BENITEZ MONDAY MISERY
But it’s time to Toon it around says Rafa
RAFA BENITEZ is desperate to avoid another manic Monday for Newcastle.
They face Burnley at Turf Moor tonight having lost their last 10 Premier League games played on a Monday.
And they haven’t scored in their last seven – a run stretching back to September 2013 when Everton beat them 3-2 at Goodison Park.
There were a couple of victories in the Magpies’ Championshipwinning season two years ago.
But the last in the top flight was six years ago when Wigan were beaten 3-0 at St James’ Park.
All those defeats in front of the cameras since have been away and so it’s understandable the Toon Army will head to Lancashire feeling less than confident despite back-to-back victories over Watford and Bournemouth.
But boss Benitez insists he couldn’t care less about the chronicle of woe.
In fact, he’s feeling bullish after watching his side finally get their campaign up and running.
He said: “The records are there to be broken, so we have to change that. We will score in this one and we will win. That’s it.
“We will change the stats. They are there to be changed.” He has countless tales of the superstitious habits he witnessed during his time in charge of Napoli in Serie A but the Spaniard refuses to be worried about historical baggage.
“The record is there but it doesn’t matter,” he added. “You change the manager, you change the players, Dec ’12 Dec ’12 Aug ’13 Sep ’13 Apr ’14 Sep ’14 Apr ’15 Sep ’15 Mar ’16 Oct ’17 Apr ’18 WIGAN FULHAM MAN CITY EVERTON ARSENAL STOKE LIVERPOOL (a)
WEST HAM (a)
LEICESTER (a)
BURNLEY (a)
EVERTON (a) won 3-0 lost 1-2 lost 0-4 lost 2-3 lost 0-3 lost 0-1 lost 0-2 lost 0-2 lost 0-1 lost 0-1 lost 0-1 you change the environment, the league, you change everything.
“How many of these players were at that first game when they lost? How many of the Burnley players were playing?
“The numbers change every year. It’s good for writing something but it doesn’t change too much.
“In Napoli, there were a lot of superstitions about things.
“Everything was like, ‘Don’t do this because we lost’ or ‘We have to wear this because we won’ and in the end you didn’t know what to wear.
“There was a circle we were doing, holding hands in the dressing room because the chairman wanted to do it before the games.
“We did a circle and we won so we carried on. But I am not superstitious. You have to concentrate on your job. Nothing else.”
Toon are without Paul Dummett and Benitez is considering switching to a three-man defence if club captain Jamaal Lascelles passes a late fitness test.