Rafa Benitez has walked away from Newcastle United, but is four-time Ligue 1 champion Blanc set to arrive at St James’ Park?
Surely Newcastle United can’t do better than Rafa Benitez, right? Considering the outpouring of disappointment, anger and frustration that has met his departure from St James’ Park, you wouldn’t think so.
But amid the understandable apathy that has greeted links with the likes of David Moyes and Avram Grant, there is one out of work manager who would bring a real winning mentality to Tyneside.
And, according to the Northern Echo, he just happens to be keen on replacing Rafa the Gaffer at Newcastle. That man in question? Laurent Blanc.
Now, it is easy to write off the 53-year-old after three seasons out of the game. But it would be unfair to forget just how promising his managerial career looked a few years ago.
After all, this was a man who won the double with Bordeaux in 2009, setting the record for the most consecutive wins in the French top flight. In three years at the helm of Paris Saint-Germain, he lifted eleven, yes eleven, domestic titles.
And, while some might scoff and point out the lack of competitiveness in this so-called ‘farmers league’, both Unai Emery and Thomas Tuchel have failed to dominate the French landscape quite like Blanc, a three time Ligue 1 Manager of the Year.
A former Manchester United and Marseille defender who starred as France won the 1998 World Cup, Blanc will be chomping at the bit to show why he is still an elite managerial talent.
But could Newcastle snare someone who, whisper it, might prove to be even better than Benitez long-term? At 53, he certainly has plenty of time on his side.
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