Upbeat Rafael Benítez finds reasons to be cheerful at winless Newcastle

There will always be a special bond between Chris Hughton and Newcastle supporters but anxious home fans hope to see their former manager defeated when his Brighton side visit St James’ Park on Saturday. After all, Rafael Benítez’s team have only two points and are desperately seeking a first win of the campaign.

Reason to be fearful

Despite last season’s somewhat deceptive 10th-place finish, Newcastle’s downward spiral started last spring. In 14 games since mid-April they have won once and lost 11 times. Lack of goals is proving corrosive but the underlying problem is recruitment; whereas some rivals spent around £100m last summer Benítez, unhappily, made a £20m profit on player trading. A skinny squad could do with a reliable central striker, a natural No 10, another decent winger, a mobile central midfielder and specialist left-back cover.

Reason to be cheerful

Narrow defeats against five top-six teams indicate the sense of crisis may have been exacerbated by a cruel early autumn fixture list. If Brighton represents a more realistic litmus test, so, too, do impending games against Southampton, Watford, Bournemouth and Burnley. Significantly, Benítez possesses an excellent goalkeeper in Martin Dubravka and Jonjo Shelvey remains a gifted playmaker. “The first win is always the hardest,” says Newcastle’s manager. “Afterwards we’ll be better – you can’t buy confidence on the fifth floor of John Lewis.”

Might Benítez be sacked?

Unlikely. Admittedly the Spaniard’s refusal to extend a deal which runs out next summer has seen agents hawking their managerial clients to Newcastle but there is currently no appetite for parting company with a coach adored by supporters. “I don’t fear the sack,” said an unusually upbeat Benítez on Friday in response to vague suggestions that Celtic’s Brendan Rodgers might replace him. “It’s more difficult this year but I’m confident we’ll stay in the Premier League.” The contractual sticking point is the owner Mike Ashley’s refusal to meet Benítez’s demands over not only transfers but a proposed revamp of the training ground and academy. on Friday, though, this most politically astute manager proved to be in uncharacteristically, and intriguingly, conciliatory mood. Maybe, just maybe, the unprecedented group night out involving an Italian meal recently shared by the owner, squad and staff really has created a mood of glasnost. “If we’re talking about [extending] my contract we won’t tell you,” Benítez, who has met Ashley only four times, said teasingly.

Could Benítez be part of the problem?

It sounds almost heretical but a few fans have begun to question the manager’s perceived tactical negativity. His retort is that recent defeats were narrow – and relegation could be decided on goal difference. Moreover Newcastle regularly miss counterattacking chances. Which rather begs the question: was Benítez right to sell Aleksandar Mitrovic to Fulham? He never trusted the Serbia striker to retain his discipline and craved Salomón Rondón, now borrowed from West Brom. Is Rondón, struggling for fitness, better than Mitrovic though?

Benítez remains excellent at improving players – Jamaal Lascelles, Paul Dummett and DeAndre Yedlin are three to have improved immeasurably on his watch – but the sense that the coach will depart next summer has possibly undermined his authority slightly, with Lascelles and Matt Ritchie recently questioning a couple of managerial decisions. Not that anyone has forgotten the tactical wonders Benítez performed to keep Newcastle up last season. Or that he has, once again, been dealt an awful hand by Ashley.

“The other teams around us spent £100m,” he reiterated, before changing tack and apparently proffering a rare olive branch in the owner’s direction. “But I’m used to working without a big budget; even at Liverpool and Real Madrid I was never spending big money and still we were achieving something.

“I don’t know my January budget and it’s not a problem. I’m not telling you this because I have to but because I see the team training. I believe. And the fans know they have to support the team for 90 minutes. This city wants to be in the Premier League next year. If you criticise the manager, the substitutions or something else it doesn’t change anything. The fans have to be united.” Might that be the cue for the cessation of latterly escalating anti-Ashley protests?

Is the club likely to be sold soon? As Benítez tucked into his seafood risotto during that Italian meal, Ashley revealed an imminent sale was unlikely. Yet Newcastle remain very much on the market, with the law firm hired to handle interest fielding frequent – if invariably frivolous – inquiries. With Amanda Staveley’s proposed buyout having foundered, the former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon hopes to form a consortium able to meet the £300m-£350m asking price and Saudi Arabian interest is also rumoured. Expect any takeover to be conducted amid utmost discretion with its eventual announcement startling almost everyone.