Sky pundit Tony Cascarino believes that Newcastle United’s fate in the Premier League will be sealed by one man – and that man is boss Rafa Benitez.
He says that is the best thing that can be said about the Magpies at the moment, as they did not play their best football against Watford at the weekend – despite securing a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from substitute Ayoze Perez.
Cascarino reckons that the Spaniard is one of the managers at the bottom of the league that has the expertise to guide United out of trouble and into safety, while he slammed the other managers around Benitez for being proven at Championship level rather than the top flight.
“I just don’t believe a team under Rafa Benítez is going to be relegated and that is the best thing you can say about Newcastle, because it’s not as though they outplayed Watford,” he said in his column for the Times.
“But I look at the managers down there and I think that Benítez knows how to find a way to get results. I don’t know whether you can say that about some of the other managers at the bottom.
“They are proven at Championship level but in the Premier League? Benítez won Newcastle the game on Saturday with his substitutions. Bringing Ki Sung-yueng on, even if it was an enforced change, made the difference.”
OPINION
Cascarino is right – Benitez is the one manager at the bottom of the league who has the know-how to get his team out of trouble. What other manager there has guided Liverpool to a Champions League triumph? Answe – none. The possibility of a team under Benitez getting relegated under Benitez just seems impossible after all of the success he has enjoyed, so this news is bound to get the fans rejoicing. It makes you think how Newcastle got Benitez in the first place – how can he go from being on club’s biggest stage to being threatened with relegation? However, for now, United can take glee in the fact that this is the edge that they have over their rivals that are likely for the drop. For them, their season has just begun after their recent win, and they can take refuge in the fact that Huddersfield remain the only team without a victory so far.
