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Eddie Howe is not prone to dramatics or sweeping media pronouncements. So by his standards, his press conference after Sunday’s loss to West Ham counts as a furious tirade. His side scored first but the opposition took the lead by the interval, as well as striking the woodwork and having a penalty revoked by VAR, leading Howe to make a three substitutions 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 at that stage in the game and it's extremely uncommon for me to feel that way. Actually, I don’t think having done so since I’ve been head coach of Newcastle, so I felt the squad required a significant change at the break. That’s why I made what I did.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth all came off at the interval and the team did stabilise to an extent in the second half, but never appearing like they could get back into the game against an opponent that had won only one of their previous nine league matches. Given the congestion the middle of the table currently is, with just three points dividing third from 11th, and a nine-point margin between second and 17th, a sequence of 12 points from ten matches has not left the Magpies adrift but, similarly, they must not end the campaign in 13th.

The Problem of Perception

The challenge partially is one of perception. With the Saudi PIF, the club have the wealthiest owners in the globe. The assumption at the time the Saudi fund acquired a majority stake of the team in 2021 was that it would bring a transformative effect, as Roman Abramovich achieved at Stamford Bridge or Sheikh Mansour did at the Etihad. The difference is that both of those owners took over before the introduction of financial fair play regulations (and the current charges against City concern if they breached those regulations after they were implemented).

Profit and sustainability regulations limit the capacity of owners, however rich, to spend money on their teams and so in that sense likely might have slowed any Saudi 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; they might have invested further and remained within the limit – or just accepted a fairly minor Uefa fine given their big issue is more with the European than the domestic regulation.

Infrastructure Spending and Financial Rules

Besides which, infrastructure spending is exempted from Profit and Sustainability calculations; the simplest way to raise income to generate additional PSR flexibility would be to extend or renovate the stadium. Considering the location of St James’ Park, with protected structures on two sides, in reality that likely means constructing an completely new venue. There was talk in spring of possibly undertaking the short move to a local park – opposition from local groups could surely have been surmounted with a commitment to create a replacement green space on the current stadium site – but there has been no movement on that proposal. There has been significant cutbacks from the Saudi fund on a variety of projects as it shifts focus on local investments; the attitude to Newcastle appears entirely in alignment with that strategic shift.

Player Sales Saga

The Alexander Isak saga was born of that conflict. A more confident management could have framed his transfer as essential to release capital for additional spending; instead there was a unsuccessful effort to keep him. That meant Newcastle started the campaign amid a sense of frustration despite the signings of several new players. The start was indifferent: one win in their initial six fixtures.

Yet it seemed a turning point was reached. They had won five victories in six matches before Sunday, a run that included convincing wins of a Belgian side and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. This explains the performance against the Hammers was such a shock. The problem perhaps is that the team's style is extremely intense, very high-octane; a slight drop-off in intensity can have significant effects. Perhaps the strain of domestic, Champions League and Carabao Cup matches, five fixtures in 15 days, had got to them. Woltemade started each of those matches and looked especially weary.

The Nature of Modern Football

That’s the nature of modern the sport. Coaches must be ready to rotate. Howe has been unfortunate that Wissa’s fitness issue has left him short of forward choices but, no matter how valid the explanations, Sunday’s showing was unacceptable –particularly after scoring first at a ground primed to turn on its own side.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was just a blip, an off-day when everybody is below par at once, but if the Magpies are to qualify for the European competition next season, let alone eventually mount an actual title challenge, they cannot be as unreliable as this.