Danny Higginbotham has claimed that there would be “complete and utter outrage” from Newcastle fans if Rafael Benitez was to leave the club.
The manager has held talks with Magpies owner Mike Ashley over the past few weeks about a potential extension to his St James’ Park contract, which runs out at the end of the month.
A previous report [Northern Echo] claimed that Newcastle have not thought about a plan B should the Spanish boss leave, and, speaking to talkSPORT‘s Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast [Tuesday, 7:40am], Sky Sports pundit Higginbotham was worried about Benitez’s departure.
“It’s a huge football club,” the pundit said. “I was at Sunderland for a year and I played in the derbies against Newcastle and they are a huge club.
“I think the problem Newcastle are having at the moment is if you look behind the scenes. As far as I’m aware, Benitez’s contract is coming to an end now and he’s been absolutely incredible.
“I think if he was to leave the club, there would be complete and utter outrage from the fans. He’s worked wonders every single season that he’s been at the club, so it will be interesting to see what happens.
“But if the new owners do come in and they want to go in a different direction, then obviously it’s going to be up to them.
“But the one thing that I’ve said over the last two-and-a-half, three years under Benitez at Newcastle is that Newcastle have needed Benitez more than Benitez has needed Newcastle just because of the simple fact of the way it’s been at the top and the money that he’s had to deal with and the situation that they’ve found themselves in.”
OPINION
Higginbotham is absolutely spot on here, Newcastle fans will definitely be enraged if Benitez was to leave the club at the end of the month. As the pundit says, Benitez has worked wonders with the Magpies side, given that he has only been given limited funds and a shoestring budget throughout most of his tenure in the North East. The fact that Newcastle bettered their points tally last season from the 2017/18 campaign says it all really: that the Magpies are lucky to have such a fantastic manager and they must treat him with the respect he deserves. If this Newcastle team is going to progress further, they need funds. And as Higginbotham points out, it sounds as if Benitez is happy to continue working with the team so long as he can get these financial assurances. If he doesn’t, it could be a very painful and goodbye, and one which will not be pretty at all.