Rafa Benitez has defended his decision to claim that it would be a "miracle" if Newcastle United survived this season - describing the Magpies securing safety with three games to spare as a "great achievement".
The 59-year-old received criticism from some quarters when, after the dire goalless draw with Fulham on December 22, he claimed it would be a "miracle" if he were to steer Newcastle to survival. What's more, he even followed that up by stating it would still be a "miracle" to stay up even if United strengthened during the January transfer window .
Miguel Almiron's subsequent arrival the following month, as well as Newcastle's improved form, saw the Magpies squad transform their season.
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A campaign which started with a 10-game winless run ended with United claiming a higher number of points during the second-half of the season than any side outside of the top six, and then guarantee their Premier League future with three matches to spare.
Benitez described last season's 10th-placed finish as a "miracle" at the end of the campaign, something which appeared more acceptable given that Newcastle were a newly-promoted side in 2017/18 and had spent modestly in the transfer market.
But to suggest it would be as extraordinary an achievement merely to survive this term raised eyebrows at St James' Park - though Benitez is adamant that his declaration actually had a positive, rather than a negative, effect on his players.
Throughout his three years on Tyneside, Benitez has coaxed gradual improvements from his squad through clever coaching techniques, and he has suggested his statement on December 22 was merely another example of that.
“If you see the beginning of the season, then you can understand what I was saying," Benitez said ahead of the reverse fixture against Fulham at Craven Cottage, when asked to explain his "miracle" comments.
"We needed to stick together; we needed to keep performing and working hard. Normally I am quite calm and analytical. And, at the same time, I try to transmit to my players this belief.
"So it’s not that I am calm and doing nothing, I am calm and trying to say something to my players when they will say: ‘Oh, he’s right.’ And, if they trust you, and you are right, the next time they will trust you again and it will be even easier.
"I have some players that they are very emotional. So I will say: ‘Calm down, think about that.’ Maybe some players, you need to say the same thing three or four times, or some of them just once or twice. The majority of the team say: ‘OK, fine.’
"If you want to change the way we do training sessions, they have to be convinced and they will not be convinced at the beginning if they have been doing the same thing for five years.
"You have to change something and you have to convince them in one way or the other way. I think we did it, little by little.
“Has it been a miracle? It has been a great achievement. Why? Because it was more difficult than last year. And because the players realised that was the way to do things. And every time, they had more belief that they could do it.
“Don’t worry about the mind games and all these things. You have to create something so I said that because I thought that it could be a miracle.
"After, your [the media's] reaction: 'Oh no, he’s negative, the players will lose confidence.’ No, the players were not losing confidence because they knew.
“You can say what you want - if you want to say ‘miracle’, put the headline: ‘It was a miracle.’"
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