Darren Gough cheekily remarked that Rafa Benitez certainly was to the point after being told that Newcastle United have an identical record in the Premier League as to last season.
Danny Kelly told the retired cricketer that the Magpies had exactly the same number of points as last season, and had even scored and conceded the same amount of goals.
Gough simply said wow before suggesting it was down to Benitez and his precise methods and even referred to the Magpies boss as “old Raf.”
“Wow, it’s Rafa, he is to the point isn’t he?” said Gough on talkSPORT (18:40, Tuesday April 23rd).
“He knows exactly what he is doing old Raf.”
OPINION
This Newcastle stat has been going around for a month or so now, and it’s odd that even with 35 games played the Magpies are still matching last season’s performance. While you could argue it suggests a lack of progress, considering how the Magpies didn’t really do a tremendous amount of business in either transfer window, it’s quite something that they’ve been able to keep pace with themselves. However hopefully next season the Magpies will be able to do better. The Magpies are a club that should be competing in the top-half of the Premier League, the only issue their owner Mike Ashley isn’t one to splash the cash on transfers. This has seen the Magpies face an uphill battle just to retain their top-flight status with clubs around them going wild in the market, but it’s time that changed. Yet given that Ashley still looks like being in charge next season, whether an improvement will occur is certainly debatable.