Toon bosses have caved in and given Rafa total control – Cellino would do well to follow suit with Monk
WHEN Newcastle United began looking for a successor to Alan Pardew in January, 2015, the job specification from the boardroom was clear.
You do what WE tell you, you have who WE buy, you lose who WE sell, you say what WE tell you to say.
Managing director Lee Charnley could not have made it clearer.
“The traditional manager, who would w want full control, is not what I am l looking for,” he said.
“This isn’t something new, but it’s a g greater clarity for whoever gets the job, i in terms of what they do, what their role i is and what they can speak to the media about.” That was less than two years ago. Eventually, Steve McClaren stomached that nonsense, signed on and was a lame duck from day one.
Mike Ashley and Charnley saw sense and completed a reverse ferret, p persuading Rafa Benitez, first, to try to save Newcastle’s Premier League skin and, then, having failed to do that, stay in the post.
So, what they got and what they have is someone who is EVERYTHING they didn’t want less than two years ago.
He says what he likes, he controlsols all.
Off the pitch. When he was Valencia manager, he wanted a defender and the director of football bought a midfielder.. Benitez complained that he “wasas hoping for a sofa and they brought me a lamp”.
On the pitch. Jermaine Pennant said: “I would think, ‘ Why don’t you just stick somee batteries in me and call me a robot’.”
By all definitions of the phrase, Benitez is a control freak.
To their credit, Ashley and Charnley have accepted that and it is long odds-on that Benitez will take Newcastle back into the Premier League. It is not as if it is a groundbreaking way to go about things. Find a high-quality manager and give him control and time. Maybe Ashley s should recommend it to Massimo Cellino (left), a man who makes Mike look like the model owner. Leeds and Newcastle collide in one of the games of the we weekend. Anywhere. It is a throwback fixture. This was the fixture after which, 20 years ago, Kevin K Keegan unleashed the “I would lov love it” rant. They were both in the Premier League then, of course. Newcastle will surely be returning and, with Garry Monk (below, left) at the helm, so too could Leeds. Newcastle might be arriving at Elland Road on the back of seven straight league wins, but Leeds have taken 22 points from their last 10 games. Having a quality manager helps. Monk was unlucky to be sacked by Swansea, his record was decent, his reputation strong.
This is a young coach whose work ethic, even by today’s slavish standards, was widely renowned.
The possibility of him one day becoming England manager remains.
Hilariously, there was talk of Cellino sacking Monk after just ONE match – a 3-0 defeat at QPR.
Somehow, he resisted, even when the opening six league games brought a solitary win.
Maybe even Cellino, a man with a pad of P45s in his suit pocket, realises he has a gem in Monk.
As Ashley would probably tell Cellino, give his man complete control and he will reap the benefits.
And, before long, one of this weekend’s most mouthwatering matches will be back where it belongs.