Ashley has given Benitez more power than any of the eight managers he has worked with before at St James’ Park. He believes he has found someone special and the order from him has been ‘whatever Rafa wants, Rafa gets.’

He may still, strictly speaking, be an employee, but It is Benitez who runs Newcastle United now. Not Ashley, not managing director Lee Charnley, or the players who have so often worked to their own agenda, rather than the team. It is a club run by a football man not an accountant; an independent, talented and ambitious manager, rather than a bean counter completely reliant on Ashley’s patronage.

Altering perceptions, restoring hope

Even after relegation, Benitez has given supporters something they have lacked for more than a decade – hope. There is a belief, an expectancy, that better days lie ahead and it is all because there is so much love and admiration for him.

For the first time in years, Newcastle have a top class manager, not someone grateful to have the job like Joe Kinnear, Chris Hughton, Alan Pardew, John Carver or Steve McClaren. There a sense of anticipation this summer that has been lacking in so many previous pre-seasons.