Darren Gough shared that he thought Rafa Benitez was doing an unbelievable job at Newcastle United after a report ranked Premier League teams by the average wage they pay their players.
Global Sports Salaries Survey 2018 shared data revealing on average how much players earned at each Premier League club and publications such as the Brighton and Hove Independent used it to put Premier League clubs in order of highest to average lowest salary.
The list ended up ranking the Magpies in 17th and this left the former England cricketer shocked and in awe of what Benitez was accomplishing at St James Park as a result.
“He’s definitely up there (among Premier League’s best managers) we were both shocked by the wage bills of some of these Premier League clubs, average per player that is by the way, and when you look where Newcastle are…I was gobsmacked,” said Gough on talkSPORT (Monday March 11th, 18:12).
“I thought they’d be in the top eight, top ten, but they were down near the bottom.
“Teams like Wolves, Watford, Bournemouth,Southampton, Crystal Palace all above them in what they pay players, so he (Benitez) is doing an unbelievable job, they’re 17th in that list, Cardiff, we spoke to Neil earlier, they’re near the bottom as expected followed by Huddersfield, then Burnley, then Newcastle.
“Unbelievable.”
OPINION
It’s more shocking that Gough thought Newcastle were among the highest payers in the league. The Magpies should be perceived as a big club due to their fanbase, history and everything in between, but it was like Gough didn’t take into account their owned by Mike Ashley. The businessman, barring the January window, has avoided splashing the cash in the transfer market so why would you expect him to sanction paying players a huge amount. While Gough was gobsmacked, most Newcastle fans would have been surprised if the club featured highly on the list. Yet the positive Magpies fans can take from this report, is that it does show the amazing job Benitez is doing. The Spanish manager guided the club to a top-10 finish last season and seems to be on course to steer the team away from the relegation zone. Therefore while this report may have Magpies fans even more frustrated with Ashley, they should focus on the fact they have manager in place capable of working on a restricted budget.