Newcastle United managing director Lee Charnley has decided not to make any moves over a potential replacement for manager Rafael Benitez, according to the Sun.
The newspaper claim on their website that the Magpies chief, who is Mike Ashley’s right hand man, has purposefully not made any approaches for a new man for the dugout as negotiations with the Spaniard continue, his contract coming to an end this month, but that the club are sweating over the situation this may leave them in should he not extend his stay on Tyneside.
It is stated that new under-23 manager Neil Redfearn is currently the man who would take charge should Benitez leave at the end of June, with the Spanish boss giving no indication as to whether he would be putting pen to paper when talking to Charnley on Monday.
Opinion
No wonder Newcastle’s top brass are sweating – they do not have a plan B in place for if Benitez leaves. However, while the old proverb says you should not put your eggs in one basket, it should be seen as a good thing for the Toon Army. The Magpies need to keep Benitez on board if they are to push forward after working a miracle with the lack of budget at his disposal over his three years in charge. Losing him would be the club losing the most valuable asset they have on their books and so you can understand why Charnley is not willing to risk that by looking for new managers. It would send the wrong message to Benitez and suggest they are not totally committed to giving him what he wants. Everyone at Newcastle United will be awfully nervous about their future and with only a couple of weeks to get Benitez tied up, that should definitely be there first priority, with things like a takeover coming second. Still, this is the Magpies we are talking abou – things are never that simple.