It’s been a familiar story from Rafa Benitez in his time here with his calm exterior shining through whether we win, lose or draw.
Whilst everyone else around him shows their despair at the negatives or the ecstasy of that goal or winning final whistle, Rafa stays professional although privately inside he’s always said his emotions are contained.
With all this on board, as we approach the final run in and others around show their nerves, this calming approach should, in all honesty, get us over the safety line as if the light is visible in this tunnel-like journey.
Looking at the other teams in the bottom half of the premier league, they are littered with sideshow stories of in-fighting, managerial changes or losses of form whilst we’ve been consistent in our form and are finally now being rewarded for the spirit and hard work that has been there from day one.
Obviously, there is still a long way to go and we are not as safe as some are making out with at least one more win needed to really start to think of how we approach next season but our boss will make the squad well aware of this. Surely though, with the professionalism inbred throughout Rafa’s tenure here, the players will not be getting ahead of themselves anyway.
Even then, when the dust settles on the 2017/18 season and we do manage to secure our future in this league for another run, Rafa won’t be happy with that and will want assurances that we can attempt to progress. This is the major sticking point in our future under Mike Ashley and the light that seems visible now could so easily be extinguished.
It may not seem like it at present but yet another important chapter in the history of Newcastle United will start as soon as or if we manage to stay up. It’s up to Ashley to make the right choice for once.
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