Miracle man Rafa
SUPER MAC: Pep & his billions may win boss of the year. . . but Benitez deserves the title for what he’s done at Toon with just pennies
MALCOLM MACDONALD believes Rafa Benitez has produced another footballing miracle to keep Newcastle United in the Premier League.
Super Mac (right), still a legend on Tyneside for his buccaneering style and goals for the Toon in the 1970s, insists that Benitez deserves to be named ‘Manager of the Year’.
He argues that Benitez (below, with Pep Guardiola) must get the gong for staving off relegation, despite being so restricted in the transfer market by owner Mike Ashley.
Macdonald said: “Rafa has won the Champions League, he’s managed far bigger clubs than Newcastle, better teams than Newcastle, and has done brilliantly over his career.
“But for me this has been his finest season in football management.
“It’s nothing short of amazing, the way he has got this side playing after they really did look in trouble.
“There is a really strong case for Benitez being named as the Premier League manager of the year.
“Most people are saying it should go to Pep Guardiola.
“Well, hold on, he’s got a Manchester City side worth £1billion. Rafa has got a side which has cost next to nothing.
“Rafa had the miracle of Istanbul when Liverpool won the Champions League in 2005. This now is his miracle of Newcastle.
“It’s not happened over two hours, but over a period of around 21 months. It’s quite remarkable.” Macdonald will have a bounce in his step as he takes his usual
place in the stand today for the Tyneside visit of another of his former clubs, Arsenal, because three wins on the trot have virtually assured Newcastle of safety. Macdonald said: “Steven Gerrard said recently that Newcastle would be bottom of the Premier League without Rafa, and I agree. “He’s not only getting a remarkable quality out of ordinary footballers, you can also see that they are really enjoying themselves. “At the beginning of last season Rafa put together a side specifically to get promoted from the Championship, which is no easy task. “It was suited purely to that – with a lot of those players having failed to make it at Premier League level. “It’s hugely difficult for them to then make that step up following promotion. But Rafa has helped them prove that they can do it. “Many of the players starting games now were in Rafa’s Championship-winning side. It’s an incredible feat.” Now Newcastle must ensure the miracle man stays next season. Super Mac said: “It’s so important that Rafa stays as he goes into the last year of his contract. “People said that by agreeing to stay on when Newcastle fell into the Championship would tarnish his career. “He has turned all that around, just as he has the players, the team, the club. The fans love him. He has become the darling of the terraces. I just hope that Mike Ashley realises what a gem he has there. “The thing that really scares me is if Rafa is lost to the club then the whole thing would go down the plughole. Everything would disappear. It would be a disaster.”
Macdonald believes Benitez has worked a particularly special transformation on Jonjo Shelvey, whose sending off in the opening game against Tottenham looked like wrecking his Newcastle career.
Macdonald added: “Rafa fell out with Shelvey, felt he couldn’t risk him, so Mikel Merino came in.
“But look at the two of them now and Shelvey is 10-times the player. Merino hasn’t changed, but by heavens Shelvey has.
“Not
only as a footballer, but a changed character. That’s the deep effect Rafa has had.
“Are you watching, Gareth Southgate? Find an England place for Shelvey. He unhinges defences with one pass.”