Rafa Benitez insists he has transformed Newcastle during his three seasons – but admits they have not kicked on high as he wanted.
The Newcastle boss will thrash out his future in a summit with Mike Ashley at the end of this week, and Geordie fans hope he will commit to at least two more years in the Premier League if a plan to invest £100m transfer funds, plus cash raised from player sales, can be agreed.
The United chief managed his 146 Toon game at Fulham on Sunday, and signed off with a 4-0 win.
The Toon won 45 points this season, one more than last, but finished 13, three places worst off.
However Benitez remains “positive” about staying on, and is a man in a hurry to secure United as a top eight club, who can compete in the cups.
Newcastle United's transfer policy like an also-ran F1 car, says Rafa Benitez
He has also downgraded his belief – made after a 0-0 draw with Fulham in December - that keeping Newcastle in the top flight this season would be “a miracle.”
He does still reckon it was a “great achievement” for his players after they failed to win any of their first ten games.
Now Benitez wants progress and a proper vision from Ashley before he commits. Reflecting on his time in charge he said: “Maybe we were expecting to go one step further and further and we didn’t do it. That is the frustration sometimes.
“But when I came here it was a bad time, everything was in a bad position. Football is about emotion and the fans everything depends on that. But the mood changed and everyone had more confidence."
Benitez narrowly failed to keep United in the league in May 2016 after ten games in charge, but the won the Championship and finished tenth in the Premier League last season.
He added: “What’s changed in terms of the club (gestures to low key press room, at a training ground he wants revamped) - not too much! In terms of the atmosphere yes, it’s been positive and gives us hope that we could do better.
Newcastle reveal transfer target to replace Italy bound Ayoze Perez
“We had 33 players and half of them they were thinking about wanting to leave. Now we have reduced it to 27, 26 here. In terms of the atmosphere the people who are here now are quite focused.
“Has this season 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 thing. They had more belief that they could do it.
“Don't worry about the mind games! You have to create something, so I said that it could be a miracle. After, your reaction was: ‘Oh no, he’s negative, the players will lose confidence’.... No, the players were not losing confidence because they knew.”
Benitez has assembled a backroom staff that use masses of sports science data to monitor the players – from morning self-evaluation in the gym, to comparing stamina and speed levels with open stats from the entire Premier League.
Blood is monitored regularly, diets are tweaked with eating suggestions for players feeling out of energy, or ill, pinged to mobile devices. Heart rates could be monitored at home from next season in a trial, and they have individual fridges for drink mixes.
It is the sort of detail that Benitez thrives on, and gets the best out of his squad. He said: “We have a lot of things under control.
“I remember the team, for two years in a row, were at the top for injuries in Premier League. But after, we were the best team in the Championship in terms of injuries. And we have been second, third in the Premier League this year.”
He says training has improved and his players “believe”, adding: 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.”
But Benitez wants much more, and hopes Sports Direct tycoon Ashley will share his ambitions.
