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They say that with Donald Trump, there’s a tweet for everything.

He makes an inflammatory statement, his detractors dig through his Twitter account to find him saying something contradictory just a few months or years ago. It highlights the danger of saying something that you don’t really mean.

For any seasoned Newcastle United watchers, it can sometimes feel similar in the transfer window. United blunder through a trading period, detractors dig out a Mike Ashley quote that contradicts what is playing out in front of you.

So whatever happened to “making your own luck”, Mike ? Three years ago, before the West Ham win that kept United in the Premier League, Ashley told his preferred medium of Sky Sports that United would be doing just that from now on. Yet here we are, three years on with Newcastle seemingly happy to take the risk – again – that January blues won’t infect the mood of a club in serious danger of a third relegation in a decade.

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They needed - as a minimum - this month: a left-back, a number ten, a Premier League-ready striker and a goalkeeper to challenge Karl Darlow and Rob Elliot and allow one of their prize assets Freddie Woodman to leave on loan and belatedly keep him satisfied that he is at a club where his progression is seen as paramount.

With 48 hours left of a desperate transfer window, they are staring down the abyss. They could now end January with only a loan deal for an inexperienced Kenedy while clubs below them have spent big and improved in areas of weakness. How has that been allowed to happen?

Well uncertainty over the budget has played a part. For two and a half weeks Newcastle’s manager was being told he would have to sell to buy. Uncertain whether he would get a replacement for Jonjo Shelvey or Aleksandar Mitrovic, two players who were attracting the most interest, he decided to stick rather than twist. Ditto Dwight Gayle – attracting Championship interest.

Benitez had sourced the targets and found out prices and costs. But with the congestion at the top, deals were never likely to be done quickly.

That has meant Newcastle have played two league games this season – and will play a third on Wednesday – with the same sub-standard squad. Swansea was winnable and Burnley is too. Who knows what impact a transfer lift would have had?

To be told with a week to go that there would be money to spend was belated good news – but what has happened since has highlighted the problems with leaving it late. They dallied over a deal for Nicolai Jorgensen which never felt close and then were gazumped by West Brom in the chase for Daniel Sturridge. Albion had been working on that all window, so perhaps it is no surprise.

And although Sturridge might be chided in some quarters for choosing Albion over Newcastle, is it really that much of a surprise? West Brom have a better team and he’ll be playing among – arguably – better players. Perhaps Sturridge watched Dwight Gayle and Joselu plugging away at Manchester City and Chelsea and thought ‘I don’t fancy that’. Albion, by contrast, looked vibrant at Anfield.

The Jorgensen deal is particularly baffling. Ashley attacked Amanda Staveley for “time wasting” after she made an offer below his asking price and tried to haggle but what were Newcastle trying to do to Feyenoord?

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This is a serious European club with no need to sell a player who still has plenty of his contract to run and a World Cup to play in. They were prepared to let him go – being honest and open in their public proclamations – and were fair and reasonable with the player, who wanted the move. But they named their price and demands – that it would be done with enough time for them to source a replacement – and then waited to hear more. Newcastle were found wanting, wasting everyone’s time – not least their own.

Now they have two days to mitigate a total disaster. They are, apparently, looking at a striker in the Bundesliga who could offer another option. There are other targets, we’re told – although none will be done in time for the Burnley game.

Perhaps they have a rabbit ready to pull out of the hat but it seems unlikely. And even if they had, fans would understandably be sceptical about it now.

This has been a window when criticism of reporters has built too, with accusations of spinning on the club’s behalf. It’s not true but it speaks volumes of the cynicism of many with regards to the club’s intentions: cynicism we hoped had been dilluted by Benitez’s refreshing approach. It looks as if Sky’s reporters are bearing the brunt of it – unfair on those on the ground who are honest and accurate.

But perhaps their paymasters might take note: as well as gentle pre-season interview, Sky Sports has regularly given a platform to the likes of Simon Jordan, Dennis Wise and lately Craig Bellamy who have taken Ashley’s side and are rarely challenged. Fans note this. They don’t forget. Perhaps it is time the broadcaster found new pundits who actually spend time on Tyneside, watch games, know people involved and are prepared to give a more rounded picture than the rent-a-quotes invited on to programmes like The Debate.

All of these are side issues beyond what happens in the market in the next few hours. The opportunity to get the players they needed in has now passed. Whatever happens from here on in, they have left Rafa Benitez short-changed and once again taken an unnecessary risk. He will not get the number ten so critical to the way he plays, and the goalkeeper deal looks unlikely. Woodman will stew in the under-23s and is unlikely to forget when contract negotiations start.

It is all so baffling. Ashley has invested in the Championship to get them back up, clearly aware of the importance of the Premier League TV money to their revenue streams. But when they have arrived in the Premier League he’s stopped the funds, risking another damaging relegation.

The club have indicated, too, that they want Benitez to stay. Ashley knows how critical he is to any takeover – for those trying to drum up interest, the presence of a world class manager has been a crucial factor. Yet by their actions in the last three transfer windows, they’re pushing him closer to the exit door.

If they end up with nobody other than Kenedy by midnight tomorrow, it is the biggest deriliction of duty on Ashley’s watch.