Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez has admitted that “it was impossible” for the Magpies to repeat last season’s feat of finishing in the top half of the Premier League table.
Having returned to the top flight last term following promotion as Championship champions the season before, Benitez guided his side to 44 points, which was enough to secure the club a 10th-placed finish in the table.
The club can eclipse that total and reach 45 this season with a win over Fulham on Sunday, but three points at Craven Cottage can only take them to a maximum of 13th this time round.
“We didn’t realise last year that to finish 10th was a miracle,” Benitez told Sky Sports. “This year, we were expecting that, ‘We finished 10th, maybe we can finish seventh’, and it was impossible.
“You can be lucky one year or you can do really well one year, but to be consistent, you have to have everything in place. Also, remember Brighton, Huddersfield and us, we were promoted and we were more or less there.
“But when you have Fulham promoted or Wolves and they are spending £100m, it could be totally different. To be where we are now is a great achievement, maybe not bigger than last year, but it was more difficult, for sure, this season.”
OPINION
Regardless of where Newcastle finish this season, it was always going to be tough to get into the top 10 again this season because of the goings-on in other clubs around that area of the table. Firstly, Everton and West Ham both appointed new managers in Marco Silva and Manuel Pellegrini, respectively, and the pair have imprinted well their styles of play on their clubs, meaning they have done better than last season. If you remember, West Ham were in dire straits after Slaven Bilic was sacked, which meant all David Moyes had to do was help them survive. He did that, and this year Pellegrini has taken the Hammers forward again. On Merseyside, Silva had a shaky start to the season but the Toffees have been magnificent of late. And Wolves? They have come in fresh from promotion and stormed it, picking up a host of points against the top six clubs to finish well.