IN MANY respects, DeAndre Yedlin deserved some credit for stopping to face the media on the touchline outside the tunnel on Saturday after his part in Newcastle United’s worst performance under Rafael Benitez.

It was a day to well and truly forget for the American, as Watford’s Marvin Zeegelaar and Richarlison gave him a torrid time as they attacked at will down Newcastle’s right-hand flank.

Even lone striker Andre Gray, who had only scored once since his £11.5m move from Burnley in the summer, realised he might have greater luck down that flank in the second half so drifted to Watford’s left and ought to have scored two more goals than he did.

Yedlin, head bowed and clearly fed up after such a depressing performance, knew it wasn’t good enough and he was clearly not in the mood to talk so soon after the defeat. Is this the worst you have felt after a Newcastle game? “It’s probably up there.”

The fact is that it could have been any of the players talking in such a sombre way.

With the exception of Jacob Murphy, whose first-half energy and attempts to make things happen have to be applauded, even if he was far from brilliant, there were few positives for those in black and white.

Watford looked in command, dangerous and full of spirit at a time when their manager, Marco Silva, has been the subject of strong interest from Everton. And on this evidence it is understandable why the Hornets have refused a £20m compensation fee.

Perhaps more alarmingly from a Tyneside perspective was that Watford’s players even felt they didn’t have to hit top gear to look so good and score three goals without reply because Newcastle were that bad.

Gray said: “It’s a great win for the boys, especially considering none of us thought we played particularly well.

“We can play much better but if you can play like that and come away with three goals and a clean sheet then it’s a good sign.

“If anyone’s seen us in recent weeks they’ll know we can play a lot better than that. There were a few of us who thought individually we weren’t at our best.”

How Newcastle’s players would have liked to have been able to deliver such a victory by feeling they had not reached full capacity in terms of performance.

More worryingly from a Magpies point of view, this four-match losing slump looks to be part of the bigger picture.

Optimism is fading that Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners will be able to buy out Mike Ashley before Christmas, so there is every chance Benitez will have little funds available in the January transfer window to add to his squad.

The manager will try to do different things regardless, and was linked with Manchester United full-back Luke Shaw yesterday, as well as Turkish striker Tosun again, but it is clear that this is a squad short of options and not equipped to stay in the Premier League’s top ten.

Newcastle have never been a major threat going forward since leaving the Championship behind last May, but they have been organised and capable of finding the net on the counter.

After defeats to Burnley, Bournemouth and Manchester United, there was no sense of any of that against Watford.

Yedlin said: “This was possibly a knock on from the last few results. I don’t really know what it is, though. I just know we need to bounce back on Tuesday (against West Brom).

“Yes, of course, I’ve taken it hard because we have lost four on the bounce. I am not going to walk out of here with a smile on my face.

“As a player, if you win ten in a row and you lose one, or you lose ten in a row, you are still going to be angry when you lose. It’s the nature of the game.

“We are a team so we are going to take losses as a team and we will have to move forward from this as a team.”

Yedlin will have been particularly peeved because he knows that all of Watford’s goals came from down his side. He was unable to get down the line as much as he likes, while defensively he left gaps down the flank and in behind for Newcastle to be exposed.

To point the finger purely at the American would be harsh. Matt Ritchie, so often Benitez’s main man since moving from Bournemouth 17 months ago, offered him very little help in containing the adventurous Watford wing-back Zeegelaar.

The problems were not just down Newcastle’s right, it was just that the goals came down that side. In midfield, Mohamed Diame and Jonjo Shelvey were given the runaround by the excellent Abdoulaye Doucoure, Will Hughes and Tom Cleverley.

Then the movement of the yellow shirts caused problems for a defence lacking the leadership of Jamaal Lascelles, while the least said about Newcastle as an attacking force – with Joselu and Dwight Gayle an ineffective double act – the better.

Yedlin said: “We have to stay together, not just as a team but as a club, the fans as well, that’s what this whole club is built on. We have to make sure we stick together during this rough patch and come through it.

“We are just trying to stay positive.

“It’s very hard to after a performance like that, but it’s what you have to do. We are going to have drops like this so you have to try to stay positive and bounce back. We have a game on Tuesday, so in that sense we can try to move on quickly.”

Newcastle have now only won four of their opening 13 matches since returning to the Premier League; three of those were against teams in the relegation zone – Swansea, Crystal Palace and West Ham – and the other against struggling Stoke.

How they need a victory against lowly West Brom because it is then a trip to Stamford Bridge on Saturday, where it is hard to imagine anything other than a Chelsea win.

To succeed at The Hawthorns Benitez needs to see a lift and huge improvements. Joselu, with a mis-kick in the opening few minutes, did have the best early chance to take the lead against Watford, while Ritchie hit the side-netting from 20 yards soon after.

But after that Watford dictated the tempo and did what they needed and deliver a solid three points.

The opener arrived in the 19th minute when Zeegelaar chested down a fine diagonal pass from Christian Kabasele before rolling a cross in for Hughes to apply the finish.

Zeegelaar’s strong running was heavily involved in the second too.

Deep into first-half stoppage-time he was spotted on the overlap by Richarlison and his delivery deflected off Yedlin’s outstretched leg and beyond goalkeeper Rob Elliot.

Gray had two brilliant chances to extend the lead in the early throes of the second half, but Watford didn’t have to wait too much longer because the former Newcastle target slid in at the back post to convert Richarlison’s perfect curling delivery just after the hour.

After that neither side really threatened to alter the scoring, with the damage well and truly done already. Benitez needs to stop the rot and do it quickly, otherwise rapidly increasing fears of a relegation fight will become the reality.