To blame Rafa Benítez for Newcastle United’s predicament this season is to miss the point entirely, a bit like blaming the iceberg for not getting out of the way of the Titanic. This is a club flawed from the top down, incapable of putting two good decisions together, with a rich history of bafflement and failure. The manager has tried to change it to the point of exhaustion.

Is he perfect? No. Is he beyond criticism? No. As with everybody in his position, tactics, formations, substitutions and signings are all fair game and there are moments when you long for Benítez to unleash his players in the way that Kevin Keegan once did on Tyneside. But he is not wired that way, a scientist