Brentford 1-2 Newcastle - Match Reaction

“He giveth with one hand, and taketh away with the other.”

Not wanting to be all biblical, but never has a phrase been so apt than this one was this weekend.

It’s fair to say that this win was a vital one. With Brighton having stumbled at Preston, but perhaps more importantly Leeds winning against Derby on Friday, thus closing the gap between Newcastle and third place to a meagre four points, it was critical that the Black and Whites took maximum points against the Bees.

The fact that the win, in all honesty, was a lucky one – even a draw would perhaps have been harsh on the Bees – makes it all the more important. They always say that the sign of a good team is one that can play badly and still find a way to win.

That is exactly what Newcastle did on Saturday…but at what cost?

With the return of Jonjo Shelvey this week, Rafa Benitez can probably cope with the loss of Isaac Hayden, and as long as he stays fit, DeAndre Yedlin, is ready for a longer run in the side at right back to cover for Vurnon Anita. But the one player we could not afford to lose, is Dwight Gayle, particularly so soon after Aleksandar Mitrovic picked up his injury.

If you had told me a year ago that I would be heralding the return from suspension of Shelvey, and worried at the loss of Gayle to injury, as our two key players, I’d have thought you’d had too many vodka and Red Bulls the night before.

That said, Rafa had a contingency plan for just this scenario. Granted, I do not think the Jack Colback and Hayden partnership worked in Shelvey’s absence, but certainly, in previous seasons, when our main striker has picked up a knock – let alone two of them – we have never been in a position to cope with it.

I think virtually every fan raised an eyebrow when Daryl Murphy was brought in, but it does not seem so daft now.

In all fairness to him, Murphy probably realised when he signed that he was not going to be in the first team from the start, and that he would not be playing 35-40 games a season. But the chance to sign for Newcastle was too good for him to say no to.

He has been patient, bided his time, and been available when called upon. Now is his time to take his chance.

He cannot really have done much more than he has. He got a start in the FA Cup game at Birmingham – and scored within minutes of the kick-off. He came off the bench to replace Gayle on Saturday, and scored the winning goal that, when we look back on the season in May, may turn out to be one of the most crucial goals of the campaign.

He deserves his chance in the spotlight, let’s just hope he takes it, and makes selection harder for Rafa when Mitro and Gayle are fit again.

And therein lies another issue.

The key sentence in the previous few paragraphs was “Rafa had a contingency plan” for the striker injury crisis.

The fact that he had planned for something like this by having a seasoned professional on board as a back-up, says everything about why Rafa needs to be left in control of transfers at St James’ Park.

With reports over the weekend that Mike Ashley is not happy, and wants to revert back to his transfer philosophy – one which may have worked on a financial front, but has ultimately failed on a footballing one – being printed by the Sunday People, it is enough to have fans worried that Rafa will just walk away, in the same way that Kevin Keegan did.

Personally, I think much of this story is mischief-making from the newspaper. I think the blueprint has always been the same: Ashley would prefer to have younger players coming in that, should they want to leave in the future, will have a sell-on value that will protect the club’s initial investment.

I don’t think any football club owner would think any different. I think the story has been put out to create a storm with things having been calm for a few months.

What surprises me is that the story comes from one of the club’s official partners. Personally, I think there is very little in it, and when it comes down to it, Ashley and Charnley pulled out all the stops to get Rafa to stay, and they are not going to do anything to jeopardise that.

I still firmly believe that if Rafa wanted to bring the right person in for the squad, or the first team, regardless of age, then he would put the case to Charnley and Ashley, and it would be considered, and as long as it was justifiable, Benitez would be given the green light.

Murphy is the perfect example of why Rafa should always be given the benefit of any doubt.