THE Premier League season hasn’t even started yet and already Newcastle United are hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Rafa Benitez is as unhappy as ever about a lack of transfer funds, and yesterday, it emerged that his first team squad is in dispute with the club again over bonus payments.

In protest, the players refused to carry out media interviews, or film the “walk-up” shots needed by Sky Sports for their coverage of Saturday’s game against Tottenham Hotspur. That really shows Mike Ashley they mean business.

The average fan is likely to have little sympathy with players who are already incredibly well paid throwing their toys out of the pram in this way. By refusing to carry out media engagements, the squad are taking a risk. Last time they went down a similar route, Ashley intervened personally to sort it out.

Whether he has the patience to do so again, just 12 months down the line, remains to be seen.

Whoever wins this time around, it gives the impression of a badly run club that did so well last year despite of its senior management, not because of it.

No wonder Benitez so frequently expresses his dissatisfaction with the resources at his disposal.

This dispute comes just as Newcastle should have its full attention on the transfer market ahead of Thursday’s deadline. It may turn out that the club has once more taken its eye off the ball just when it needed to focus the most.