OPINION
We all know the situation that Newcastle United supporters find themselves in when it comes to the future of manager Rafael Benitez.
They are desperate for him to stay, there is no question of that. However, the Spaniard is in the final two months of his contract and still we hear very little about an extension being finalised.
The Toon Army will be even more concerned then, biting their nails in fact, over the verdict of BBC pundit Noel Whelan on the former Liverpool’s boss’ St James’ Park future.
“I mean obviously he must be looked at by a lot of teams, not just in England but abroad as well,” he told Football Insider. “It’s whether he still trusts Newcastle and the owners and who is going to be the owner if they do sell the club.”
So Whelan has two main points there. The first is that he expects there to be clubs in both England and abroad checking out Benitez and wondering whether he’s the man for them.
That is the main thing Newcastle fans will be worrying about. Benitez has achieved extraordinary things with the Magpies, despite having very few resources at his disposal, and so there will undoubtedly be teams monitoring his current situation.
If he were to get an offer from a big, well-run club, then it’s hard to see why he would turn that down for a prolonged stay under the Mike Ashley-era Magpies.
That’s clearly something that Whelan is concerned about, but he also makes the point that Benitez himself may give up on Newcastle even if he doesn’t have immediate offers from elsewhere.
He might not trust the hierarchy anymore, having been fed false promises over recruitment and transfer budgets in the past. For a manager of his stature those aren’t easy things to swallow.
All in all, then, this is all rather concerning. All the Newcastle fans can do at this point is put Whelan’s words to the back of their minds and hope that Benitez somehow finds it in himself to commit to a long-term stay at the club.
