Is Rafa Benitez cut too much slack for his moaning at Newcastle?

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Rafa Benitez is not happy with Newcastle’s summer transfer business, but is he cut too much slack for his moaning?

Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez.

It is safe to say Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez did not have the summer he was hoping for in terms of transfer business.

As deadline day brought an end to proceedings on August 31, it was revealed by the Telegraph that only Stoke City had spent less than the Magpies’ £27m on new players in the Premier League. Fellow newly promoted sides Brighton and Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town were well ahead with £41.7m and £38m respectively.

Owner of Sports Direct and Newcastle United, Mike Ashley.

Many targets were missed out on, which after a summer of criticising owner Mike Ashley for breaking promises, it was believed that Benitez might walk with trust between himself and the club’s hierarchy having broken down – reports the Telegraph.

It certainly can’t be easy working for Ashley, but the Spaniard must surely have known that? The average football fan knows that, so a man famed for his attention to detail could not have bypassed the fact before accepting employment from him.

Promises may have been broken, but a policy of thinning out a bloated squad was a sensible one. After all, it was spending beyond their means that got Newcastle into trouble in the past.

Grant Hanley during his time at Newcastle United.

In fairness Benitez did his bit, moving on 11 players permanently and a further five on loan – although three of those in Grant Hanley, Daryl Murphy and Matz Sels were players he had signed himself the previous summer.

The 57-year-old is a popular figure at St James’ Park, which with an impressive CV and immediate promotion from the Championship behind him, is little surprise.

Yet one wonders if a manager without Champions League, Europa League and La Liga winners’ medals, among other things, would get away with such public moaning – which to a certain extent looks like a premeditated excuse for failure.

Benitez has shown already this season that he can field an organised and dependable team capable of competing in the English top flight and with the transfer window now closed, maybe he should focus more on what he does have and less on what he doesn’t.