Ray Parlour has said that Rafa Benitez is to blame for Newcastle’s poor season but has backed the manager to turn things around.
Talking on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast Show (talkSPORT, Monday, 6am), he said that it was a big mistake to have got rid of strikers Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dwight Gayle.
“I think he’s [Rafa] underperforming. Whose fault is it that Mitrovic is scoring at Fulham? Who’s to blame that Dwight Gayle is at the top of the Championship goal-scorers? You can’t tell me that Newcastle wouldn’t be in a better position if they had those two strikers up top.
“He was brilliant last year [Rafa] and he can still turn it round but I’ve been disappointed by their tempo this season, they’re really slow. It’s his fault that they got rid of their two best strikers.
OPINION
For some reason Benitez couldn’t get Gayle or Mitrovic to work at Newcastle. To be fair he gave Gayle a good chance. He made 35 Premier League appearances last season and scored just six goals, and it might be that the Championship is more his level. And there’s no doubt he’s lethal there – he’s currently sat on eight goals and second in the top-scorer table. Benitez saw an opportunity to swap him for long-term target Salomon Rondon on loan but that hasn’t really worked out with the Venezuelan arriving injured and scoring just once so far in five appearances. He’s still waiting for his first Premier League goal. There’s a bigger question mark over Mitrovic. He’s scoring in the Premier League – he’s already got five goals, which as many as Harry Kane at Tottenham. It’s too easy to put all the blame on Benitez and we’ll never know the real reason why the two never seemed to get on, but Parlour is right – Newcastle would be better with him up top. Benitez can’t be above criticism and it’s right to point the finger where he’s made mistakes. However, the real cause of the Newcastle malaise is lack of investment and that’s not going to change anytime soon.