BENITEZ IS SET TO DO A KEEGAN
...and fans will follow if he walks away
Not for the first time, Rafa Benitez arrives at old trafford in challenging times today. When he took his Chelsea team to the stadium for an FA Cup fifthround tie five years ago, the west London team’s fans were so resolutely opposed to his appointment that he found himself under simultaneous verbal attack from them and the home team’s support.
He seemed surprised when his staff later remarked on this abuse. ‘I didn’t hear much,’ he told them.
In Newcastle, Benitez has supporters who value him, though the sentiment does not seem to extend to Mike Ashley.
the club’s owner was persuaded by managing director Lee Charnley that Wednesday night’s dinner with the manager and players at Rialto’s, in Ponteland, would be a good idea. But having taken nearly six months to fit it into Ashley’s schedule, the event leaves the future as imponderable as ever.
the night descended into farce, with Ashley appearing to raise two fingers to protesting fans as he left the restaurant, though it didn’t have to be like that. the businessman has had the chance to meet Benitez at the two last home games, in the Spaniard’s office. He didn’t wait around at St James’ Park on either occasion.
Kevin Keegan, the first of Ashley’s managers to walk away, feels that Benitez does not have it as bad as he did, because most of Ashley’s stooges have now gone.
Keegan could at least occasionally call the owner, even though Charnley forbade him from doing so. Benitez does not even have Ashley’s number.
Keegan sued for constructive dismissal on grounds that he was told he would be given the final say on transfers and found that promise breached. Benitez has simply not had the cash to compete in the transfer market.
Slovakia goalkeeper Martin Dubravka (£4million) has been the one surprise success.
Since they were promoted with Newcastle in 2017, Brighton’s outlay on players has been a net £110m and Huddersfield’s £78m. Newcastle’s in the same time has been £1m. Ashley and those who run the club will have an insurrection on their hands if, as seems increasingly likely, the Spaniard concludes this is a lost cause and takes the Keegan route when his deal expires this summer.
An #IfRafaGoesWeGo hashtag, with a twitter account in the same
name, is building a following and the threat of Benitez departing has taken the anti-Ashley protest to a new level.
As Benitez sat down to eat on Wednesday, a newly formed coalition of fan organisations, the Magpie Group, was packing out Newcastle’s Labour club.
For the first time the anti-Ashley protest is focusing on his retail operations, with demonstrations at the club’s own store, the Sports Direct stores he owns and against its brands, including Flannels, Slazenger, Cruise and Firetrap.
A website, sportsredirect.com, is directing consumers to Ashley’s competitors, such as Decathlon, DW Sports and Kitbag. Strategy is clear. Disrupt Ashley’s use of Newcastle as a marketing tool.
The Sports Direct share price has dropped. ‘What does he care about? His business, not his club,’ says a Magpie Group spokesman. ‘So we target his business. We can fill the Labour club but we need to do more.’ It remains to be seen whether fans would boycott matches if Benitez leaves.
‘We think there’d be a boycott,’ says the spokesman. ‘People have had enough.’
But Benitez is playing down the background noises. ‘ I’m not concerned,’ he said recently. He has contended with worse than this.