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The Newcastle manager is not given to dramatics or sweeping public pronouncements. So by his standards, his media briefing after the weekend's 3-1 defeat qualifies as a angry outburst. His side scored first but West Ham took the lead by half-time, as well as striking the woodwork and having a penalty revoked by VAR, prompting Howe to execute a three substitutions at the half-time.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe said. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I think this indicated of where we were at that stage in the game and it’s very, very rare for me to have that impression. In fact, I cannot recall having done so since I’ve been head coach of Newcastle, so I felt the team required a significant change at the break. That’s why I made what I did.”

Three key players were substituted at the interval and Newcastle managed to steady to an extent in the latter period, without ever really looking like they could fight back into the game against a side that had secured just a single victory of their previous nine fixtures. Given the congestion the centre of the standings is, with just three points dividing third from 11th, and nine points between second and 17th, a run of twelve points from 10 games has not placed Newcastle adrift but, similarly, they cannot finish the season in 13th.

The Issue of Expectations

The challenge to an extent is one of public view. In the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the club possess the wealthiest owners in the world. The expectation at the time the Saudi fund bought a majority stake of the team in recent years was that it would bring a game-changing impact, as the former Chelsea owner had at Chelsea or the City Group had at Manchester City. The difference is that both of those investors took over before the introduction of FFP regulations (while the ongoing charges against City concern whether they breached those guidelines after they were implemented).

Profit and sustainability regulations restrict the ability of proprietors, no matter how wealthy, to invest funds on their teams and therefore likely might have slowed every Middle Eastern attempt to raise Newcastle to the standard of Manchester City. But there is no need for the club's spending to have been so restrained as it has; they might have spent more and stayed inside the threshold – or just accepted a relatively meagre Uefa fine since their major problem is primarily with the continental than the domestic rules.

Stadium Spending and Financial Regulations

Additionally, stadium development is exempted from Profit and Sustainability assessments; the easiest method to increase revenue to create more PSR headroom would be to expand or redevelop the arena. Given the site of the home ground, with protected structures on two sides, practically that probably means building an completely new venue. Rumors circulated in spring of potentially undertaking the nearby relocation to a local park – resistance from community organizations might have been overcome with a promise to build a new park on the current stadium site – but there has not been any progress on that proposal. There has been significant retrenchment from the Saudi fund on a variety of initiatives as it refocuses on domestic affairs; the approach to Newcastle seems entirely in alignment with that strategic shift.

The Alexander Isak Saga

The Alexander Isak saga was arose from that conflict. A more confident leadership could have framed his transfer as necessary to release capital for additional investment; rather there was a vain effort to retain him. This resulted in Newcastle started the campaign amidst a sense of disappointment even with the acquisitions of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The start was indifferent: one win in their initial six fixtures.

But it seemed a corner had been turned. They secured five in six prior to Sunday, a streak that featured convincing wins of a Belgian side and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. This explains the performance against the Hammers was so surprising. The problem perhaps is that Newcastle’s approach is extremely intense, very high-octane; a minor decrease in energy can have significant consequences. Maybe the pressure of Premier League, Champions League and cup matches, five games in a fortnight, had got to them. The German forward started all five matches and looked especially fatigued.

Reality of Modern Soccer

That’s the reality of modern the sport. 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 explanations, the weekend's showing was unacceptable –particularly after scoring first at a stadium primed to criticize its own side.

Howe will wish it was just a blip, one of those days when everybody is off-colour simultaneously, but if the Magpies are to secure the Champions League next season, not to mention one day mount an actual championship bid, they must not be as unreliable as this.