IN the last 12 seasons, Leyton Orient, Bristol Rovers, Stevenage and Notts County have all made it to the fifth round of the FA Cup. Crawley Town have been there twice.

Of the 20 clubs currently playing in the Premier League, 19 have competed in the fifth round on at least one occasion since Mike Ashley gained control of Newcastle United in 2007. The one that haven’t made it that far? The club that gave up trying to win something a long, long time ago.

Since 2007, Newcastle have exited the FA Cup at the third-round stage on six occasions and in the fourth round another six times. Ashley couldn’t care less about that statistic. He wasn’t at St James’ Park on Saturday to see his club’s latest miserable surrender, and continues to regard a cup run as a damaging distraction from the much more important business of scrambling to 17th position in the table.

Rafael Benitez, for all that he might be lauded by Newcastle’s support, appears to share his owner’s entrenched lack of enthusiasm for the ‘greatest cup competition in the world’. He treated his side’s third-round replay at Blackburn Rovers as an unwanted annoyance rather than an opportunity to move a step closer to Wembley, and approached Saturday’s home tie with a Watford side that were there for the taking with a sense of barely-disguised disdain. It wasn’t quite Oxford United in 2017, when his treatment of the FA Cup resulted in starts for Curtis Good, Dan Barlaser and Yasin Ben El-Mhanni, but it wasn’t far off.

Benitez cannot swerve culpability for Newcastle’s abject cup record on his watch, but as the club’s record over almost a decade-and-a-half proves, the malaise runs much deeper than a manager who is already pouring all his attention into next month’s home matches against Huddersfield Town and Burnley.

The Northern Echo:

Benitez’s willingness to forsake a cup run is symptomatic of the wider approach that has become entrenched under Ashley. Survive to survive. Edge out Brighton at home to make sure that, next season, you can play Brighton at home all over again. Prioritise functionality over ambition, and if you want to dream, conjure up visions of a healthy balance sheet rather than an open-topped bus.

It is the complete anathema of what football is supposed to be about, and has reduced Newcastle United to a shell of a club, devoid of heart, passion or meaning. There wasn’t a furious reaction to Saturday’s latest cup exit because that would have meant it had not been expected to happen.

This is simply the way of things on Tyneside, so while there was a smattering of booing when Matt Ritchie was replaced in the second half, and some disgruntled muttering when Fabian Schar came on to chase the game with nine minutes left rather than Newcastle’s main striker, Salomon Rondon, who remained unused on the substitutes’ bench, it was apathy rather than anger that ruled.

Newcastle’s supporters have passed the point of disillusion and reached a state of disinterest, with increasing evidence on social media of season-ticket renewal forms remaining unfilled. That is the legacy of more than a decade of Ashley’s rule.

“I’m obviously disappointed,” said Benitez, with precious little conviction. “I thought this team, with these players, I was convinced we could beat Watford, but we could not do it. We have what we have, and we have to carry on and concentrate on the league.

“We’ve had to try to go through with what we have in the squad. It makes no sense to lose players (to injury) when we would have to wait and see what happens in the future with the draw.”

In other words, avoiding injuries was the number one priority on Saturday afternoon, and there wasn’t really much point in getting through the fourth round because Newcastle would probably only have gone on to lose in the fifth round anyway. What an utterly depressing approach for a club that was ranked as the 19th richest in the world in last week’s Deloitte Money League.

That money has not been reinvested into the team, with the Magpies’ latest defeat having reaffirmed just how far they have fallen behind mid-ranking Premier League clubs that would once have been easy fodder for them.

Watford made 11 changes at the weekend, yet Javi Gracia was still able to call on a group of players that boasted extensive Premier League experience and no little skill.

Benitez made seven alterations, and found himself naming a cobbled-together side that would not have looked out of place in the lower reaches of the Championship. For all that their most recent league game took them out of the bottom three, that could yet be where Newcastle find themselves next season if they do not make some significant signings in the remaining four days of the transfer window.

Kenedy and Jacob Murphy have lost their way so dramatically that it is hard to remember a time when they were anything other than makeweights fleshing out the squad. Isaac Hayden remains desperate to leave this month, and has spoken to clubs that want to provide him with an escape route. Joselu has become the template for Newcastle’s attacking additions – cheap and unwanted elsewhere – while Sean Longstaff boasts promise, but was playing in League One for Blackpool last season.

Together, Newcastle’s ‘B’ team managed the grand total of one shot on target, and by the time it arrived midway through the second half, they were already behind.

A featureless first half was played at a walking pace that was akin to a testimonial rather than a full-blooded FA Cup tie, but while they were equally as lethargic in the early stages, Watford would still have claimed the lead had Freddie Woodman not turned Domingos Quina’s shot over the crossbar.

The visitors eventually broke the deadlock shortly after the hour mark, with Will Hughes threading a through ball beyond the Newcastle defence, and Andre Gray running across Jamaal Lascelles before sweeping home a low first-time finish.

The Magpies’ chance came five minutes later, with Javier Manquillo dribbling into the box and chipping the ball over Heurelho Gomes, only for Ben Wilmot to head clear from just in front of the goalline.

Ayoze Perez blazed a late shot over the crossbar after coming off the bench, and Watford wrapped things up in the final minute as Quina broke clear down the left and crossed for Isaac Success to turn home.