Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez believes his side are very lucky this season. They are currently leading the Championship table with 69 points.
The Magpies were relegated last season from the Premier League, alongside Aston Villa, and by the performances, they are putting up they look all set to return in the English top flight. Newcastle United got the better of Aston Villa 2-0 in the last match and it is Villa’s fifth consecutive loss in the Championship as they are still searching for their first win since the Boxing Day of last year.
A goal from Yoan Gouffran and an own-goal from Henri Lansbury set the tone for the Toons. Since their 1-0 loss at the hand of Blackburn Rovers, the current league toppers haven’t lost a game so far. Benitez believes that they might not have been playing well all the time but they were unlucky for a couple of time.
“Sometimes when we don’t play at the level we’re expected people say ‘you don’t play well’. But we have had so many games where we deserved to win and we did so well, but we couldn’t through bad luck or the opposition keepers.
“What we have to do is get the result.”
Benitez took over the charge from Steve Mclaren and has been excellent with the Magpies. Benitez’s future was in jeopardy as he was very miffed with club owner Mike Ashley as mainly because of him Newcastle failed to lure Crystal Palace winger Andros Townsend. Benitez was very keen to bring the former player to St James Park but couldn’t do it due to some lackluster management and poor decisions.
In the 2015 summer despite spending a hefty £46m they got relegated from the Premier League after some poor displays of football. If they do get promoted to the English top flight which they will, Mike Ashley needs to make sure that he buy some quality footballers to give Benitez a very strong squad to compete in the Premier League.
Unlucky or not, Benitez will be counting on Mike Ashley if they do get promoted to the Premier League. However, the million dollar question is will ‘Fat Mike’ step up and do what is right for the club?
