Benitez taught me some
NEWCASTLE United boss Rafa Benitez taught Harry Kewell that one of the key rules of management is that it has to be the coach’s way “or the highway”.
Benitez coached Kewell for four years at Liverpool, where the pair won the Champions League and FA Cup together.
During Benitez’s Anfield tenure, Kewell recalls the pair exchanging opinions in the manager’s office – and, although the Australian was steadfast in his stance whenever he walked into the room, he would always depart having been convinced to do as his coach asked.
It is a man-management skill which Kewell was impressed by, and it is one the former Leeds United and Galatasaray winger has attempted to utilise during his own coaching career.
Having impressed during his first managerial role at Crawley Town, Kewell succeeded former Newcastle midfielder Kevin Nolan at League Two basement boys Notts County last week.
And the 39-year-old is determined to call upon all of the knowledge he garnered