Former Newcastle United defender James Perch has suggested that it is important that the club keep hold of “magic” manager Rafa Benitez this summer.
Perch left the Magpies for Wigan Athletic in 2013, but retains an interest in the Tyneside club, and has given his verdict on the current boss.
While heaping praise on Benitez, the ex-Newcastle player did appear to send an indirect message to Mike Ashley as he highlighted what he thought the manager would need in order for the owner to convince him to stay.
Speaking to the Chronicle, he said: “It’s massive, he [Mike Ashley] has to keep Benitez but then I think for him to stay he is going to want Mike to match his ambitions – I don’t know how long he can keep pulling off a miracle.
“He’s done so well there without much backing, he’s got the team playing really well and has got some fantastic results – I keep looking out for them.
“At one stage it looked like they were in trouble but then Rafa works his magic, the players do well and they pull out of it.
“Rafa is key to going forward he just needs the backing which his ambition warrants.”
OPINION
Perch isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel with his comments here, and Newcastle fans don’t need telling twice as to just how important their manager is to their hopes of survival. The Spaniard has worked wonders on Tyneside with a very limited budget, and it just shows how impressive his job has been that even former players are feeling the need to speak out. Ultimately, if he goes, there is nobody they could realistically get in to do a better job than he has done. Ashley must see that, and so he now stands at a crossroads whereby he can either give Benitez the assurances and the backing that he wants, or he can decide that he has no interest in realising any kind of ambitions for the Magpies and let him go. The fact Perch knows that all Benitez wants is Ashley’s backing in order to stay, shows how obvious the decision facing the businessman is. If he goes for the latter option, there will be uproar that will outstrip even the most furious protests he has faith, and it would be deemed almost unforgivable.
