Rafa Benitez’s team-sheet read more like the transfer list, not that they played like this was an outing in the shop window.
The only thing Rafa’s reserves achieved last night was in lowering their asking price, for the queue of would-be suitors will be a little shorter this morning after Newcastle exited at the second-round stage of this competition for the first time in 27 years.
Benitez declared on the eve of the game that he would make changes - 10, as it happened - and it was a gamble which backfired. Or did it? Perhaps he wanted out of the Carabao Cup after all.