Rafael Benitez has revealed his disappointment that his Newcastle project hasn’t come to fruition but admitted he is committed to staying at the club.
In March 2016, Benitez joined the Magpies with the club staring at relegation to the Championship after a poor season, with even the former Real Madrid coach ultimately unable to keep them in the division.
To the surprise of many, the former Liverpool manager decided to stay at the Toon and achieved promotion to the Premier League at the first attempt.
The Spaniard has revealed that he stayed at Newcastle because he felt they were a long-term project but is so far disappointed that the club has been unable to fulfil his ambitions.
“When I decided to stay here it was because it was a project,’ Benitez told Chronicle Live.
“Everyone knows that we can’t compete against Man City or Man United, but we can do things in the right way.
“Maybe we can be more competitive or closer to European positions.
“Maybe we could challenge for a trophy.
“That was the idea.
“Then we finished 10th and credit to our players but I still thought we could do something more to be closer.
“It’s not the case.
“We’ll see where we are and we will fight until the last minute trying to improve the squad first then after that the team.
“Normally when we have time and support – we deliver.
“We have won trophies everywhere and we will try to do something similar here.
“I am not happy we are looking to just survive every year.
“At the moment we have to make sure we have to improve the squad and see after that.”
OPINION
Benitez is right, wherever he’s been throughout his managerial career he’s often achieved success. That success was achieved through being trusted and having the backing of everyone at the club, with the Spaniard able to get players that he wants in order to fulfil what he thinks is the right way to play football. At Liverpool, he won many trophies through his tactical nous and experience as a manager but he had the players that he wanted that allowed him to do that. If you employ Benitez, you know that he can achieve great things if he’s given a chance, so why bother to employ him and then not give him the funds in which he can work? There are real problems behind the scenes at the Magpies, but Benitez is not one of those, he is the real positive at the club at the moment and the owner, Mike Ashley, is risking everything by failing to provide transfer funds to improve this team. They are capable of so much more, but for now, they need to avoid relegation.