fans have been unbelievable. They have stuck by us. It’s overwhelming.’ Former club hero Alan Shearer tweeted: ‘Congratulations Rafa and well done Newcastle. The
Premier League is a better place with the Toon in it! Now the fun begins.’ Already-promoted Brighton would have been crowned champions had Preston won but they did not stand a chance thanks to a second-half collapse. Preston manager Simon Grayson said: ‘I thought we controlled the game until just before half time. Newcastle haven’t had to work too hard to win. We’ve gifted them a lot of goals. ‘But congratulations to Rafa and his group. They deserve to be back in the Premier League.’