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The Newcastle manager is not prone to dramatics or grand media pronouncements. Based on his standards, his press conference following Sunday’s loss to West Ham qualifies as a furious outburst. Newcastle took an early lead but West Ham were ahead by the interval, as well as striking the woodwork and seeing a spot-kick overturned by VAR, leading Howe to execute a triple change at the break.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe said. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I believe that was a reflection of where we were in that moment during the match and it’s very, very rare for me to feel that way. Actually, I cannot recall I have during my tenure as head coach of Newcastle, so I felt the squad required some shaking up at the break. This explains why I made those decisions.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth were substituted at half-time and Newcastle did stabilise somewhat in the latter period, without ever really looking like they could get back into the game against a side that had won only one of their last nine league matches. Given how packed the middle of the standings currently is, with a mere three-point gap separating the top spots from mid-table, and a nine-point margin between second and 17th, a run of twelve points from 10 games has not left the Magpies adrift but, equally, they must not finish the season in thirteenth place.

The Problem of Expectations

The problem partially is one of perception. In the Saudi Public Investment Fund, Newcastle possess the wealthiest backers in the world. The expectation when the Saudi fund bought 80% of the team in recent years was that it would have a transformative effect, similar to Roman Abramovich had at Chelsea or Sheikh Mansour had at Manchester City. The difference is that those two owners assumed control before the advent of financial fair play rules (while the current charges against Manchester City concern if they breached those regulations once they were implemented).

Financial regulations limit the capacity of proprietors, however rich, to invest funds on their squads and so in that sense probably might have hindered every Saudi attempt to elevate the team to the standard of Manchester City. However there is no need for the club's spending to have been so restrained as it has been; they might have spent more and remained within the limit – or simply taken a relatively meagre Uefa penalty since their major problem is primarily with the European than the domestic regulation.

Stadium Spending and PSR Rules

Besides which, stadium development is excluded from Profit and Sustainability calculations; the easiest method to raise income to create more financial headroom would be to extend or renovate the stadium. Considering the site of the home ground, with protected structures on multiple sides, in reality that probably means building an entirely new stadium. Rumors circulated in spring of potentially undertaking the short move to a local park – resistance from community organizations could surely have been surmounted with a promise to build a replacement green space on the existing stadium site – but there has not been any progress on that proposal. There has occurred substantial cutbacks from the Saudi fund on a variety of initiatives as it shifts focus on local investments; the attitude to Newcastle appears completely in keeping with that change of approach.

Player Sales Situation

The Alexander Isak saga was born of that conflict. A more confident management could have framed his sale as necessary to free up funds for additional investment; rather there was a vain effort to keep him. That meant Newcastle began the season amidst a sense of disappointment even with the signings of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The start was indifferent: one win in their first six fixtures.

But it appeared a corner was reached. They had won five in six before the weekend, a streak that included convincing wins of Union Saint-Gilloise and Benfica in the European competition. This explains the display against the Hammers was such a shock. The issue maybe is that Newcastle’s style is very aggressive, very high-octane; a minor decrease in intensity can have significant effects. Perhaps the pressure of Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup competition, five games in 15 days, had got to them. Woltemade started all five games and appeared particularly fatigued.

The Nature of Modern Football

That’s the nature of modern the sport. Coaches have to be prepared to make changes. Howe has been unlucky that Wissa’s injury has left him lacking forward choices but, no matter how reasonable the reasons, Sunday’s showing was inexcusable –particularly after scoring first at a stadium primed to turn on its home team.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was merely a temporary setback, one of those days when all players is below par simultaneously, but if the Magpies are to qualify for the Champions League next season, let alone eventually mount an actual title challenge, they must not be as unreliable as they have been.