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The Newcastle manager isn't typically prone to dramatics or grand media pronouncements. So by his usual demeanor, his press conference after Sunday’s loss to West Ham counts as a furious outburst. His side scored first but the opposition took the lead by the interval, while also 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 at that stage during the match and it’s very, very rare for me to have that impression. Actually, I don’t think having done so during my tenure as manager of the club, therefore I believed the squad needed some shaking up at the break. This explains why I made those decisions.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth all came off at half-time and the team managed to steady to an extent in the latter period, without ever really looking like they could get back into the contest against an opponent that had won only one of their previous nine fixtures. Given the congestion the centre of the table currently is, with just three points dividing the top spots from mid-table, and nine points between the upper and lower ranks, a sequence of twelve points from ten matches has not left Newcastle stranded but, equally, they cannot finish the season in thirteenth place.

The Problem of Expectations

The problem to an extent is one of perception. With the Saudi PIF, the club possess the richest owners in the world. The assumption when the Saudi fund bought a majority stake of the team in recent years was that it would bring a game-changing impact, as Roman Abramovich had at Chelsea or the City Group did at the Etihad. The difference is that those two investors assumed control before the advent of financial fair play regulations (and the ongoing allegations against City concern whether they breached those guidelines once they were implemented).

Financial regulations limit the capacity of proprietors, no matter how wealthy, to spend money on their teams and so in that sense likely might have slowed any Saudi effort to raise the team to the standard of City. But there is no need for the club's spending to have been so restrained as it has; they might have invested further and stayed inside the threshold – or just accepted a fairly minor Uefa fine since their big issue is primarily with the European than the domestic rules.

Infrastructure Investment and Financial Regulations

Additionally, stadium development is exempted from PSR assessments; the simplest method to increase revenue to create additional financial headroom would be to expand or redevelop the arena. Considering the site of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on two sides, in reality that probably implies building an completely new stadium. There was talk in spring of possibly making the short move to a local park – resistance from local groups could surely have been overcome with a promise to create a replacement green space on the current ground location – but there has not been no movement on that proposal. There has been substantial cutbacks from the PIF on a range of initiatives as it shifts focus on domestic affairs; the approach to Newcastle seems entirely in keeping with that strategic shift.

Player Sales Saga

The Alexander Isak episode was born of that tension. A bolder leadership might have framed his transfer as essential to release funds for further investment; instead there was a vain effort to retain him. This resulted in Newcastle started the campaign amid a sense of frustration despite the acquisitions of several new players. The opening was indifferent: one win in their first six fixtures.

But it appeared a turning point was reached. They had won five victories in six matches prior to the weekend, a streak that included convincing wins of Union Saint-Gilloise and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. This explains the performance against the Hammers was such a shock. The issue maybe is that Newcastle’s style is extremely intense, very high-octane; a minor decrease in energy can have significant consequences. Perhaps the pressure of Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup matches, five games in a fortnight, had taken its toll. Woltemade started each of those games and looked especially fatigued.

Reality of Contemporary Football

That’s the reality of modern football. Managers have to be prepared to rotate. The manager has been unfortunate that Wissa’s fitness issue has left him lacking forward choices but, regardless of how reasonable the reasons, Sunday’s performance was inexcusable –particularly after scoring first at a ground ready to criticize its home team.

The Newcastle boss will wish it was just a blip, an off-day when all players is off-colour at once, but if the Magpies are to qualify for the Champions League in the future, let alone eventually mount an actual title challenge, they cannot be as unreliable as this.