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Eddie Howe isn't typically prone to dramatics or grand public statements. Based on his usual demeanor, his press conference after the weekend's loss to West Ham qualifies as a furious tirade. Newcastle scored first but West Ham were ahead by half-time, as well as striking the woodwork and seeing a spot-kick revoked 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 believe that was a reflection of where we were at that stage in the game and it's extremely uncommon for me to feel that way. Actually, I cannot recall having done so since I’ve been head coach of the club, so I felt the team needed a significant change at half-time. This explains why I made what I did.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth all came off at half-time and Newcastle managed to steady to an extent in the second half, without ever appearing like they might fight back into the contest against an opponent that had secured just a single victory of their previous nine league matches. Considering the congestion the centre of the standings currently is, with just three points dividing the top spots from mid-table, and a nine-point margin between second and 17th, a run of 12 points from 10 games has not left the Magpies adrift but, similarly, they cannot 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 richest owners in the world. The assumption at the time the Saudi fund acquired 80% of the club in recent years was that it would have a transformative effect, similar to the former Chelsea owner had at Chelsea or Sheikh Mansour had at Manchester City. The distinction is that those two owners took over prior to the advent of FFP regulations (and the current allegations against City concern whether they violated those guidelines once they were implemented).

Financial regulations limit the ability of proprietors, no matter how wealthy, to spend money on their teams and therefore probably might have hindered every Middle Eastern effort to raise Newcastle to the level of Manchester City. But it wasn't necessary for Newcastle’s spending to have been quite as cautious as it has been; they could have invested further and stayed inside the limit – or simply taken a fairly minor European penalty given their major problem is primarily with the continental than the Premier League regulation.

Stadium Spending and PSR Regulations

Besides which, stadium development is excluded from PSR assessments; the simplest method to raise income to generate more PSR flexibility would be to expand or renovate the arena. Considering the location of the home ground, with listed buildings on two sides, in reality that likely implies constructing an completely new venue. Rumors circulated in March of potentially undertaking the short move to Leazes Park – resistance from community organizations could surely have been surmounted with a promise to create a new park on the existing ground location – but there has been no movement on that proposal. There has occurred substantial retrenchment from the Saudi fund on a range of projects as it shifts focus on local investments; the attitude to the football club seems completely in keeping with that strategic shift.

Player Sales Saga

The star striker saga was arose from that conflict. A more confident management could have framed his transfer as necessary to free up funds for additional spending; rather there was a unsuccessful effort to keep him. This resulted in the team began the season amid a feeling of frustration despite the signings of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The opening was indifferent: one win in their first six fixtures.

But it seemed a turning point was reached. They had won five victories in six matches prior to Sunday, a run that featured convincing wins of Union Saint-Gilloise and Benfica in the Champions League. This explains the display against West Ham was such a shock. The problem maybe is that the team's approach is extremely intense, high-energy; a minor decrease in intensity can have significant effects. Maybe the strain of domestic, Champions League and cup competition, five games in a fortnight, had got to them. Woltemade featured in all five matches and looked especially weary.

The Nature of Contemporary Football

That’s the nature of modern the sport. Managers must be ready to make changes. The manager has been unlucky that Wissa’s fitness issue has left him lacking forward choices but, no matter how reasonable the explanations, Sunday’s showing was unacceptable –particularly following scoring first at a ground ready to criticize its own side.

Howe will wish it was just a blip, one of those days when all players is off-colour at once, but if the Magpies are to secure the European competition in the future, let alone eventually mount an actual championship bid, they cannot be as inconsistent as they have been.