Get the latest NUFC transfer and takeover news straight to your inbox for FREE by signing up to our newsletter Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Newcastle United and Steve McClaren had to wait six long days for the news to finally be confirmed, but the ex-England boss has now been relieved of his duties at St James’ Park.

Now it is on to his successor, and former Liverpool and Real Madrid manager Rafa Benitez is United's next boss.

Never before have United had a Champions League-winning manager at the helm, and bringing in a man who was coaching the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale just two months ago in place of someone who had previously been sacked for failing at Derby County is quite a sea change in policy.

Benitez has vast experience of the Premier League – he managed Chelsea as well as Liverpool – and he still lives in The Wirral, but what can Magpies fans expect from the 55-year-old Spaniard?

ChronicleLive exclusively spoke to Sky Sports’ Spanish football expert Guillem Balague about Benitez, and exactly what he would bring to the Tyneside club:

Why has the Newcastle job interested Benitez? And you mentioned he had looked at taking the job previously?

Guillem explains: “On at least on two occasions conversations have taken place between Benitez and Newcastle, including just before he went to Real Madrid last year, but also well before that as well.

“He’s been at Chelsea, he’s been at Liverpool, and you look around and there’s not too many projects that would excite him like Newcastle right at this moment.

“For me, Rafa is one of the top-10 managers from the last decade or so.

“Quite clearly all the top clubs are looking in different directions; once you take Liverpool, Everton, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea out of the equation, I think Newcastle in his eyes belongs in the next level.

“Potentially the club could as high as that top level – it’s something we all feel, that Newcastle could be huge, but on the field it hasn’t happened recently.

“That’s one reason, but another is that it had to be the Premier League because of the role that the managers tend to get in the Premier League that they don’t get anywhere else.

“My impression is that he is going to be a manager who can sign the players, something that wasn’t happening under McClaren and previous managers.

“That’s another thing which attracts him, but I also think he has the club in his thoughts.

“He has a coaching staff who are of the highest calibre, and they along with himself can do an awful lot of work with the team.

“With nine or 10 games you could see under Benitez that with a bit of order, and if you win three or four games, then that can just about save Newcastle.

“After the experience of Real Madrid and the other extreme of Liverpool where he had loads of control, it seems he is after another club where he can have more control and Newcastle look prepared to give him that.

“From that point of view it suits Rafa as much as it also suits Newcastle.”

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

Has Rafa got what it takes to get Newcastle out of a relegation battle?

Guillem says: “I disagree with a lot of Newcastle fans who say that Steve McClaren is not good enough, he can definitely do the job.

“The problem is that perhaps he’s used a lot of weapons and it gets to a point where communication with the players is not easy because you’ve been there for a while and they’re not listening any more.

“Sometimes a change does brings a kind of reaction but also Rafa will just bring a touch of organisation, a touch of experience even though relegation battles are not necessarily something he has been involved with a lot recently.

“For Newcastle it’s about not conceding, it’s about everyone switching on, it’s about everybody being responsible on the pitch – and I haven’t seen too many Newcastle games, but the ones I have the players have not looked like wanting responsibility for their actions.

“And when that happens it’s the manager who ultimately pays the price.

“In my eyes, Newcastle shouldn’t be in the bottom three, and Rafa can hopefully get that out of them.”

Personality-wise, what will Rafa bring to NUFC?

Guillem explains: “I think there are two Rafas in England. There’s the one who Spanish people know, who has got a dry sense of humour, is charming, obsessed with what he does, a top professional, who has a very clear idea what he wants from his team, etc.

“Then there’s the other Rafa that has been portrayed in certain media, non-Liverpool media, that has decided that because he wasn’t playing the game they wanted him to play they had to portray him in such a way.

“I think Newcastle fans will be able to see the other guy, the Liverpool manager – the one who is up to the challenge and will bring everyone in the same direction, including the supporters.

“In my eyes the combination just seems to work.

“He is going back to a club where they are passionate about football, with fans who give everything for the team to win, and are very respectful of the manager to a point if the manager can bring them with him.

“If he keeps them up and everyone goes in the same direction, then the club can grow with him.”

What are Benitez’s real strengths as a manager? What can the players expect from him?

Guillem says: “A lot of repetition, a lot of key details, a lot of organisation, a lot of information, a lot of stuff that he will introduce little by little.

“He knows the basis to a solid team.

“He is a manager who the players perform for the coach.

“The magic he brings, and the work he does with the team to get the answer he wants.

“All his teams are solid, and I keep hearing that he is a defensive coach but you look at Real Madrid, what he wanted was balance and not necessarily to be defensive. At Napoli as well they scored a lot of goals.

“He focuses on careful attacking if you like; it’s not so much a defensive team who counter attacks.

“At Liverpool he did a little bit with Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres in front of him, but that’s because Torres was so sharp they needed space for him to attack into.

“But the Liverpool of the second Champions League final against AC Milan (in 2007), with Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano, it was a very-balanced team.

“They played and attacked in different ways.”

poll loading If he's appointed, will Rafa Benitez keep NUFC up? 4000+ VOTES SO FAR Yes No

In Rafa’s time at Chelsea and Liverpool, what did he introduce into the Premier League?

Guillem explains: “Rafa has introduced a lot of things into the Premier League which a lot of other teams have followed.

“Be it rotation of the squad, playing 4-2-3-1, or work without the ball; all these things people have adapted, copied or followed after.

“Newcastle will play and they will improve.

“Just look at what happened to the players when they left Liverpool. Not one, except Xabi Alonso, not one became a better player after leaving.

“He maximises a club’s potential through the collective. Newcastle are in for very exciting times.

“I’m sorry about McClaren because I really like him as a person and a coach and he can clearly do a good job, but Rafa is just a huge coach with big reputation and the right skills.

“It’s big, but I agree he’s possibly the biggest manager Newcastle have had since Sir Bobby Robson.

“When he was at Real Madrid, he was the most-awarded manager in La Liga at the beginning of the season, so we are talking about someone that a lot of people have taken for granted.”

Rafa has a reputation as someone who goes on rants and loses his cool – is that a fair perception?

Guillem says: “One interesting thing Newcastle fans can do is to actually challenge the cliches around Rafa.

“Was it a ‘Rafa Rant’ against Sir Alex Ferguson? Actually it wasn’t.

“The next game was against Stoke City that year in the Premier League and Gerrard hit the post, and it was a draw.

“If he scores, then Liverpool could win the league – so was it really that Ferguson won the psychological battle?

“It’s a load of rubbish, it’s just that people repeat things.

“Newcastle fans will find a lot of Liverpool supporters who challenged those cliches, and Newcastle fans may see a different picture of him too.

“People should look at what he is accused of, see how much of it is true, and how much of it is just image building from people who don’t like him or don’t want to help him.”