Former Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce claims he had virtually no contact with owner Mike Ashley during his stint at the club.
When news broke that recently departed Toon boss Rafa Benitez did not even know about his official departure until a club statement released onto social media, Allardyce was not surprised.
He recalled his own experiences with the club, saying he only saw Ashley in person a handful of times.
"There are lots of CEOs and sporting directors today, so you never speak to the owners anymore," said Alladrdyce on talkSPORT.
"In my short time at Newcastle I only met Mike maybe three times, and two of those were on a social basis rather than a business basis.
"He put some people together to run the club and expected them to get on with it. He wasn't on a day-to-day basis, he wanted to come and watch the games and enjoy himself, rather than get actively involved.
"That happens at a lot of clubs now, where the owners are not the people you actually deal with, and as a manager you have to accept that.
"But it's disappointing for Rafa, because he did a fantastic job keeping Newcastle in the Premier League.
"The hard thing for Mike now is who does he get to come and manage Newcastle United because the demand from the fans is massive.
"Whoever it is, hopefully for him and the Newcastle fans he will take the club forward, but it's going to be very difficult job, I think."
