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Eddie Howe is not prone to dramatics or grand media pronouncements. So by his standards, his media briefing following the weekend's loss to West Ham qualifies as a angry outburst. Newcastle scored first but West Ham were ahead by the interval, as well as striking the woodwork and seeing a spot-kick overturned by VAR, prompting Howe to make a triple change at the break.

“The opening period was particularly irritating,” Howe said. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I believe that was a reflection of our performance level in that moment in the game and it's extremely uncommon for me to feel that way. In fact, I cannot recall I have since I’ve been manager of Newcastle, therefore I believed the team required some shaking up at half-time. This explains why I did those decisions.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth all came off at the interval and the team did stabilise to an extent in the latter period, but never appearing like they might get back into the game against an opponent that had secured just a single victory of their last nine fixtures. Given how packed the middle of the table currently is, with a mere three-point gap separating the top spots from mid-table, and nine points between the upper and lower ranks, a sequence of 12 points from 10 games has not left Newcastle adrift but, equally, they must not finish the season in 13th.

The Problem of Perception

The problem partially is one of public view. With the Saudi PIF, Newcastle possess the richest backers in the world. The expectation when the Saudi fund bought a majority stake of the team in 2021 was that it would bring a game-changing impact, similar to the former Chelsea owner had at Chelsea or Sheikh Mansour had at Manchester City. The difference is that both of those investors assumed control before the introduction of FFP regulations (while the current allegations against Manchester City relate to if they breached those guidelines once they were in place).

Financial restrictions limit the capacity of proprietors, no matter how wealthy, to invest funds on their teams and so in that sense probably would have hindered every Middle Eastern effort to elevate the team to the standard of City. But it wasn't necessary for Newcastle’s spending to have been so restrained as it has; they could have spent more and stayed inside the threshold – or simply taken a fairly minor European penalty given their major issue is more with the continental than the Premier League regulation.

Stadium Investment and PSR Regulations

Additionally, infrastructure spending is exempted from Profit and Sustainability calculations; the easiest method to increase revenue to create more financial headroom would be to expand or renovate the arena. Considering the location of the home ground, with protected structures on multiple sides, in reality that likely means constructing an entirely new stadium. Rumors circulated in spring of potentially 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 ground location – but there has not been no movement on that plan. There has been substantial retrenchment from the Saudi fund on a variety of projects as it refocuses on local investments; the attitude to the football club appears completely in keeping with that strategic shift.

Player Sales Saga

The star striker episode was arose from that tension. A bolder management might have framed his transfer as necessary to release capital for additional spending; rather there was a unsuccessful attempt to retain him. This resulted in Newcastle began the season amid a feeling of disappointment despite the acquisitions of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The opening was indifferent: one win in their initial six games.

Yet it seemed a turning point was reached. They had won five victories in six matches before Sunday, a run that included demolitions of a Belgian side and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. This explains the display against the Hammers was such a shock. The issue maybe is that Newcastle’s style is extremely intense, high-energy; a minor decrease in intensity can have significant consequences. Maybe the pressure of domestic, Champions League and Carabao Cup matches, five games in a fortnight, had taken its toll. The German forward featured in all five matches and appeared particularly fatigued.

The Nature of Modern Soccer

This is the nature of today's football. Managers must be ready to rotate. The manager has been unfortunate that the forward's fitness issue has meant he is short of forward choices but, no matter how reasonable the reasons, Sunday’s performance was unacceptable –particularly after taking the lead at a ground primed to criticize its own side.

Howe will wish it was just a blip, an off-day when all players is below par at once, but if the Magpies are to secure the Champions League next season, not to mention one day launch an genuine championship bid, they must not be as inconsistent as this.