Marco Silva is turning into such a hot managerial property he should probably be handled with oven gloves.

The worry for Watford is that he knows it and is doing nothing to kill rumours that he could yet fall into Everton’s clutches. “I don’t want to talk about speculation,” said Silva when invited to commit himself to at least a medium-term future at Vicarage Road.

By then his extraordinary ability to gel and improve players had inflicted a fourth successive league defeat on Newcastle. As the minutes passed and the impressive Marvin Zeegelaar repeatedly deconstructed Rafael Benítez’s defence, it became apparent that the success of Amanda Staveley’s mooted St James’ Park takeover is now imperative for Newcastle. It is no exaggeration to say that Tyneside survival hopes could hinge on the ability to access at least a few of her Middle East-sourced millions in January.

Well before the end Benítez’s calculated gamble in fielding a 4-4-2 formation against a visiting manager sometimes prone to defensive risk-tasking had failed spectacularly. Not that the Spaniard should be blamed for this latest reverse at the feet of Watford’s slickly sophisticated counterattacking pace. He did, after all, warn Newcastle’s owner. Mike Ashley, that a limited squad was in desperate need ofclose season reinforcement.

“We had to realise this could happen to us in the Premier League,” said Benítez, who for all his very real talents cannot quite turn water into wine. “We’re a team that has to work very, very hard to get good results. It’s tough.”

The positional interchanging within Silva’s fluid 3-4-3 configuration certainly proved tricky for Newcastle to second guess. It was no surprise when, courtesy of a swipe of his left boot, Will Hughes directed a textbook shot low into the bottom corner after meeting Zeegelaar’s precise cut-back.

Andre Yedlin, Benítez’s right-back, is one of the quicker players in a slightly one-paced Newcastle team but he misjudged Zeegelaar’s advance and it was to become a recurring theme.

By then Tyneside frustrations had already been manifested in Jonjo Shelvey’s bizarre scissor lunge at Miguel Britos from behind, for which he was rightly booked, while Rob Elliot had done well to repel Richarlison’s curling shot.

Already Newcastle were being stretched to the limit with Silva’s tactics targeting the right of their defence. Sure enough it was the point where, with the interval beckoning, they snapped for a second time. This time an alarmingly fazed Yedlin’s misreading of Zeegelaar’s cross resulted in his diverting the ball past a wrong-footed Elliot.

Benítez wanted to sign Andre Gray during the summer but Ashley deemed the then Burnley striker too expensive and he joined Watford for £18.5m instead. Perhaps predictably, Gray scored the third, darting into gaping space and stretching to turn Richarlison’s cross beyond Elliot.

“We could have scored seven but it was a pleasure to see things we had prepared happen,” said Silva. “I’m really happy.”

If only Benítez could say the same.