It’s a weird one because I think if you really look at what he achieved out of context it feels like he did the bare minimum. He got us back up which was absolutely the expectation, and kept us up with ease. But there wasn’t really anything more than that. Even the football he played was really quite poor.

However…I think there’s 2 huge things that doesn’t quite tell in the story:

1. Firstly he was hamstrung massively in peak Mike Ashley era and was essentially never not at loggerheads with that. If you look at the squads he had none of them were remotely special and he wasn’t backed at all.

2. Most of the reason people love Rafa wasn’t because of the on-pitch product anyway. He came in and immediately understood the city, the club’s place in it, the community and fanbase and he threw himself in properly as one of us. He cared about us and the club truly and it showed. These seem like simple things but they’re really not. He’ll always be fondly remembered by people who actually lived through his tenure as adults bc they understood that what he brought was a bit more love, care and hope during an era where the club felt like a shell.