SHARE

Rafa Benitez will turn things around at Celta Vigo after something of a nightmare start to life at the club, his first since his ill-fated spell at Everton.

That’s according to his former coach Paco Herrera, who has backed the Spanish coach to prove to be a hit at his new club.

Benitez took charge at Celta in the summer, his first job since leaving Everton in January of last year after a miserable 22 game spell at the club.

The hope had been that he would bounce back at Celta and reinvigorate his career after his spell at Goodison Park, in which both parties were very much harmed.

His arrival at Celta was a ‘notable’ one for the Spanish club and they were keen for him to lead their ‘ambitious project’ but their start to the season has not been as expected.

With just one win and one draw in their first five games, their performance has been ‘insufficient’ according to Estadio Deportivo, particularly as they were looking to qualify for Europe.

Celta are yet to take drastic action and even expressed their full confidence in the former Everton manager, believing he will eventually turn things around.

That’s an opinion shared by his former coach Herrera, who has leapt to the defence of his former boss.

“If he starts badly, he will solve it, and if he starts well, he will maintain that rhythm,” he said.

“With that what I mean is that Rafa is very methodical, very hard-working. He will find, little by little, the ideal team, or the 13 or 14 players that he believes are going to be there, and he will find them throughout the year.

“What is certain is that, as the season progresses, he will be able to get the best performance out of them..”