Rafa Benitez thinking long-term despite relegation clause in Newcastle contract
Saturday 12 March 2016 21:20, UK
Rafa Benitez insists he has taken charge of Newcastle for their long-term vision and is convinced relegation will be avoided, despite confirming the presence of a break clause in his contract.
The 55-year-old Spaniard held his first news conference on Saturday ahead of their Monday Night Football clash at Leicester, live on Sky Sports 1HD, and he purred over the "passion of the city and the football club".
The clause in his contract allows either him or the club, who are second-bottom and two points from safety with 10 games to go, to walk away if they crash out of the Premier League.
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But he revealed that Newcastle's managing director Lee Charnley wanted the former Liverpool, Inter Milan, Napoli and Real Madrid boss for his experience - which is why he has been given the title of manager, not head coach.
"We have 10 important games; it doesn't matter if I am manager or head coach or whatever," he said. "After these 10 games I think we will stay in the Premier League [and] I will be the manager.
"My first conversation with Lee was just about everything, and I said, 'What about the future?' He said, 'We know we have done a lot of good things and some not so good things sometimes, but with your experience we hope we can go in the right direction'.
"Some people can see the relegation clause as special, but it's normal. I am here trying to do my best to stay in the Premier League, and if I have a compromise in the future it means I believe we will stay up.
"The main thing was for Lee to explain his ideas, and mine, and we have a lot in common. We want to bring in good players in the future and I am sure we will if everything is fine."
Benitez's reputation in England rests predominately on a successful six-year spell as Liverpool manager in which he won the Champions League and FA Cup, but he also won the Europa League as caretaker boss of Chelsea.
Yet Benitez felt forced to defend his experience and insist he does have what it takes for a relegation scrap.
"I am coming from the academy - I was an academy player and then a coach in the academy at Real Madrid," he said.
"After I was a coach in the first division, second division, promotions, relegations - I have some experience, because I am getting older.
"It's more or less the same, in terms of how you have to approach the games. You have to be calm and analyse things, and make sure everyone is giving everything.
"The responsibility of someone who wants to win a trophy and doesn't want to make mistakes is more or less the same as the responsibility of someone who doesn't want to make mistakes because they could be relegated.
"I know we have a very good group of players and quality in the squad, so we need to give them confidence. I expect 100 per cent from them in every game because they fans will be behind us."
