Wednesday 11 May 2016 16:05, UK
Former Newcastle striker Michael Chopra fears manager Rafa Benitez could leave for pastures new if the club are relegated from the Premier League.
Newcastle face the prospect of being relegated on Wednesday night if Sunderland beat Everton at the Stadium of Light, live on Sky Sports 1 HD.
Chopra, who also had a two-year spell at Sunderland, ending in 2009, is worried Newcastle may struggle in the Championship with the players they have, especially if Benitez departs.
Asked if he thought Benitez will leave if Newcastle are relegated, Chopra told Sky Sports News HQ: "You would think that because other teams will be looking at him.
"People forget he was Real Madrid manager this time last year but I'd like to see him stay if they get relegated because he is a great manager, and if he did stay I believe they would come straight back up.
"But if he goes I think they may struggle in the Championship because they don't have the type of players they had last time they went down in 2009. They don't have Kevin Nolan, the Joey Barton, or Andy Carroll; players that know about the Championship and players that are ready to fight for the football club.
"There are too many foreign players where you wonder if they'll want to go to Cardiff on a Tuesday night or Brentford on a Wednesday night when it's pouting down with rain. Those sorts of players won't want to do that so if they go down it's not looking good for them."
Newcastle academy graduate Chopra, who went to the same school as Alan Shearer, is surprised the board did not act quicker to replace Steve McClaren when it became apparent a relegation battle was looming.
"They did it a few years ago when they appointed Alan Shearer as manager with eight games to go, and they knew they were in a position with probably 15 games to go that they were in a relegation fight," he added.
"I don't know why the board and everyone left it so late to appoint Rafa and you look at what he's done, what he's done to the defence and the team and how he's got them playing.
"The fans love him and it's a shame he hasn't had more time to do it because I believe coming into the last few games of the season they would have been firmly out of the relegation battle if he had been appointed earlier."
Chopra played with Jermain Defoe in England's youth ranks and admits the Sunderland striker's form makes him a candidate to be named in Roy Hodgson's England squad on Thursday.
"I've known Jermain since I was 15 years old," said Chopra who counts Cardiff, Ipswich and Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters among his former clubs.
"I played with him from England U16s right through to the U21s and you knew then that if you give him a chance he will stick it in the back of the net.
"Newcastle don't have a 10 or 20-goal-a-season goalscorer whereas Sunderland do and that could be the difference between Sunderland staying up and Newcastle going down.
"I think Roy [Hodgson] has to look at him because he will be looking at players who are in form come the end of the season.
"Another player I'd like to see go is Andros Townsend. The last few weeks and months he's been unbelievable for Newcastle and if England want to go places they've got to take in-form players.
"But Roy knows the game inside-out and he will have his own thinking. Defoe has been in and out of England squads his whole career and like I said before, give him a chance and he'll stick it away.
"If England need him, he'll do a job for them."
