It is very rare in football to see a manager move from the Santiago Bernabeu (Real Madrid) to St. James Park (Newcastle United), but that wasn't the case with Rafa Benitez when he was confirmed the new Newcastle United manager last week.
While Benitez should be able to bring that psychological lift the club so direly needs to avoid the drop, it is uncertain how far such lift will last. This is because , Benitez is not a manager known for fighting relegation , rather he is a manager known for his ability to win trophies as he has demonstrated in his last three clubs except Real Madrid as he only lasted from (July-January). At Valencia despite the spending power and history of both Real Madrid and Barcelona, Benitez led an unknown Valencia team to La Liga success in 2002, and also UEFA success in 2004. In Liverpool he won the Champions League on penalties after coming from being down by 0-3 in the first half against an AC Milan team coached by Carlo Ancelotti with the likes of Andry Shevchenko, Andre Pirlo, Clerance Seedorf and Paolo Maldini. He also won the FA Cup in Liverpool before winning the Europa League with Chelsea in 2013. It is still difficult to say if he could have won a trophy in Madrid considering the deadly form of rivals Barcelona but the fact still remains that he was just two points behind Barcelona after the first round of the season. He also lost just trice to Barcelona (0-4),Villarreal (1-0) and Sevilla (3-2) in a stadium Sevilla has won 14 games in 16 matches losing only twice against Barcelona and Celta Vigo, drawing none.
The problem with Newcastle United is a psychological one as the mentality of the players have changed over time after struggling for relegation three times in a row now if the present one is included. With the likes of Jonjo Shelvey, Mousa Sissoko, Andros Townsend and Georginio Wijnadum, it is difficult to decipher why the Toon Army is struggling in the league although the loss of first choice and Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul has not helped matters. Newcastle in 2012, finished 5th in the table a position above then Champions League winners Chelsea and instead of improving have been on a spiral down fall.
Rafa Benitez has also revealed he has a relegation clause inserted in his contract which means he will pocket an extra £5m if he saves them from relegation and also that his contract will be cancelled if a Newcastle drop down the league. This is supposedly a matter of discussion for another day but what is important is that despite losing his first game away at the King Power stadium to the league leaders Leicester he still has nine games to make things right .
Whatever happens come May, Benitez will rank the safeguarding of the Premier League status of Newcastle as one of his greatest achievements if he manages to do that . Only time will tell.
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