Takeover talks no excuse for form - Benitez

RAFA Benitez insists Newcastle United players cannot use takeover speculation as an excuse for their nine-game winless run earlier in the campaign.

Mike Ashley officially placed the club up for sale in October and that coincided with a two-month period during which the Magpies claimed just one point from a possible 27.

Yet since takeover speculation has died down in 2018 – with Amanda Staveley and PCP Capital Partners Ltd’s interest seemingly on hold until the Magpies’ top-flight future is resolved – Newcastle have claimed 13 points in this calendar year to move up to 13th in the table.

Magpies’ captain Jamaal Lascelles admitted in an interview with the national media this week that reports over a potential sale of the club had proved a distraction within the dressing room.

Yet Benitez believes the majority of his players were unaffected by the speculation – and insists they cannot use that as an excuse for their poor form before the turn of the year.

Instead, Benitez stresses Newcastle simply weren’t playing well enough and were making too many mistakes.

He said of his team’s downturn during his pre-Huddersfield Town press conference: “I’m not convinced about that – maybe for some players but it was not affecting the rest of the team.

“I was not talking with them about this. You were asking the same question and I was saying: ‘No.’

“I was surprised he (Lascelles) said this but maybe some players were affected. I’m sure the majority of the foreign players were into reading the newspapers and going, the takeover is coming.

“They were training – and they were training well. Maybe for him [(Lascelles, inset right), maybe for some of the players, but still for me it is not an excuse.

“The reason we were not doing well is because we made mistakes or because the other team was better than us. We have to be sure the next game we don’t have this distraction and we are just focused on playing football.”

However, Benitez has praised the character of his squad after they managed to put that nine-game winless run behind them and excel in 2018.

Since the middle of December, Benitez’s team have only been defeated by Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea in all competitions.

Though the Spaniard accepts some of his players were negatively affected by the poor run pre-Christmas, the leadership group within the dressing room remained strong and ensured the others came through it.