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The Newcastle manager isn't typically prone to dramatics or grand media pronouncements. Based on his usual demeanor, his press conference following Sunday’s loss to West Ham qualifies as a furious outburst. His side scored first but West Ham were ahead by half-time, as well as striking the woodwork and having a penalty overturned by VAR, leading Howe to execute a three substitutions at the break.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe said. “Virtually any player could have been substituted 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 don’t think I have during my tenure as manager of Newcastle, therefore I believed the team required a significant change at the break. That’s why I made what I did.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth were substituted at the interval and the team managed to steady somewhat in the latter period, without ever appearing like they might fight 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 standings is, with just three points dividing third from 11th, and nine points between second and 17th, a sequence of 12 points from ten matches has not left Newcastle stranded but, similarly, they must not finish the season in thirteenth place.

The Issue of Perception

The challenge partially is one of public view. With the Saudi PIF, the club possess the richest owners in the world. The expectation at the time the Saudi fund acquired 80% of the club in 2021 was that it would have a game-changing impact, similar to the former Chelsea owner achieved at Stamford Bridge or Sheikh Mansour had at Manchester City. The distinction is that both of those investors assumed control before the advent of financial fair play rules (and the ongoing allegations against City relate to whether they violated those guidelines after they were in place).

Profit and sustainability regulations limit the ability of owners, no matter how wealthy, to spend money on their teams and so in that sense probably might have slowed every Middle Eastern effort to raise the team to the level of Manchester City. However it wasn't necessary for Newcastle’s expenditure to have been quite as cautious as it has; they might have spent more and remained within the limit – or just accepted a relatively meagre Uefa fine since their major issue is primarily with the European than the domestic rules.

Stadium Investment and PSR Regulations

Besides which, stadium development is excluded from Profit and Sustainability assessments; the easiest way to raise income to generate additional PSR flexibility would be to expand or renovate the stadium. Considering the location of the home ground, with listed buildings on multiple sides, in reality that likely implies building an entirely new stadium. There was talk in March of potentially undertaking the nearby relocation to Leazes Park – opposition from community organizations could surely have been overcome with a promise to create a new park on the existing ground location – but there has not been any progress on that plan. There has been significant retrenchment from the PIF on a variety of initiatives as it shifts focus on local investments; the attitude to the football club seems entirely in keeping with that strategic shift.

Player Sales Situation

The Alexander Isak episode was arose from that conflict. A bolder management could have framed his transfer as essential to free up funds for further spending; instead there was a unsuccessful effort to keep him. This resulted in Newcastle began the season amid a feeling of frustration even with the signings of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The opening was indifferent: a single victory in their first six fixtures.

Yet it seemed a corner had been turned. They secured five in six before Sunday, a streak that featured convincing wins of a Belgian side and Benfica in the European competition. This explains the display against West Ham was so surprising. The issue maybe is that the team's approach is very aggressive, very high-octane; a minor decrease in energy can have profound effects. Perhaps the pressure of domestic, Champions League and Carabao Cup matches, five fixtures in 15 days, had got to them. The German forward featured in each of those matches and looked especially fatigued.

Reality of Contemporary Soccer

That’s the reality of modern football. Coaches have to be prepared to make changes. Howe has been unlucky that the forward's fitness issue has left him short of forward choices but, no matter how reasonable the reasons, Sunday’s showing was unacceptable –particularly after scoring first at a ground ready to criticize its home team.

Howe will hope it was merely a temporary setback, an off-day when everybody is off-colour simultaneously, but if Newcastle are to secure the European competition in the future, let alone one day mount an genuine championship bid, they must not be as inconsistent as this.