Former England international Danny Mills has said that the ‘dysfunctional’ relationship between Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez and owner Mike Ashley seems to work.
The two men have been at loggerheads over transfer policy and other things throughout the Spaniard’s time at St James’ Park, but Mills feels that they are making the best of things.
“Newcastle have to keep Rafa Benitez,” he told Football Insider. “He clearly loves the club, he clearly loves the area, he clearly loves being around the people and that’s why he’s stayed this long.
“He’s clearly got some sort of relationship with Mike Ashley that, however dysfunctional it might seem from the outside, it seems to work and he seems to accept that hand which he is given. If Newcastle lose Rafa Benitez it’s going to make it very, very difficult for the next manager coming in.
“He’s a world class manager, he’s managed at top clubs all over the world. We know what he’s good at, the positions he’s got Newcastle in over the last couple of seasons is outstanding. I don’t think there are too many other managers in the world who could have done what he’s done.”
OPINION
Mills is right on one thing, Benitez and Ashley certainly have a dysfunctional relationship. To be honest, it’s difficult to say they’ve got any sort of relationship at all. The two men, by all accounts, rarely speak to each other, with the majority of their communication going through Ashley’s lackey Lee Charnley. However, it seems to be working in as much as Newcastle are fulfilling Ashley’s objectives for the club, namely staying in the Premier League. For Benitez, though, their relationship probably isn’t working because he’s not been able to achieve what he wants to achieve with the Magpies. He’d like to be pushing up towards seventh place, but that’s just not going to happen without substantial backing from the owner. As Mills says, though, Benitez has done a phenomenal job on Tyneside and is very much a world class manager. It’s imperative that he stays where he is moving forward.
