Rafa Benitez considering a longer stay at Newcastle

Rafa Benitez will decide over the next few days whether or not to pledge his immediate future to getting Newcastle straight back into the Premier League – and it’s magnificent army of fans will certainly be one of the major factors influencing his decision.

I was told on social media recently that he could expect his name to be chanted for 90 minutes non-stop during the club’s final match of the season against Tottenham at the weekend as the crowd tries to play its part in persuading the Madrid man to stay at the club.

If that happens, knowing him as I do, I am absolutely convinced that it will have a major bearing on his decision.

And apart from the obvious fact that everyone likes to be where they feel wanted there are a number of other solid reasons why Rafa would be wise to throw his hat in with the club.

And he is seriously considering staying.

As things stand, Newcastle United are at an all time low. Rafa will know better than most that, for him, the club and its fans, the only way is up

The club’s second relegation in eight seasons is hard enough to take but made considerably worse by the fact that, when it came, it was courtesy of bitter rivals, Sunderland who sent Newcastle down while simultaneously saving themselves with a 3-0 home win over Everton.

Newcastle United are a huge club, unquestionably one of the biggest in England, possibly Europe with one of the largest and most loyal fan bases in the world; a club for which the phrase ‘sleeping giant’ could have been invented.

Rafa has seen enough in his short tenure to know just how much potential he has in his squad and has already identified what changes need to made both tactically, technically and generally around the club’s whole structure.

It’s also worth mentioning at this point that apart from trophies for the Championship that brought them back into the Premier League in 2010 this is a club that – despite a number of close calls – has won sweet diddly-squat since lifting the Inter Cities Fairs Cup way back in 1969.

From the point of view of his home life it also suits him to remain in England where he has always had the family home right back from his Liverpool days.

When he went to Napoli and Real Madrid the family stayed in England so from that angle staying at the club will also be an attractive proposition for him.

There are very few options that he would consider taking in the Premier League and I know he is definitively not considering a return to Spain – certainly not at the moment anyway.

He has received a host of offers from China and the Far East but doesn’t feel that his career should be heading in that direction for the time being.

Ultimately another of the reasons that might well convince him to stay is that despite the pain of relegation, as brief as the journey has been to date it has been an enjoyable one for him.

The positive reaction he has received from players and fans alike will give him feelings of deja-vu from his time spent at Liverpool which he remembers with great fondness

The club have made no secret of their intentions to do all they can to keep him there. Fans are convinced that he is the solution. It will be difficult for him to say no to the club.

Despite only winning two out of the nine games he has been in charge, more significantly his side are unbeaten in their last five games and I know he feels that had he been given just a couple more games he could have saved the club from the drop.

Benitez was hired on March 11 with just ten games of the season remaining while Sunderland acted much quicker bringing Sam Allardyce in for Dick Advocaat back in October with eight games played and just 3 points in the bank.

Ultimately Newcastle’s decision to drag their feet in appointing him is in the opinion of most of the fans and certainly the local media what has cost them their place in the Premier League and could also end up costing Lee Charnley, the club’s managing director, his job.

The Newcastle Chronicle certainly didn’t hold back when it announced that following relegation, Lee Charnley had just two jobs to do, namely, persuade Rafa to stay at the club, and then go.

Rafa Benitez knows there is the job to do at Newcastle and, more importantly, that he is the man that can do it.

The passionate Toon Army will be ringing in his ears, and telling him he is the man that can get this club back where it belongs; the man to raise this giant from its slumber. I am convinced he can too