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24th June 2019
02:57pm BST

Even as recently as the 2011/12 season they finished fifth. And that was under Alan Pardew. That they have been allowed to slide down the table due to a lack of investment and ambition is a crying shame - not just to locals but to the English game that is stronger when Newcastle are a force.
This is a club with an average attendance of over 50,000. Over the course of the past five years (one of which was spent in the Championship), they have drawn the 13th biggest attendance across Europe - more than Juventus, Celtic, AC Milan, PSG - even Liverpool. The passion of their fans is unquestionable, the potential of the club is huge - but Rafa's departure is a perfect exemplification of how the club has been neglected.
Possible replacements include Garry Monk - a Championship manager who underachieved at Middlesbrough, and was recently sacked by Birmingham City. A club of Newcastle's size should not be rummaging through the Championship scrapheap to find a manager who will feel fortunate to be in a job and won't rock the boat.
On the flip side, José Mourinho has also been linked with a move to Tyneside. As fanciful as that may be, it demonstrates the pull that Newcastle still command. Were a different regime in charge at St James' Park, there may even have been a chance of appointing Mourinho - after all, Rafa's last job before Newcastle was at Real Madrid.
All things considered, it beggars belief that the club still has not been taken over by a more ambitious owner.
Benitez saw the potential in Newcastle and stuck by the club through thick and thin despite being at odds with Ashley's outlook. The failure to renew Benitez's contract - with the club issuing a pithy 136-word statement confirming his departure - will go down as one of the worst mistakes in Premier League history. The real tragedy is that it did not come as a surprise.Explore more on these topics: