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The Newcastle manager is not given to histrionics or sweeping public pronouncements. So by his standards, his press conference following the weekend's 3-1 defeat qualifies as a angry outburst. His side took an early lead but the opposition took the lead by the interval, while also 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,” the coach stated. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I think that was a reflection of where we were at that stage during the match and it's extremely uncommon for me to feel that way. In fact, I cannot recall I have during my tenure as manager of the club, therefore I believed the team needed some shaking up at the break. That’s why I made what I did.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth were substituted at half-time and Newcastle managed to steady to an extent in the latter period, but never really looking like they could fight back into the contest against an opponent that had won only one of their previous nine fixtures. Considering the congestion the middle of the standings is, with just three points separating third from 11th, and nine points between the upper and lower ranks, a run of twelve points from 10 games has not placed Newcastle stranded but, similarly, they must not finish the season in 13th.

The Issue of Expectations

The problem to an extent is one of perception. With the Saudi PIF, Newcastle have the wealthiest owners in the globe. The expectation when the PIF bought 80% of the club in 2021 was that it would bring a game-changing impact, as Roman Abramovich had at Chelsea or Sheikh Mansour had at Manchester City. The difference is that those two owners assumed control before the introduction of FFP rules (and the ongoing charges against Manchester City concern whether they breached those guidelines after they were implemented).

Financial regulations limit the ability of owners, no matter how wealthy, to invest funds on their squads and therefore likely might have hindered every Saudi effort to raise the team to the standard of Manchester City. However it wasn't necessary for the club's expenditure to have been quite as cautious as it has; they could have invested further and remained within the limit – or simply taken a fairly minor European penalty given their major issue is primarily with the European than the domestic rules.

Infrastructure Spending and Financial Regulations

Besides which, stadium development is excluded from PSR calculations; the simplest way to raise income to create more financial flexibility would be to expand or redevelop the stadium. Given the location of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on two sides, in reality that likely means constructing an entirely new stadium. There was talk in March of possibly making the short move to Leazes Park – resistance from local groups could surely have been overcome with a promise to create a replacement green space on the existing ground location – but there has been no movement on that proposal. There has occurred significant retrenchment from the Saudi fund on a range of projects as it shifts focus on local investments; the approach to Newcastle seems completely in keeping with that change of approach.

The Alexander Isak Situation

The Alexander Isak episode was born of that conflict. A bolder management might have framed his transfer as necessary to free up capital for further investment; instead there was a vain effort to keep him. That meant Newcastle began the season amid a sense of frustration even with the signings of several new players. The start was mixed: one win in their first six games.

But it appeared a turning point was reached. They secured five in six before the weekend, a streak that included demolitions of Union Saint-Gilloise and Benfica in the European competition. This explains the performance against the Hammers was such a shock. The issue maybe is that Newcastle’s approach is extremely intense, very high-octane; a minor decrease in energy can have profound effects. Perhaps the pressure of Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup matches, five games in a fortnight, had taken its toll. Woltemade featured in all five games and looked particularly fatigued.

Reality of Modern Football

That’s the reality of modern football. Managers have to be ready to rotate. The manager has been unlucky that Wissa’s injury has left him short of attacking options but, regardless of how reasonable the explanations, Sunday’s performance was unacceptable –particularly after taking the lead at a ground primed to criticize its home team.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was just a blip, an off-day when everybody is off-colour at once, but if the Magpies are to secure the European competition in the future, not to mention eventually mount an actual championship bid, they cannot be as inconsistent as they have been.