Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez has issued a stark warning to the club’s hierarchy, calling on them to match his ambitions or face losing him.
The Spaniard wants Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley to change the way the club approaches matters, including their transfer business.
Contract talks between Benitez and the Magpies’ hierarchy have grinded to a halt for the time being, which has had an major impact on the transfer business they have been conducting this summer.
He was quoted by the Chronicle as saying: “Can I guarantee anything that will happen tomorrow – in my head it is to stay and fight and ensure that we do well and if everything is right, talk about the future but the problem is that we’ve been talking about the future for the last month and not going in the same direction.
“Hopefully we will continue working hard together to ensure the team stay in the Premier League.”
“We have to do things that we didn’t do before and we have to be sure that if we want to improve something, you have to be sure it will be done not just words – it has to be done.”
OPINION
In all honesty, the hierarchy at Newcastle are lucky to have a manager with such experience and calibre working for them. With the way he has been treated by them, it is a surprise that Benitez has not walked out by now. Any boss who does not have a clear transfer budget set for them would be incredibly frustrated and no one would blame the Spaniard for walking out. He wants the owners to match his ambitions and that does not look set to happen any time soon, which has already been demonstrated through Ashley’s lack of financial backing this summer. Things cannot continue to happen the way they are, and if they do, Benitez will surely not stick around for long. Ashley would struggle to find a new manager with his level of expertise these days – so he needs to treat Benitez in the way that he deserves or risk him walking away.
