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The Newcastle manager isn't typically prone to histrionics or sweeping public pronouncements. So by his usual demeanor, his press conference after the weekend's loss to West Ham qualifies as a furious outburst. Newcastle took an early lead but West Ham took the lead by the interval, as well as striking the woodwork and having a penalty revoked by VAR, leading Howe to execute a triple change at the half-time.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe stated. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I believe that was a reflection of our performance level at that stage 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 those decisions.”

Three key players were substituted at the interval and Newcastle did stabilise to an extent in the latter period, but never appearing like they could get back into the contest against a side that had secured just a single victory of their previous nine league matches. Considering the congestion the middle of the standings is, with just three points dividing third from 11th, and a nine-point margin between second and 17th, a run of 12 points from ten matches has not placed Newcastle stranded but, equally, they must not finish the season in 13th.

The Issue of Perception

The problem to an extent is one of perception. With the Saudi PIF, Newcastle have the richest backers in the world. The assumption when the Saudi fund bought 80% of the team in recent years was that it would have a transformative effect, similar to Roman Abramovich achieved at Stamford Bridge or Sheikh Mansour had at Manchester City. The distinction is that those two owners took over before the introduction of financial fair play regulations (while the current allegations against City concern if they violated those regulations once they were implemented).

Financial regulations limit the capacity of owners, however rich, to invest funds on their squads and therefore likely would have hindered any Middle Eastern attempt to raise Newcastle to the level of City. But there is no need for Newcastle’s spending to have been so restrained as it has been; they might have invested further and remained within the limit – or just accepted a fairly minor European fine since their major issue is more with the European than the Premier League rules.

Stadium Spending and Financial Rules

Additionally, infrastructure spending is exempted from Profit and Sustainability calculations; the easiest method to raise income to create more financial flexibility would be to expand or renovate the stadium. Considering the site of the home ground, with listed buildings on two sides, in reality that probably implies constructing an entirely new venue. Rumors circulated in spring of possibly making the nearby relocation to Leazes Park – opposition from community organizations might have been surmounted with a commitment to create a new park on the current ground location – but there has not been no movement on that plan. There has been substantial cutbacks from the PIF on a range of projects as it shifts focus on local investments; the approach to Newcastle seems completely in alignment with that change of approach.

Player Sales Saga

The Alexander Isak episode was born of that conflict. A more confident leadership might have portrayed his sale as essential to release capital for additional spending; instead there was a vain attempt to keep him. That meant Newcastle started the campaign amidst a feeling of frustration despite the acquisitions of several new players. The start was mixed: a single victory in their initial six fixtures.

Yet it appeared a turning point had been turned. They secured five in six before the weekend, a streak that featured convincing wins of a Belgian side and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. This explains the display against West Ham 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 Premier League, European and cup matches, five games in 15 days, had taken its toll. Woltemade started all five games and looked particularly fatigued.

The Nature of Contemporary Soccer

That’s the nature of today's football. Managers 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 reasonable the explanations, the weekend's showing was inexcusable –especially following scoring first at a stadium ready to criticize its home team.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was merely a temporary setback, an off-day when all players is off-colour at once, but if Newcastle are to qualify for the European competition next season, not to mention eventually mount an genuine championship bid, they cannot be as unreliable as they have been.