THINGS COULD GET WORSE FOR US, WARNS RAFA

RAFA BENITEZ has warned that Newcastle United’s season could get worse before it gets better if a proposed takeover is not completed in time for January. The Newcastle manager says he was unable to compete with the likes of fellow promoted clubs Brighton and Huddersfield in the transfer market this summer, and that is why his side have lost four matches on the spin. They travel to West Brom tonight and Benitez said: ‘We do not know what is going on (with the takeover) and what might happen in January. Our fans need to know it could be even worse. If we cannot sign anybody, what can we do?’ Benitez said after the closure of the transfer window that his squad had been left short and could easily go on a losing run. And he added: ‘Our reality is if you want a striker that scores 20 goals every year then you have to pay £40million. ‘We need to know where we are. We have to compete against Huddersfield, Brighton, or Burnley, but we couldn’t sign the players that they signed. We couldn’t pay the wages they paid. We have what we have. It could get worse. ‘On September 1 we knew it could be like this. The reality is that we have a team which has to compete at the bottom of the table.’