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Eddie Howe isn't typically prone to dramatics or grand public pronouncements. Based on his standards, his press conference after Sunday’s loss to West Ham qualifies as a furious outburst. Newcastle took an early lead but the opposition took the lead by the interval, while also striking the woodwork and having a penalty overturned by VAR, prompting Howe to make a triple change at the break.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe said. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I think that was a reflection of our performance level in that moment during the match and it’s very, very rare for me to feel that way. In fact, I cannot recall I have during my tenure as manager of Newcastle, so I felt the team needed some shaking up at half-time. This explains why I did what I did.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth were substituted at the interval and Newcastle did stabilise to an extent in the second half, but never appearing like they might get back into the game against an opponent that had won only one of their last nine fixtures. Given how packed the centre of the standings is, with just three points separating third from 11th, and a nine-point margin between second and 17th, a run of 12 points from 10 games has not left Newcastle stranded but, equally, they cannot end the campaign in thirteenth place.

The Issue of Expectations

The problem to an extent is one of perception. In the Saudi Public Investment Fund, Newcastle have the richest backers in the world. The expectation when the Saudi fund bought 80% of the club in 2021 was that it would bring a game-changing impact, similar to the former Chelsea owner achieved at Stamford Bridge or the City Group had at Manchester City. The distinction is that those two owners took over before the advent of FFP rules (and the ongoing allegations against Manchester City concern if they violated those regulations after they were implemented).

Financial regulations restrict the ability of proprietors, however rich, to invest funds on their teams and so in that sense likely might have slowed any Middle Eastern effort to raise the team to the standard of Manchester City. However there is no need for Newcastle’s expenditure to have been quite as cautious as it has been; they could have spent more and stayed inside the limit – or simply taken a fairly minor European fine since their big issue is primarily with the European than the domestic rules.

Infrastructure Spending and Financial Rules

Besides which, infrastructure spending is excluded from PSR assessments; the simplest way to raise income to generate more financial flexibility would be to expand or renovate the stadium. Considering the location of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on two sides, in reality that probably means constructing an entirely new stadium. Rumors circulated in spring of possibly making the nearby relocation to a local park – opposition from community organizations could surely have been surmounted with a commitment to build a new park on the current stadium site – but there has not been any progress on that plan. There has been substantial retrenchment from the PIF on a variety of projects as it shifts focus on domestic affairs; the attitude to Newcastle appears completely in alignment with that change of approach.

Player Sales Saga

The Alexander Isak episode was born of that conflict. A more confident management could have portrayed his sale as necessary to free up capital for additional investment; instead there was a vain effort to keep him. That meant Newcastle began the season amid a feeling of frustration despite the signings of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The opening was mixed: one win in their first six games.

But it appeared a corner was reached. They secured five in six prior to the weekend, a run that featured convincing wins of Union Saint-Gilloise and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. This explains the performance against West Ham was such a shock. The issue maybe is that the team's approach is very aggressive, very high-octane; a slight drop-off in energy can have profound consequences. Maybe the pressure of domestic, European and Carabao Cup matches, five fixtures in a fortnight, had taken its toll. Woltemade featured in each of those matches and looked particularly fatigued.

Reality of Modern Soccer

This is the reality of modern the sport. Coaches have to be prepared to rotate. The manager has been unlucky that Wissa’s fitness issue has left him short of attacking options but, regardless of how valid the reasons, Sunday’s showing was unacceptable –especially following scoring first at a ground ready to criticize its home team.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was just a blip, an off-day when everybody is below par simultaneously, but if Newcastle are to secure the Champions League in the future, let alone one day launch an actual championship bid, they must not be as inconsistent as this.