http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4410132/Newcastle-Leeds-Two-giants-reborn-Championship.html
Benitez has done more than win matches. The first thing Keegan did on returning as manager in 1992 was fumigate and paint the training ground. Benitez’s repairs have been psychological.
As Michael Walker wrote in his book Up There: ‘Keegan was firing a city whose football imagination had been under curfew.’
Benitez has none of Keegan’s historical or emotional connections to Newcastle and not all of his charisma. But he is brave and understands this club and its city. Last season, he joined a famous institution low on self-esteem, cut adrift from its fan base and at war with the local media.
At a game I attended under his predecessor Steve McClaren last year, supporters sat on the Gallowgate staring at their phones, disconnected from the action, there only out of habit. When McClaren waved at full-time, he was hounded down the tunnel.
Benitez, to a degree, has fixed all this. He has broken the curfew.
An astute, political animal, the Spaniard has reversed the siege mentality that was crippling Newcastle. He has taken hold of every aspect of his club in a way McClaren and, previously, Alan Pardew never had the nerve to.
Benitez said on Thursday: ‘We are close so we have a chance to do something important. People will remember those players who got promoted. It’s like my time at Liverpool here. The passion, the feeling the fans have for the club and for the football and the history. It’s a city of working people. They work hard to come and watch us. The connection with the fans is really good.’
Benitez’s appointment towards the end of last season was a coup by Ashley but also a gamble. One hard-headed man appointed by another. Recently — predictably — those heads have started to rub and the territory has been familiar: transfer funds.
Newcastle were in transfer profit last summer. Benitez wore that. Ashley decided not to invest in January. Benitez, wanting fuel for his promotion push, did not wear that. The two men have not spoken much since and Benitez has let it be known that he considered walking. The threat hangs heavy.
On Thursday, Benitez mentioned the word ‘profit’ twice without prompting. At another juncture he said that, when signing a player: ‘You can’t worry about paying a couple of million over’. That is not language familiar to Ashley but, equally, the Newcastle owner knows this is a new landscape.
Rafa Benitez stayed with Newcastle United after they were relegated to the Championship. Not since Keegan’s brief return in 2008 has he employed a manager universally popular with supporters. He also knows that this one does not really need the work.
Newcastle trail leaders Brighton by two points. By kick-off that could be five. One school of thought is that it would suit Benitez to take Newcastle up in second place. That way, Ashley may be persuaded to improve the squad.
‘I stayed after relegation because of the fans and the stature of the club,’ reflected Benitez. ‘We will hopefully play top Premier League sides in the future, touch wood.
‘This city, this club, they deserve to be in the Premier League. But we have to DO it.’
Three years ago Napoli knocked Swansea out of the Europa League and Benitez and Monk were the managers.
‘Rafa was brilliant with me,’ Monk recalled. ‘It wasn’t one where he just shook hands and said he had to get on the bus. He sat down and talked for a long time, offering me advice. I’ve got the highest respect for Rafa.’
Nobody would have bet on the two men meeting again here, in this division. For both managers, there is much to play for and, equally, much unexplained.
