I’M ON RIGHT ROAD
Rafa raps ‘bus’ critics
RAFA BENITEZ insists criticism of his tactics won’t stop him from parking the bus in future.
The Newcastle boss came under fire from Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher for shutting up shop in the 1-0 home defeat by runaway leaders Manchester City.
The Spaniard refused to respond directly to the pair. But he claimed pundits have it easy and pointed out how he won two La Liga titles with Valencia, who sacked Neville last year after a disastrous fourmonth spell in charge.
Benitez will go on the front foot when Brighton visit St James’ Park today, but claims criticism won’t deter him from putting 11 men behind the ball again in future.
He said: “I’m not worried by the criticism. I didn’t hear any from my players.
“Would it stop me from doing the same again? No. I will do what I have to do to win for my team.
“I spoke with an ex-player who is a pundit and I asked him if he wanted to be a manager.
“He answered, ‘No, it’s too much responsibility. I prefer to be a pundit. You can say whatever you want and nothing happens’.
“As managers, we take responsibility for our decisions. As a pundit, you just have to give opinions and if they make a mistake day after day, it doesn’t matter.
“There are so many TV stations and each has three or four pundits. So you end up with them making 20 points and half of them are not good for the game. I think it’s a problem for the future.
“We were nearly there against City and imagine if we’d scored a late goal, everyone would be saying, ‘Fantastic, perfect’.”
Benitez refused to bite when asked to rate Neville’s short spell in charge at Valencia, which brought just three wins in 16 games and no clean sheets.
“I don’t want to go down that route,” said Benitez.
“Valencia is Valencia. I won two titles with them, and the UEFA Cup. It’s a massive club and a massive city.”
Newcastle are a point above the drop zone after just one win in 11 games and sit three points behind ex-Toon boss Chris Hughton’s Brighton.
The are looking to avoid a sixth straight home defeat, which would equal a 64-year-old club record.