Rafa Benitez Admits Time is Running Out for Newcastle as Owner Mike Ashley Takes £10m Back From Club

Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez has admitted that time is running out for the club after their seventh loss of the season.

The Magpies suffered another defeat on the weekend after playing Brighton and are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table with just two points after seven losses, two draws and zero wins since the start of the 2018/19 campaign.

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“We’re a little bit under pressure because the time is short now," the Spaniard said via the Mirror following the 1-0 loss on Saturday.

“Everybody is a bit down. We lost a game we deserved to win but we have to keep going.”

“I don’t think anyone in the stadium can question the manager about anything," defender Jamaal Lascelles added.

“Substitutions, tactics or whatever, he knows football better than anyone in this whole stadium. People might say he should have brought this or that player on, but he’s done it at the top level and won trophies, so he knows.

“He wants us to play a certain way and if we can’t do that as players, it’s down to us.”

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Meanwhile, The Telegraph has revealed that owner Mike Ashley has taken £10m back from the club despite promising to back the manager in the transfer window. Ashley had provided £144m to Newcastle in interest-free loans, but it is understood that he has taken some of that back

"Ashley had promised in an official statement back in May - as he had done 12 months earlier - that Benitez would get 'every penny' the club generated in the Premier League, as he claimed he wanted the Spaniard to stay long term," the report reads. 

"But instead he has decided not to stick to that pledge, with Benitez's refusal to sign a new deal thought to have been one of the reasons for him doing so. 

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"The club refused to comment when asked to confirm £10m had been repaid to Ashley and to explain why it was taken out of the club given the lack of financial support for Benitez in the transfer market."