Opinion: Why Rafa Benitez could and should leave Newcastle

Two points from the opening eight Premier League games leaves Newcastle United in 19th position in the Premier League table. The outcry coming from the club and their supporters are against the owner Mike Ashley. So often we hear the fans turn on against their manager, the Geordie fans are sticking by Rafa.

The fans rightfully recognize all that Benitez has accomplished thus far at St. James Park considering the limited resources in which he has worked with under the reigns of Mike Ashley. This summer the club fell further behind their competitors in the Premier League by only spending in the region of £22 million. In today's market that is not nearly enough to progress as a club.

New signing Yoshinori Muto could provide the energy up top to trouble

defences

The reputation of Rafa Benitez perhaps has been enough for the owner to believe he does not have to invest as much into the squad, given the quality of the man running his team.

The problem now is that Benitez and Newcastle are without a win in the Premier League, the squad looks below average, even worse than what we saw last season and the biggest and perhaps most significant problem the club faces is that the reputation of Benitez is still extremely high across Europe.

The Liverpool fans still have much love for their former manager

There have been reports about Rafa Benitez and a potential sacking, in which have been dismissed by the Spanish manager. The problem that Newcastle fans and the club may face is that Benitez might just walk from the current situation at the club, knowing that he is better than the current environment he is working in.

The admiration and love he receives from the supporters at St James Park must be what is keeping the popular Spaniard at the club as he can not be happy with the broken promises from the chairman, and fighting a losing battle in the transfer market.

The time of the season is upon us when managers at certain clubs get questioned and pressure starts to mount. The role of an interim manager starts being linked as it is during a season and for a lot of clubs there is a certain reluctance to name a long-term manager during a season.

Big jobs may become available, with the likes of Niko Kovač at Bayern Munich feeling the pressure after a relatively poor start to his reign at the German giants. Julen Lopetegui at Real Madrid is finding life at the Bernabéu Stadium tough and has been linked in the media with being sacked in recent times.

Niko Kovac is struggling with his tactics currently with the Bayern Munich players

Benitez would be an option for many clubs throughout the course of the season should they decide to replace their own respective managers across Europe. Especially with previous experience of the interim role that Benitez had while in charge at Stamford Bridge.

Premier League clubs especially might consider a move for Benitez given that the former Valencia man surprised many by taking the job in the North East with Newcastle, and could fancy their chances in luring him to their clubs. Could Southampton, Crystal Palace and possibly even Manchester United even look to bring Benitez to their club?

Newcastle fans must be worried that they could lose Benitez, losing him would make the thought of relegation yet again from the Premier League seem more a reality. Mike Ashley needs to either give Benitez the funds in January to make a mark on this Newcastle team or get the club sold before the January transfer window approaches or the club could be helpless when it comes to their fight against relegation.

Benitez is far and away the best chance the club has of keeping their place in the top flight of English football, but could Benitez fancy one more crack at one of the major clubs across the European leagues? If he decides to leave, then the Magpies could in serious trouble for the remainder of the season.