Jermaine Jenas shared that he did not envision Rafa Benitez walking away from Newcastle United nor could he imagine the club sacking him.
The BT Sports pundit responded to presenter Jake Humphrey who questioned how long the Magpies boss could have the desire to keep working with his limited tools at St James Park.
Humphrey highlighted the fact Man City had spent over £400million on the line-up that managed to beat the Magpies 2-1 on Saturday whereas Benitez side cost £30million in comparison.
This prompted Jenas to share that he thought the Magpies manager was used to deploying tactics to cope with that scenario and didn’t see why he would leave St James Park anytime soon.
“Erm the thing with that is that Benitez is that type of manager y’know,” responded Jenas on BT Sport’s post match coverage of the Magpies’ clash with Man City, as seen in a clip on the broadcaster’s website.
“When he was at Chelsea, when he was at Napoli, where every he has been that is his style.
“So I don’t know whether to put it down to so much the personnel as I think that’s the way he likes to manage a club and he obviously looked at the situation today and decided this is the way to do it.
“There are other games where he has opened up and tried to play football and be on the front foot and aggressive which is what the Newcastle fans are used to seeing.
“A Premier League job they don’t come easy it’s as simple as that and he’s got one, and there are plenty of managers out of work that are chomping at the bit to get in a job as well.
“So I don’t see him walking away from this and I don’t see the club sacking him, purely and simply because I don’t think they can as he is the key to Newcastle staying in this league.”
OPINION
Humphrey clearly feels Benitez may struggle to stay motivated but Jenas is quick to shoot that idea down. The Magpies manager is no doubt frustrated that every time a transfer window opens, Mike Ashley’s wallet appears to get immediately zipped up and hidden. Benitez is able to get the best from his side despite not having the biggest transfer budget and it’s easy to see that he can make it work at the Magpies. However clearly if Ashley’s wallet just opened at least a slightly bit more than it would be a more pleasant scenario for everyone involved at the club. The Magpies needed to welcome at least a couple more players this summer but they do have a team capable of surviving comfortably in the Premier League. Benitez’s side have had a rough start to the season as they had been a dealt a rough hand with the fixture list but life could soon become easier after the international break. The Magpies may have Arsenal and Manchester United still to come in their next six games but the other four fixtures should see Benitez be able to guide his side to putting points on the board.
