New Newcastle United Manager – Mauricio Pochettino can’t lace the boots of Rafa Benitez

Yes I know the takeover is not signed off yet and Steve Bruce is still our manager, until we hear otherwise, BUT I really don’t get this Mauricio Pochettino love in from so many ‘informed’ media pundit, I really don’t.

Pochettino can’t lace the boots of Rafa Benitez in any respect.

Look at the players he had at Spurs compared to the ones Rafa had at Newcastle United.

I recall the 5-1 thumping Rafa gave them when we were relegated and they were fighting for second place in the premiership – where was the drive and passion a great manager would have instilled in a team with so much to play for that day?

Look at the comparative managerial records.

Where are the European and domestic trophies for Mauricio Pochettino? Honours won = Zero.

Rafa Benitez honours as a manager?

Valencia

La Liga: 2001–02 and 2003–04, UEFA Cup: 2003–04

Liverpool

FA Cup: 2005–06, FA Community Shield: 2006, UEFA Champions League: 2004–05, UEFA Super Cup: 2005

Inter Milan

Supercoppa Italiana: 2010, FIFA Club World Cup: 2010

Chelsea

UEFA Europa League: 2012–13

Napoli

Coppa Italia: 2013–14, Supercoppa Italiana: 2014

The Mauricio Pochettino record against Newcastle in the Premier League is hardly spectacular and but for a Jonjo Shelvey sending off (August 2017) at SJP would probably read even worse.

With Southampton it was played three and won one, drawn one, lost one.

With Tottenham there were nine PL matches for the Argentine, winning five and losing four, including that 5-1 defeat at SJP.

The man has had great players to work with, spent relative fortunes, has zero trophies to his name, then when the chips are down his team folds… and might I say, even Joelinton scored!

Compare that to the well drilled organised sides that Rafa sent out – I might add from which Bruce has benefited, when his own ideas spectacularly collapsed at Norwich and Leicester, to name but two, he reverted to the tactics the players knew under Rafa.

Now in all of this, Rafa has never had the money to invest in top quality players at Newcastle, we were in the main a Championship squad benefiting from a world class manager.

He is much loved and the return of Wor Flags and Rafa Benitez would be a massively emotional day at SJP. Then with money to invest the dream could be ignited at long last.

Above all, we trust him and he is in every sense one of us.

Not one straight thinking toon fan believes for one moment he left Newcastle due to greed. He simply wanted to develop the club professionally at all levels and left when Ashley stopped communicating with him right down to the day his contract expired.

He left with his head held high having done everything he could to sort out a mess of a club who failed to communicate with the fans, let alone the manager. Oh yes and Rafa has that managerial roll call of  honours to his name.

My Saudi headgear arrived this morning ready for the great day (which is surely coming) and there is but one man on my short list to take the helm and transform the fortunes of this club.

As for Mauricio Pochettino, there is surely no comparison with Rafa Benitez.

The post New Newcastle United Manager – Mauricio Pochettino can’t lace the boots of Rafa Benitez appeared first on NUFC The Mag.