Why he is one of our greatest assets
LEE RYDER: RAFA VITAL TO FUTURE OF NEWCASTLE UNITED
RAFA Benitez is not just the right man for the job at Newcastle United – he is the ONLY man for the job.
Not many managers would have the trust of the Toon Army after eight defeats out of nine in the Premier League, but then again not many have the capability of transforming the prospects of one of the game’s sleeping giants like the Spaniard can.
The horizons of a club which has been neglected badly in the last 10 years can be broadened if a sale can be agreed in the next few weeks.
Without Benitez’s links, there will be no takeover at St James’ Park because Amanda Staveley and PCP Capital Partners are only interested in buying the club from Mike Ashley with Benitez in charge.
So, regardless of the awful run Newcastle find themselves on, and regardless of their precarious position in the Premier League at present, the reality is the club will only get back to the business end of the table by sticking with Benitez.
Before a ball had even been kicked at the Emirates Stadium, Arsene Wenger’s programme notes summed up the respect for the former Liverpool boss: “Rafa Benitez is a top-class manager I know well. I can understand why he has taken the challenge at Newcastle. It is a big club, a very interesting club and a very interesting challenge.”
Wenger, no stranger to weathering storms himself after 21 years in charge of the Gunners, knows what stability at a football club means.
The Frenchman has watched on as some serious money has been injected into clubs like Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea in recent times.
Nevertheless, Wenger has usually delivered either Champions League football or the FA Cup in the last decade or so.
Yet despite that, one Arsenal fan yelped “the sooner Wenger goes the better” as the Gunners temporarily moved into the top four at the weekend.
Without the Frenchman, Arsenal would suffer a severe knock-on effect akin to that of Manchester United a few years ago when Sir Alex Ferguson left the club.
At Newcastle, a world without Benitez could be a lot more disastrous in football terms – we are talking relegation and falling into the same hole as Sunderland or Middlesbrough.
As usual, when a team is on a losing streak the criticism of a football manager seems to become amplified.
Football phone-in producers begin to rub their hands with glee and Benitez’s position was being questioned on a BBC Radio Newcastle show over the weekend.
A caller named Alan claimed the former Real Madrid boss had “lost the plot.”
This was after Newcastle made a game of it against Arsenal with a team of players still learning to make the step up.
There were also claims of a lack of patience from Newcastle fans with Benitez.
Yet the Spaniard’s name was chanted by all in the away section at the Emirates and any negative chants were directed towards Ashley.
The alternative to replacing Benitez is nighon unthinkable.
Newcastle, under Ashley, would not stump up to bring in a worldclass manager a second time. It is also worth remembering in 2016 it was actually Benitez’s representatives who made the first move.
We could all write a list of managers who are available but it would end in disappointment. Benitez aside, Newcastle’s record of luring top bosses under Ashley is extremely poor. Somebody like Tony Pulis may well be able to keep Newcastle in the Premier League (which Benitez will do anyway) but where would the club go after that? Ashley has made it clear he cannot compete with the big boys and is not willing to pay out huge sums for fees and wages. So Newcastle are only heading one way without Benitez and the prospect of a buyout by PCP Capital Partners. You do wonder how the Magpies get themselves in such situations sometimes. Only Newcastle United could manage to bring in a serial trophy winner and then decide not to give him any money to spend on new players.
A world without Benitez could be a lot more disastrous ... falling into the same hole as Sunderland or Boro