Sam Allardyce has his say on Rafa Benitez's stand-off with Mike Ashley

Sam Allardyce has had his say on Rafa Benitez

Benitez is thought to be growing increasingly frustrated at the lack of transfer activity undertaken by the Tynesiders over the summer.

The Spaniard has brought in just five new faces for a combined fee of around £16.5million and is unsure whether any further additions will follow.

And after Newcastle's 4-0 friendly defeat to Braga in midweek, Benitez delivered a blunt transfer update which left many supporters worried over his long-term future at the club.

While not explicitly negative about owner Ashley, Benitez's comments have widely been interpreted as a message to the Newcastle United's hierarchy.

READ: Rafa Benitez has a message for owner Mike AshleyBut, according to former Newcastle and Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce, Benitez is a 'brave' man to openly criticise Ashley.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Allardyce claimed that Benitez would have to be extremely aware of what his actions could entail before making such comments - and felt that no other manager would have employed such tactics.

“You’re a very brave man if you go out and criticise the owners, which to be fair is what he is doing," said Allardyce.

“You have to be very self-confident in that you are criticising Mike Ashley with what you are saying. I don’t know whether they were going to sign anybody on or not.

MORE: Newcastle defender set to spend 'months' on the sidelines“So if you’re taking that stand, you have to be very conscious of what you are doing, and what you are trying to do is publicly force the owner into spending more money.

“And doing that as a manager in today’s world is extremely dangerous; I couldn’t see anybody else doing that.

“But Rafa’s brave enough and experienced enough to do it.”

The ongoing debate over transfers at St James's Park has lead to Benitez refusing to sign a longer-term contract.

READ: How much of Aleksandar Mitrovic's fee will Benitez get to spend?But despite his position seeming uncertain in the long-term, Allardyce does not expect the Spaniard to walk.

“I think if a bigger club had already been in for Rafa he would have been gone,” Allardyce added.

“Walking is another matter. The contract is so tight it would probably leave Rafa paying the compensation himself, and I think that’s probably one of the reasons he wouldn’t walk.”