Rafael Benítez is disappointed Hull City have refused to increase Newcastle United’s allocation of 2,400 tickets for their EFL Cup quarter-final at what threatens to be a sparsely populated KCom Stadium on Tuesday night.
All the indications are that Hull’s ground will be barely half full, with a crowd of around 13,000 expected for a tie which both sides arguably could do without as they strive to, respectively, remain in the Premier League and return to it.
“I’d like to see as many of our fans as possible,” said Benítez, whose Newcastle players are endeavouring to reach a first domestic semi-final since 2005 while also keeping their Championship promotion campaign on track. “I’m not liking Hull’s policy, I can’t control what they decide but it’s a pity, not only for our fans but for football in general.
“Why would you have empty stadiums when you could fill them with people who would enjoy themselves? The good thing is it’s not normal here but in Spain you see stadiums half empty and in Italy sometimes they’re only 20% occupied.”
Newcastle’s manager is particularly impressed that several thousand Tynesiders were prepared to make a six-hour, 300-mile round trip to East Yorkshire on a winter’s night at a time when the sheer amount of live matches on television presents a potential threat to attendances.
“With so much football on TV, it would have been giving more fans an opportunity to see a game live,” Benítez said. “It’s a pity because football needs to be more about the people who go to games rather than about TV. I always like to see stadiums full because, ultimately, football is for the fans. Its future is about children and families going to games.”
Given the growing local disgruntlement with the failure of Hull’s owners, the Allam family, to furnish Mike Phelan with a squad properly equipped for Premier League combat, the ambience may not be entirely family friendly. The sort of dissension in the stands expected, once again, on Tuesday night partly explains why Newcastle’s Mohamed Diamé and Isaac Hayden were happy to depart Humberside after helping the side, then managed by Steve Bruce, win promotion last May.
Benítez, meanwhile, must juggle his desire to succeed where countless predecessors have failed and collect some long elusive silverware, with the imperative to keep Newcastle on top of the Championship.
“We’ll make changes,” said the second tier’s most enthusiastic rotator. “If we go through I’ll be pleased but, if we don’t, I’ll say we weren’t strong enough to compete in two competitions at maximum level.
“I’ll play the team which, in my opinion, can do the job – without taking any risks by pushing individual players too hard and risking injuries. Risking one or two players being out for maybe a month makes no sense.”
Should a two-legged semi final in January beckon, ambition must continue to be leavened by pragmatism. “If we’ve progressed and I have to take a risk with one player [over fitness] because he can help us be in the final and maybe win the final, I’ll do it if I can,” said Benítez. “It depends where we are in the League in January - but if we have a chance to win a trophy, I’ll try to win a trophy. That’s 100 per cent sure.”
Despite his often strained relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson, Phelan’s old boss at Manchester United, Benítez feels no animosity towards Hull’s manager. “I have a lot of respect for him,” he says. “He’s doing a great job, despite recent results, they’re playing good football.”
While Newcastle have one eye on the League trip to Nottingham Forest on Friday, Hull visit relegation rivals Middlesbrough on Monday night, leaving both managers with broadly similar dilemmas.
“My players all want to go as far as they possibly can,” Phelan said. “They’ll be giving it everything.” Which does not preclude a little rotation of his own. “We’ve got three or four players that haven’t been involved up to now and we need to get them out on the grass, so we’ll be using them. There’ll be changes but we should still be in reasonably good shape. It’ll be interesting to see what team Rafa plays.”
The Newcastle midfielder Jack Colback, meanwhile, has been fined £25,000 after admitting a Football Association misconduct charge for betting. Colback was charged with a breach of regulations introduced in 2014 which prevent players and coaches from placing bets on any football activity worldwide.
A club statement said: “Jack Colback has been fined 25,000 after he accepted an FA misconduct charge in relation to betting. The Newcastle player breached FA Rule E8 in respect of a bet placed on the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of, or occurrence in, a football match or competition on 16 March 2016.”
Colback’s offence came two days after Newcastle lost 1-0 at Leicester City and four days before they drew 1-1 with his former club Sunderland as they fought desperately – and ultimately unsuccessfully – to remain in the Premier League.
