Kenedy was the catalyst that sparked that revival of player's/teams fortunes.
I wholeheartedly disagree, it was Perez' traditional uplift in form in the run in plus the freedom given to the players to attack more after safety was more assured. Kenedy was good, but his added spark wasn't in spite of Benitez but very much because Benitez brought him into the club to do that job. Credit goes to Kenedy for his form, but Benitez for bringing him in. You don't give Benitez any credit for it.
Where did we finish?
Did we finish higher or lower than the season before he left?
We finished on more points, and given we cannot influence other teams' final positions it's the best measure of our success/failure/progress/decline.
Benitez was average for us and that's what counts.
What he did for other clubs means absolutely nothing where Newcastle's concerned. It's about his Ability to justify his massive wages by working within his means and building within the club's means.
In my entire Newcastle supporting experiences he's arguably one of the most frustrating managers I've ever seen for how he went about things.
In his full seasons Benitez got us promoted as champions, kept us up first season back, then improved on that season's points tally. If that's average to you, then you have more unrealistic expectations of a manager than I do. Especially one working for this owner.
In the previous 10 seasons in the top flight we finished with fewer than 44points on 6 occasions. So, purely in terms of points returned for Newcastle United in the top flight he was above average. Under Ashley Newcastle have finished in the top half on 3 occasions in 12 seasons, one of those under Benitez. Again, better than average. Average PL league position under Ashley? 12.9. Average PL position for Benitez? 11.5. Better than average.
You repeat a line of reasoning I see on here; implying that he's a chequebook manager. He didn't want to spend £40m on Joelinton, he wanted to spend £16m on Rondon. How is that anything but working within his means? He was promised "every penny the club makes", but was not given that. £32m profit in his first full season, £22m loss in second (so still £10m up), £7m loss in his 3rd (still £3m up). That's working within his, and the clubs, means.
As for hughton, he did a very good job and had us playing some decent football. He got crapped on by Ashley and didn't deserve it.
He's one manager/person that I hold in high esteem.
Hughton played similarly pragmatic, defensive football to Benitez. And has done at every club he's managed since.
For me, I think it comes down tot he fact you don't like Benitez the man. Which is fine, you're free to dislike whoever you want, but the reasons you put forward just don't stack up to any kind of scrutiny.
As a fellow black and white I wholeheartedly agree with your points. Not only that, it is simply impossible to have an objective conversation about the previous manager without them waffling about stats and jargon.
I’ve no problem if people don’t like a manager or player, that’s entirely up to them, but I find it unbelievable that people can’t give a bit of credit and admit that Bruce is doing a decent job and certainly no worse than the last bloke.
I also find that unbelievable.