Rafa Benitez has revealed the impact that Newcastle United’s stunning 5-1 win over Tottenham on the last day of the 2015/16 season had on convincing him to stay at the club.
The Spaniard was brought in with the Magpies already in the relegation places, and was unable to prevent them from dropping down to the Championship, but made the decision to stick around at St. James’ Park, and brought them back up as champions at the first attempt.
And Benitez has spoken out over that unexpected last day humiliation of the title contenders – and what a massive effect the fans had on him, after chanting his name the entire game.
Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: “The problem we had when we arrived was we just didn’t have time. We thought massive club, massive stadium, fans behind the team. Everything was right but we had 13 injuries when we first arrived.
“That [the fans] was another thing that made you think ‘this is a massive club and you can do something with these fans behind you’.
“That was a key factor in my decision [to stay]. I was talking with Mike Ashley after the game and he was asking me ‘what do you want?’ We were talking about what we thought was needed to win promotion back to the Premier League.”
OPINION
Any time that people question how much influence fans can have on a club, just point them towards this Rafa Benitez interview. The Geordies were dead and buried when he came in, to all intents and purposes, and the fact that their fans stuck it out with them and showed them the kind of passionate and vocal support that the club is renowned for will surely have been huge factor in convincing Rafa that this was a club worth his time. Things haven’t always been easy, but you would have to say that for the most part, he was right. He is viewed as an almost messianic figure on Tyneside, and slowly but surely, he is beginning to make progress. If he agrees a new deal, and if he can get a decent summer behind him, the sky is the limit for a manager as talented as the Spaniard is.