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Eddie Howe is not given to histrionics or sweeping public pronouncements. So by his standards, his media briefing following the weekend's loss to West Ham counts as a furious outburst. Newcastle scored first but West Ham took the lead by the interval, while also hitting the post and seeing a spot-kick revoked by VAR, prompting Howe to execute a three substitutions at the break.

“The opening period was particularly irritating,” the coach stated. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I think this indicated of our performance level at that stage in the game and it's extremely uncommon for me to feel that way. In fact, I cannot recall I have during my tenure as head coach of the club, so I felt the squad required a significant change at half-time. This explains why I did those decisions.”

Three key players were substituted at half-time and Newcastle did stabilise somewhat in the second half, without ever really looking like they might get back into the game against a side that had won only one of their previous nine fixtures. Given the congestion the middle of the table is, with a mere three-point gap dividing the top spots from mid-table, and a nine-point margin between second and 17th, a sequence of 12 points from ten matches has not placed the Magpies adrift but, equally, they cannot finish the season in 13th.

The Issue of Perception

The problem partially is one of perception. With the Saudi PIF, the club possess the wealthiest backers in the world. The assumption when the Saudi fund acquired 80% of the team in 2021 was that it would have a game-changing impact, similar to Roman Abramovich had at Chelsea or Sheikh Mansour did at the Etihad. The difference is that both of those owners took over prior to the introduction of FFP rules (and the ongoing allegations against City concern if they violated those regulations once they were in place).

Financial restrictions restrict the capacity of owners, however rich, to spend money on their teams and therefore probably might have slowed any Middle Eastern effort to raise the team to the level of Manchester City. But there is no need for the club's spending to have been quite as cautious as it has been; they could have invested further and stayed inside the limit – or just accepted a relatively meagre Uefa fine given their major problem is more with the European than the Premier League rules.

Infrastructure Spending and Financial Rules

Besides which, stadium development is excluded from Profit and Sustainability calculations; the simplest method to raise income to generate additional financial flexibility would be to extend or renovate the arena. Given the location of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on two sides, practically that probably means building an entirely new stadium. Rumors circulated in March of potentially undertaking the short move to a local park – resistance from local groups could surely have been overcome with a commitment to create a new park on the existing stadium site – but there has not been any progress on that proposal. There has occurred substantial retrenchment from the PIF on a variety of initiatives as it shifts focus on domestic affairs; the approach to Newcastle seems completely in alignment with that strategic shift.

The Alexander Isak Situation

The star striker saga was arose from that tension. A more confident management might have portrayed his sale as necessary to free up capital for further spending; instead there was a vain effort to retain him. This resulted in Newcastle began the season amidst a feeling of frustration even with the signings of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The opening was mixed: a single victory in their initial six games.

But it seemed a turning point was reached. They secured five victories in six matches before Sunday, a streak that featured demolitions of Union Saint-Gilloise and a Portuguese club in the European competition. That’s why the display against the Hammers was so surprising. The issue maybe is that Newcastle’s approach is very aggressive, high-energy; a slight drop-off in energy can have significant effects. Perhaps the strain of domestic, Champions League and cup competition, five fixtures in 15 days, had taken its toll. The German forward started each of those matches and looked particularly fatigued.

Reality of Modern Soccer

That’s the nature of today's football. Coaches must be ready to rotate. Howe has been unfortunate that the forward's fitness issue has left him short of attacking options but, no matter how valid the explanations, the weekend's performance was inexcusable –especially after taking the lead at a ground ready to criticize its home team.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was merely a temporary setback, one of those days when everybody is below par at once, but if the Magpies are to secure the European competition in the future, let alone eventually launch an genuine championship bid, they cannot be as inconsistent as this.