Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle United have failed to win any of their first six Premier League games so far this season.
Mark Lawrenson has never been a particularly popular figure among Newcastle United fans.
The BBC pundit and former Liverpool defender has been frequently criticised by Magpies supporters for often betting against the Tyneside giants in his weekly Premier League predictions.
Ironically, however, Newcastle are doing better in Lawro’s world than they are in reality, Rafa Benitez’s side having failed to win any of their first six league games in 2018/19.
Benitez has certainly been forced to operate with one hand behind his back, with Newcastle’s struggles being attributed by many to the lack of investment provided by owner Mike Ashley in the last few transfer windows.
But Lawrenson believes that Newcastle fans need to stop complaining about Ashley; an opinion that is unlikely to enhance his reputation in the North East.
“There is a lot of goodwill towards Benitez from the Newcastle fans, but he has got to start getting some points,” Lawrenson wrote in his new BBC predictions column.
“At the moment, there is still an awful lot of noise coming from supporters about Mike Ashley and how he needs to spend more money on players, but they should park that until the transfer window opens in January.”
Newcastle were among the lowest spenders in the Premier League last summer, investing around £20 million on new players while being forced to rely heavily on free agents, bargain buys and loan signings.
As a result, Benitez has been left with arguably one of the weakest squads in the top flight.
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