Newcastle United have not won in the Premier League since October and have lost four of their last five games.
It does appear that it is not too much fun being a Newcastle supporter right now, with plenty of uncertainty after being given hope that a post-Mike Ashley era was imminent and the team’s fortunes on the pitch suggesting that a battle against relegation may be on the cards unless they turn things around.
Going into their clash with West Brom on Tuesday, Rafa Benitez’s men had lost their previous four games and needed a comeback from 2-0 down against the Baggies to ensure that it did not become five losses in a row.
A victory over bottom side Crystal Palace remains their only win since September, so it certainly appears to be a worrying time at St James’ Park – but perhaps one man may be taking one positive from their recent run, Benitez himself.
Therefore, after such a frustrating time when it has come to transfers, Benitez’s men heading towards the relegation zone before January may not be the worst thing that could happen.
If the team stays in mid-table until the window opens, Ashley – if he is still owner of the Magpies by that point – may feel that there is no need to spend significant money until the summer at the earliest if relegation looks to be out of the question and progressing much further up the table looks to be beyond them.
If the team are situated near the bottom three when January arrives however, Ashley may perhaps be more willing to get the chequebook to ensure that they have the quality to keep themselves out of trouble as getting relegated back to the Championship would be a massive blow, and it would be difficult to imagine that Benitez would have any plans to stick around if they did have to come back up from the second tier once again.
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