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Eddie Howe is not prone to dramatics or grand public pronouncements. Based on his usual demeanor, his press conference following Sunday’s 3-1 defeat counts as a angry tirade. Newcastle scored first but West Ham were ahead by half-time, while also hitting the post 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. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I believe this indicated of where we were at that stage in the game and it's extremely uncommon for me to have that impression. Actually, I don’t think I have since I’ve been manager of the club, therefore I believed the team needed some shaking up at half-time. This explains why I did those decisions.”

Three key players all came off at half-time and the team did stabilise somewhat in the latter period, 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 is, with a mere three-point gap separating the top spots from mid-table, and a nine-point margin between second and 17th, a sequence of 12 points from ten matches has not placed the Magpies adrift but, similarly, they cannot end the campaign in 13th.

The Issue of Perception

The problem to an extent is one of public view. With the Saudi PIF, the club possess the wealthiest owners in the globe. The expectation when the PIF acquired 80% of the club in 2021 was that it would bring a transformative effect, as Roman Abramovich had at Chelsea or the City Group had at Manchester City. The difference is that both of those investors took over prior to the introduction of FFP regulations (while the current allegations against City relate to if they violated those regulations once they were in place).

Profit and sustainability restrictions restrict the ability of proprietors, no matter how wealthy, to invest funds on their teams and so in that sense probably would have hindered every Middle Eastern attempt to elevate Newcastle to the level of City. But there is no need for Newcastle’s expenditure to have been quite as cautious as it has been; they might have invested further and remained within the threshold – or just accepted a fairly minor European penalty since their big issue is more with the European than the Premier League regulation.

Infrastructure Investment and PSR Regulations

Additionally, stadium development is exempted from Profit and Sustainability assessments; the simplest method to increase revenue to generate additional PSR flexibility would be to expand or redevelop the stadium. Considering the location of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on two sides, practically that probably implies building an completely new stadium. Rumors circulated in spring of potentially undertaking the nearby relocation to Leazes Park – resistance from community organizations might have been overcome with a commitment to create a replacement green space on the existing stadium site – but there has been no movement on that plan. There has been significant retrenchment from the PIF on a range of projects as it shifts focus on local investments; the attitude to Newcastle appears entirely in alignment with that change of approach.

The Alexander Isak Situation

The Alexander Isak episode was arose from that tension. A more confident management could have portrayed his transfer as essential to free up capital for further spending; rather there was a vain attempt to keep him. This resulted in the team began the season amid a feeling of disappointment despite the signings of several new players. The opening was indifferent: a single victory in their initial six games.

Yet it appeared a corner was reached. They secured five victories in six matches before the weekend, a streak that featured convincing wins of Union Saint-Gilloise and a Portuguese club in the European competition. That’s why the display against the Hammers was so surprising. The problem maybe is that the team's approach is very aggressive, high-energy; a minor decrease in energy can have significant consequences. Perhaps the strain of Premier League, European and Carabao Cup competition, five games in 15 days, had taken its toll. The German forward featured in all five matches and looked particularly weary.

Reality of Contemporary Soccer

This is the nature of modern the sport. Managers must be ready to rotate. The manager has been unfortunate that the forward's fitness issue has left him short of forward choices but, regardless of how valid the reasons, Sunday’s performance was unacceptable –especially following taking the lead at a ground primed to criticize its own side.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was merely a temporary setback, one of those days when everybody is below par simultaneously, but if Newcastle are to secure the Champions League in the future, let alone one day launch an actual title challenge, they must not be as inconsistent as they have been.