I just don’t get why he was adored and idolised to the levels that he was. I get it with Keegan; he was a good player for them and then took them up to the top flight as manager and nearly won the league. I think he also genuinely did care for their club. Same with Robson to an extent though that has been blown out of all proportion.
However, with Benitez, he is a complete outsider who achieved no more at Newcastle than many other unpopular managers did. He was very savvy in that he knew the supporters and journalists were hostile towards Ashley and used it as a bargaining chip to negotiate himself the best deal possible.
As an aside, (and I’d apply this to Sunderland as well) in the modern game, supporters should be wary of anyone becoming messiah like figures because with the game being as potentially lucrative as it is, there is always likely to be an alternative agenda once the surface is scratched. It’s sad, but what little loyalty there used to be in football has more or less entirely eroded now.
