Plenty of problems at Newcastle United need sorting but Rafa Benitez not one of them
You might have heard the news, Newcastle have now gone eight games without a win, losing seven and drawing one.
Thankfully an own goal seven minutes from time at The Hawthorns prevented Rafa Benitez now standing here on the verge of breaking John Carver’s record.
Carver of course created an all-time Newcastle United record when losing eight top flight games in a row in 2015.
We all know of course that Mike Ashley is the chief architect of this real struggle of a return to the Premier League, but the takeover talk has just maybe, diluted the reaction of fans to the disastrous form of recent months.
It is shocking and if it wasn’t for that late Mikel Merino winner against Crystal Palace, we would be looking at no wins in the last 12 games, and as it stands anyway, Rafa’s players have picked up only six points from the last 36.
The media and supporters of other clubs would love to see Newcastle fans turn on Rafa Benitez and blame him…but they have been left disappointed.
Newcastle fans never showed the same understanding to Alan Pardew or John Carver but they also trusted Kevin Keegan.
When KK inherited the Mike Ashley/Sam Allardyce mess in 2008, the team had just lost four Premier League matches in a row.
Kevin Keegan actually extended that dismal run with no victories in his open eight league matches, only picking up three points from 24.
Despite that, supporters stayed with Keegan because they believed in him and understood the problems he had been landed with.
Once it clicked though he turned it around, going on a seven game unbeaten run which included beating Sunderland at home and Spurs away.
That kind of run may be a little beyond Rafa Benitez at the moment, but Newcastle fans believe in him, and also think that some decent realistic signings in January can help lead to an upturn in results and safety.
Bottom line is that supporters have faith in Rafa Benitez, that he has the best interests of the club at heart, and that no other manager would be doing better with the resources/players at his disposal.
There is plenty wrong at St James Park but the manager in place is not one of them.
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