Danny Murphy shared that he thought both Mike Ashley and Rafa Benitez should share the blame over Newcastle United’s current struggles.
The pundit, regularly seen on BBC’s Match of the Day, weighed in on the Magpies’ current form after they lost to Brighton 1-0 on Saturday in order to continue their winless run.
“I think Ashley does deserve to be criticised in this, as does Rafa to a degree as I think there is blame in different areas,” said Murphy on talkSPORT (Monday October 22, 10:24am).
The BBC pundit then explained that Benitez did very well to get the Magpies to finish tenth last season and that the club’s past transfer record didn’t matter.
Murphy then pointed out the club couldn’t expect to get many points from games against the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United but the 1-0 loss to Brighton had started a discussion.
The pundit then revealed the biggest question he had regarding the club’s struggles was regarding recruitment this summer and how that was contributing to the Magpies’ problems.
“The biggest question always is recruitment, there is two areas to recruitment, did he have the money and did he spend it wisely?” pondered Murphy.
“The have hardly spent any money when you think what they brought in for Mitrovic and what they brought in, so they’re about level so they’ve not spent money.
“Now what baffles me, that’s Mike Ashley’s fault by the way, for not spending, now where Rafa has to take to the blame is when you don’t get what you need to do the job.
“You have a choice to walk or a choice to stay and I’m not saying you should be disloyal and walk away from a good club and a good job and supporters just because it all doesn’t go you way.
“But the net spend is ridiculous so to try to improve the team when you’ve not get any money it’s ridiculously hard but why didn’t he walk?”
OPINION
Murphy clearly believes the terrible transfer window the Magpies had in the summer is the reason behind the club’s form. Murphy seems to focus on the club’s recruitment when analysing the fact they’re currently bottom of the Premier League. However while recruitment was his main point of contention, he made it clear Benitez deserved blame just like Ashley. In fact while Murphy did eventually go on to claim that with Benitez in charge the Magpies would stay up, he wasn’t letting the manager avoid getting any criticism. However given that the BBC pundit basically slams Benitez for staying at St James Park, then fans will be happy to hear Murphy’s remarks. If Benitez had walked in the summer then supporters would have been at a loss and the club may have had less points then they do now as a result. The manager is clearly the glue holding the broken ship together at the Magpies and while he isn’t blameless, he should be kept at all costs.
