Our Newcastle fans here in the Transfer Tavern are starting to worry about the future of Rafa Benitez.

After thinking they’d at last got the man to help take them back to the upper echelons of English football The Daily Mail have claimed it could be all over before it begins properly.

The Spanish manager is reportedly unhappy that the club did not manage to sign anyone during the last transfer window in January and could walk away if he decides that he’s seen enough from the likes of Mike Ashley.

Of course, the Spaniard may also stay as he clearly has an affection for the club but the Magpies’ hierarchy must be thinking about a contingency plan should the former Liverpool boss move on.

Indeed, our landlord has been thinking about this too and reckons one of these three managers could be ideal to come in…

Cesare Prandelli

Prandelli is a very experienced campaigner and knows how to take charge of big clubs.

He’s been in control of the likes of Valencia and AS Roma as well as the Italian national team so he has a great appreciation of what it is to manage a side like Newcastle. He’s great at organising, too, and would surely keep Newcastle tight at the back regardless of what division they are in.

Marcelino

Another manager who knows how to look after clubs the size of Newcastle is Marcelino.

He’s been in charge of the likes of Sevilla and most recently Villarreal with whom he took on Liverpool in the Europa League last season. They lost out to the Reds but it was impressive that they got that far on a typically small budget and so our landlord thinks he could handle the Magpies well.

Pako Ayesteran

Ayesteran has worked with Benitez before at the likes of Liverpool and so would arguably be the most natural successor to the man in charge at the moment.

He’d carry on Benitez’s work as well as tweaking it to his own style and so in many ways the settling in period would be about as short as possible. That is certainly something Newcastle cannot overlook with the amount of upheaval they’ve had in recent years.

Thoughts, Newcastle fans? Let us know below!