The Premier League is one of the toughest leagues in world football and the managers and players will attest to every word of it. The expectations on the players is so high that not many manage to live up to them while the pressure on the managers to get their teams to win, is also immense.
With the top flight of English football posing so many threats, the domestic circuit in England also comes with its own challenges.
One manager who is now finding that out the harsh way is Spanish manager Rafa Benitez.
Having taken over the Newcastle side late last season, Benitez, failed to keep them in the top flight, even after an impressive run of results as the Magpies were relegated for the first time in more than 5 years.
However, their reputation allowed them to hold on to one of the most decorated managers in the history of the sport in Rafa as they managed to keep him at the club with some promises.
It is understood that the owner Mike Ashley and the managing director Lee Charnley, assured Benitez of a few things to keep him at the club. included no player leaving the club unless Benitez agreed, Ashley handing him a sizeable transfer budget and the manager, unlike his recent predecessors, having the final say on all transfers.
However, reports today suggest that Rafa Benitez is planning on leaving the club at the end of the season as a couple of those promises were not fulfilled in the January transfer window.
The Toons failed to take their chance to move to the top of the Championship table this week as QPR’s last minute equalizer kept them in the 2nd place, just a point off Brighton at the top of the table.
And the manager was evidently frustrated after the game in the press conference when he ate into his players for their performances.
According to the reports, Rafa is angry with the club’s hierarchy as they failed to land one of his top transfer targets in January in Andros Townsend in January.
The winger left the club in the last transfer window but was up for sale in January and Newcastle United was extensively linked with a move for him even on deadline day.
And though the St James outfit had most of the Moussa Sissoko’s transfer fee of £30m in the bank, they failed to spend on transfer targets last month and have lost the trust of the manager.
It is now reported the Rafa wants to leave the club in the summer and believes that the club has made it awfully tougher for themselves to move into the top flight next season.
The former Liverpool manager was expected to stay at the St James for years to come, establishing Newcastle as a force to reckon with for years to come but if these reports are anything to go by, Rafa may not be at the club for so long.
Do you think Newcastle are right in not spending big on Townsend?