Rafa is just like Keegan for the Magpies
ANDY COLE has warned that Rafa Benitez could still walk out on Newcastle United and if he does: “The club could fall like a pack of cards again”.
Cole, who scored 68 goals in just 85 matches in the iconic black-and-white No.9 shirt under Kevin Keegan, admits he’s worried by the lack of summer investment.
He says that Benitez, who is looking to pick up his first away points of the season at Swansea this afternoon, is the key to the club surviving in the Premier League. But he’s concerned that there’s still a danger he will leave.
“I believe so, yes,” says Cole. “This summer was the time to give him the money to bring in better players and I don’t think Mike Ashley has given Rafa what he wanted.
“The manager knew what he needed. Instead he now has to work with the players he had last season with a few additions.
“When you’re in the Premier League, you need more than that.
“When I was in the city for the last home game against West Ham, I spoke to several fans and they felt the team would finish mid-table.
“I told them they will do well to achieve that. I think they are going to struggle.
“I think, with the players they’ve got, they will be doing well to stay out of the relegation fight.
“Hopefully, though, Rafa will stay because I think he has done a very good job. They were relegated but he got them back up.
“It’s obvious that the fans are all behind the manager. At that club, that is a massive plus.
“When I was there, we had that with Kevin and it was phenomenal.
“All they want is a bit of success and to watch a good footballing team.
“There are 52,000 fans at every home match, but the problem is they don’t play the games.”
Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the financial spectrum, Cole’s other former club, Manchester United, have so many resources that England’s midweek matchwinner Marcus Rashford struggles to get a start.
“There was always a lot of competition up-front there in my day. But, at the moment, you know that Romelu Lukaku is going to play because you don’t pay £75m for a player and start rotating,” says Cole.
“Rashford has to come off the left, though ideally he’d want to start at centre-forward. He must be a bit frustrated because to progress you have to play.
“My advice would be to get his head down and keep working hard, because he’ll learn from playing wide and he’ll also learn from Lukaku.”