Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez launched a scathing attack on the club’s hierarchy after the team’s 4-0 pre season loss to Braga.
The Spaniard has seen his efforts in the transfer window consistently thwarted this summer, with the manager given scant resources to secure his targets.
Benitez’s frustration boiled over after the defeat in Portugal: “Things are not going well off the pitch,” he told the Sun. When he was asked what was going wrong, the 58-year-old replied: “Everything.
“I’m worried. Fans are concerned – they have to be. We are concerned. We’re not doing things well on the pitch or off it. This should be a wake up call for everyone. Our fans are clever, they know what is going on.”
The Magpies boss was asked when fans can expect new players, and said: “I have no idea. For me, I said before, [we need] three or four players.
“Am I optimistic, thinking that in ten days we can do what we didn’t do in two months? I don’t think so. But, still, I think it’s obvious we need people, we need bodies.”
Benitez’s words are disconcerting, but merely voice what everybody around the club has been thinking all transfer window. The club have failed to back their manager, and now they are facing the consequences. The former Real Madrid boss was never going to be able to put up with these state of affairs forever.
At a time when everyone around them is spending big money, Newcastle have been left hunting for bargain deals such as Fabian Schar from Deportivo and Yoshinori Muto from Mainz. While being good players, these are not the marquee names that suggest the club is moving forward.
The supporters on Tyneside are firmly behind the manager, realising that he is operating under painful circumstances, but there is little they can do to force Mike Ashley to spend his money. The squad needs reinforcing, but the man holding the purse strings seems blind to that fact.
Staying in the Premier League, where TV rights brings in tens of millions every year, is seemingly enough for Ashley. But the club are in danger of not even doing that this year. If the manager walks, and who could blame him, it’s likely the Magpies will be in relegation trouble this season.
Benitez is undoubtedly the best manager St James’s Park has seen since the beloved Sir Bobby Robson, but yet Mike Ashley is in danger of losing him due to his own incompetence or negligence. All Newcastle fans can do is pray that doesn’t happen.
