Garth Crooks suggests Rafa Benitez can inspire Newcastle to Premier League glory

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Garth Crooks believes that Newcastle winning the Premier League is not out of the question while Rafa Benitez is in charge.

Garth Crooks has told BBC Sport that while Rafa Benitez remains in charge of Newcastle, the Magpies are capable of winning the Premier League title.

Benitez has arguably done a good job with the club since he arrived in 2016, leading them to promotion out of the Championship at the first attempt after being unable to keep them up, and then overseeing a very bright start to the Premier League season.

The Magpies are currently sixth in the top flight after beating Crystal Palace on Saturday, having lost once since August. And while most Newcastle fans would surely take finishing sixth if they were offered it right now without hesitating, Crooks suggested that something even more special could be around the corner if the Spaniard remains in charge.

“Rafa Benitez has the pedigree to do something quite special so there’s no doubt for me that he’s a top class manager and they’re lucky to have him,” he told BBC Sport.

“With Keegan, he didn’t win anything with Newcastle but he flirted with the title, Rafa can win it with the right resources there. I think that highly of him.”

With Newcastle getting some impressive results at the moment, it would be interesting to know where the fans feel they could finish come the end of the campaign – but you would surely do well to find many supporters who believe that a top six finish is realistic at this stage.

But with a potential takeover seemingly possible in the near future, and Leicester City proving that anything can happen in the top flight, perhaps it would be foolish to entirely write off the idea of Newcastle elevating themselves towards the title picture at some stage – even if that seems to be a long way off right now.