Step up for Nuno and step down for us. Not the level of manager expected to be honest. But if he comes good in a Poch way then great but can he win us anything beyond the League Cup or is top 4 our biggest aspiration?
Just a guess (literally, not snarkily), but I'd think it might be because behind the scenes, Levy expressed some kind of (however limited) interest in the names with whom we were 'linked', whereas he never made the slightest inference about Benitez. I don't know if you fellas ever listen to any of the TalkSport stuff with Simon Jordan (the old Palace chairman), but he really does bring some interesting perspectives to generic footy radio dialogue.* Anyway, they're often talking about managerial vacancies (Spurs, Everton, and Palace a lot recently), and Jordan, who's been through the process plenty at Palace, weighs in on it. And if you listen to him very long, one thing becomes clear - he does not think highly of how Rafael Benitez relates to his employers. He rates him as a manager, but can be scathing toward his attitude to his clubs' chairmen. I'm absolutely reading between the lines here and could be way off base, but if Daniel Levy views Rafa through anything like the prism that Jordan sees him through, our Dan'l wouldn't touch him with a barge pole. Obviously not every chairman sees him the same way, or he'd never get a job. And Jordan can be so critical of Benitez that you wonder if it may be personal, somehow. But I would've loved for us to go in for Benitez, as he always seemed like a very good fit to me. This process has been like the old 'ITK' days ... the briefest mention of interest would send it straight into the rumor mill. And yet, as stated, not a squeak about Rafa to Spurs. I've got to think Levy had squelched that behind the scenes before it could even come up. *interestingly enough, one of the commentators occasionally alongside him is Andros Townsend, who is surprisingly good. He comes off as a very clear-headed, level-headed young man. He's contextually mentioned that he's doing his badges. The way he thinks and communicates makes one think he could be a very decent manager some day.
Simon Jordan is interesting to listen to. In one interview I saw, he talked about "managing up" and how a lot of managers could avoid conflict with the board by making an effort to keep the chairman onside. He also quite bluntly and quite rightly stated that managers are in it for themselves and despite all the talk about "doing it for the supporters and the club", as soon as a better opportunity comes along, they will beggar off - he gives the example of how Steve Bruce ditched Palace as soon as Birmingham City came calling.
Any Sheffield Wednesday supporter will gladly offer you his opinion on Steve Bruce and beggaring off. It isn't pretty.