He may be keeping his cool - but cold facts are Benitez is just so frustrated LEERYDER

THE TENSION RISES AS RAFA HITS OUT AT CLUB’S POLICY

WHILE others might lose their heads amid the intense environment Rafa Benitez now finds himself right in the middle of, the 58-year-old is cool, calm and collected.

On the ground floor of SC Braga’s Estádio Municipal, you will find the press room and the stage on which Benitez delivered one of the most impactive media calls for quite some time.

It was still hot and stuffy in there at about 10.10 on Wednesday night as ice-cold Benitez made his way into the auditorium and delivered a press conference which has rocked Tyneside.

Only a handful of journalists had made the journey to Porto and Braga but they were about to hit the send button on one of the biggest stories of the transfer window so far, even if it was a negative one.

Benitez’s words strayed out of the boundaries your average manager will set when talking about transfers and recruitment - but the Spaniard is not your average manager.

He did not criticise anybody with his words but instead delivered what he described as “very clear and simple” facts.

Benitez did not slam anybody in doing what he did, he was diplomatic.

His body language was not resigned to failure and instead it felt like he was simply asking WHY Newcastle United find themselves in the headlines for the wrong reasons yet AGAIN!

The feel-good factor from last season seems a long time ago now.

However, even during a tough summer, Benitez has shown his class and quality as one of the world’s top managers. The former Real Madrid and Liverpool boss has an aura around him and at both Porto and SC Braga they rolled out the red carpet for him.

Why? Because, just like a huge list of European clubs, one day they would gladly take him as their manager - and give him the tools he needs for the job.

Only at Newcastle United it does not feel like he is getting the backing owner Mike Ashley and managingdirector Lee Charnley both pledged earlier this year.

With supporters now starting to make plans to make bigger statements about the running of the club – as various groups come together as one – Benitez will stay focused on the last week of the window.

However, he knows he has done everything in his power to try to bring in players this summer.

During a nine-game streak in which United failed to win last winter, Benitez said: “We are where we are because we did what we did.”

Back then he was making a reference to the flat end to the summer window which resulted in bargain buys like Joselu and Javier Manquillo coming in to try to make ends meet.

Both of those players are still on board but Benitez has missed out on a host of targets.

Just like last year, he did not take a summer holiday.

He probably should have because it would not have made the slightest bit of difference.

Newcastle’s stubborn way with finances is strangling the life out of