BENITEZ HAS BIG SAM’S BACK

RAFA BENITEZ has backed old rival Sam Allardyce, insisting Everton were wrong to rate him out of 10.

The Newcastle boss refused to give himself a merit mark for guiding Newcastle to 10th.

Allardyce was raging with Everton after fans were asked by the club to pass judgement on him. Despite their past grievances, Benitez (below) said: “Yes it was a massive mistake. I don’t agree with him on a lot of things but on this one it is obvious it was a mistake.

“You cannot be talking about that especially when things are not going so well. It makes no sense.

“I am defending what he said about this! I would not do it. It depends on you. It depends on the target you have, the tools you have to achieve your objectives.” Asked, Bruce Forsyth-style whether his performance was higher or lower than an eight, Benitez replied: “I’d say nothing.”