UK Edition
As much as everyone tries to pretend it is not a distraction, the ongoing uncertainty over manager Rafael Benitez’s future is at the heart of every discussion at Newcastle United, even while the team tries to preserve its top-flight status.
Trying to ignore the fact Benitez’s contract expires at the end of June is like trying to do a crossword while a fire alarm rings and the sprinklers are on. It is impossible because so much hinges on what he decides to do next.
If Benitez stays, Newcastle have perhaps their best opportunity for a decade to grow into a genuine Premier League force again. If he leaves, the explosion of anger and hurt that will follow will shatter the club emotionally and push it to the brink of civil war.
This is a pivotal moment and as much as he tries to avoid answering any questions about his intentions over the next few weeks, it is an issue that needs to be resolved.
Benitez has engineered this position because he needs bargaining power. He does not trust owner Mike Ashley, but neither has he convinced himself that he wants to leave. If anything, Benitez has reached the point where he is looking for an excuse to stay. That should make a positive outcome easier to reach.
At most football clubs, if a manager remains as excited about the club’s potential now as he was when he arrived, a contract extension should be relatively simple to agree.
Yet, there remains a nagging fear that a split will occur in June because Ashley is too stubborn to be challenged, too stupid to realise he will not get a better manager and too resentful of Benitez’s ability to sway public opinion to give the Spaniard the assurances that he wants.
It is a club walking an emotional tightrope, while also trying to ensure that relegation is avoided. It is a perilous position to be in.
For the last three years, Benitez has been the glue that has held everything together, a manager who healed a fractured football club when he agreed to stay on after relegation to the Championship in 2016.
He has brought a semblance of peace to Tyneside. He may not have ended the war between Ashley and the supporters, but he has at least halted the worst of the conflict because he has refused to back protests against his employer, effectively arguing that they would damage the team.
But Benitez has also stirred up resentment and frustration. He has played a deeply political game, persistently bemoaning the lack of ambition shown, complaining about the lack of transfer funds made available to him, refusing to mask his frustration and irritation whenever he has not been given precisely what he wants. He has had supporters on side since he arrived and has enjoyed making sure they stay there.
So what needs to happen next? What needs to be done to break the stand-off between owner and manager and persuade Benitez to sign another contract?
The first and most important thing is to avoid relegation. If Newcastle drop into the Championship for the second time in three years, the conversation will be over.
Benitez will not want to stay and Ashley would not want him to anyway. Relegation would be viewed as a failure for Benitez as much as anyone else.
He would argue he was not given the tools he needed to do the job, but it would be an unconvincing argument.
For all their limitations, when you look at the Newcastle squad and compare it to the others in the bottom six, he has enough to get out of trouble for a second successive year.
If that happens, it is over to Ashley. Benitez does not want to be at a club that fights relegation every year. He does not want to be constantly scratching around for bargains, players who can do a job, but who are never going to be good enough to turn Newcastle into something more than successful relegation battlers.
He will want to know how much money there is for him to spend and he will want a firm assurance that he will be able to spend it how he wishes.
For example, if Benitez decides that he wants to sign the 30-year-old Salomon Rondon on a permanent deal from West Bromwich Albion in the summer, even though the club refused to do so last year because of his age, then he must be allowed to do so.
If the club refuse again, they will at least have to promise to find the money to sign a better alternative, not merely a younger, cheaper option.
In turn, Benitez must also be realistic. He cannot expect to be given the freedom to completely overhaul the squad or sign a totally new starting XI.
After two years in the Premier League, Newcastle now need to upgrade in key positions. Benitez must be given his first or second choice targets in the three or four positions he feels are vital to improve if Newcastle are going to be significantly stronger next term.
This is the key point. Ashley must not give the impression he wants to stand still, he must convince Benitez he is aspirational not ambivalent.
None of this should be impossible to achieve. Neither should the improvements to the training ground that have been put on hold; improvements Benitez has asked for since 2016. Newcastle should have the resources and cash flow after two years of Premier League money to make it happen.
In turn, for all the cynicism, Benitez has a lot of good reasons to remain where he is. He is one of the best paid managers in Europe, earning more than £6m a year. He is at a club where he is adored by the fans, in a city he has a deep affection for, knowing that even a bad run of results will not damage his reputation. Few managers enjoy that luxury and it is one he would not be given should he, for argument’s sake, end up at a club like Leicester City.
And if he remains suspicious about Ashley’s long-term goals, that should still not prevent him from a signing a one-year rolling contract that means, if promises are broken, he can leave without financial penalty.
As dysfunctional as their relationship has been, it can still become a marriage of convenience that keeps everyone happy. It is in everyone’s interest to make this happen, which means, for all of the misgivings and manoeuvrings, it probably will in the end.
As dysfunctional as Mike Ashley and Rafael Benitez's relationship is, it should continue for Newcastle's sake