Jamaal Lascelles has come out and said it would be silly if Newcastle didn’t keep Rafa Benitez at the club.
But it’s taking Mike Ashley a long time to decide if he will back the Spaniard in all the things he wants to fo to transform the club.
Rafa is not messing around and wants to build a top side but also have the Training Ground vastly improved and rehabilitate the Youth Academy.
Journalists have been reporting the news of the negotiations which don’t seem to be going as well as we had hoped.
Jamaal Lascelles with Rafa Benitez
Not it’s the captain’s shot at trying to convince owner Mike Ashley to keep Rafa Benitez long term.
This is what Jamaal said as reported in the Chronicle:
“Hopefully the manager stays, that’s the main thing for me.”
“Whatever direction he wants us to go, he will set the target and we will try to back it up.”
“It’s massive he stays. Since he has been here he has transformed the club and city, it would be silly for us not to keep him happy and let him have what he wants.”
“As players he has a lot of respect from us. Whatever he says we really do listen.”
“When you have a manager with that sort of stature he makes you want to perform.”
“Every time we train we want to impress Rafa Benitez.”
“As players we ultimately have to cross the white line and turn in a performance.”
“We need someone pointing us in the right direction it would be ideal for him to stay.”
“The manager has big aspirations, he wants Newcastle to really push on because of its history.”
“A lot of people say we should be higher than we are – we have the fanbase, the players, the manager, the stadium to kick on.”
“Once we have got this Chelsea game out of the way then we can focus on what direction he wants us to go.”
Sensible words there from Jamaal although we would have used the word “stupid” rather than “silly” – but he’s just being diplomatic.
🙂
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