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Eddie Howe isn't typically prone to dramatics or sweeping media pronouncements. So by his standards, his press conference after Sunday’s loss to West Ham counts as a furious tirade. Newcastle scored first but the opposition took the lead by the interval, while also striking the woodwork and seeing a spot-kick revoked by VAR, prompting Howe to make a triple change at the half-time.

“The opening period was particularly irritating,” Howe said. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I believe this indicated of our performance level at that stage during the match and it’s very, very rare for me to have that impression. Actually, I cannot recall having done so during my tenure as manager of Newcastle, so I felt the squad needed some shaking up 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 the team did stabilise to an extent in the latter period, without ever really looking like they might fight back into the game against an opponent that had secured just a single victory of their previous nine fixtures. Considering how packed the middle of the table is, with just three points dividing the top spots from mid-table, and nine points between second and 17th, a sequence of twelve points from 10 games has not left Newcastle stranded but, equally, they cannot end the campaign in thirteenth place.

The Issue of Perception

The problem to an extent is one of public view. With the Saudi PIF, Newcastle have the richest owners in the world. The expectation when the Saudi fund acquired 80% of the club in recent years was that it would bring a game-changing impact, similar to the former Chelsea owner had at Chelsea or the City Group did at the Etihad. The distinction is that those two owners took over before the advent of FFP regulations (while the ongoing charges against City concern whether they violated those regulations after they were in place).

Financial regulations restrict the ability of owners, no matter how wealthy, to invest funds on their teams and therefore likely would have slowed any Saudi effort to raise the team to the standard of City. But it wasn't necessary for the club's spending to have been so restrained as it has; they could have spent more and stayed inside the limit – or just accepted a relatively meagre European fine since their major issue is primarily with the continental than the Premier League regulation.

Stadium Investment and PSR Rules

Besides which, infrastructure spending is exempted from Profit and Sustainability assessments; the easiest method to increase revenue to generate additional PSR headroom would be to expand or redevelop the stadium. Given the site of the home ground, with listed buildings on two sides, practically that probably means building an completely new stadium. Rumors circulated in spring of possibly undertaking the short move to Leazes Park – opposition from community organizations might have been overcome with a commitment to build a new park on the current stadium site – but there has been no movement on that proposal. There has occurred substantial cutbacks from the PIF on a variety of initiatives as it refocuses on local investments; the approach to the football club appears completely in alignment with that change of approach.

The Alexander Isak Saga

The star striker episode was born of that conflict. A bolder management might have framed his transfer as necessary to release capital for further spending; instead there was a unsuccessful effort to keep him. That meant Newcastle began the season amid a sense of disappointment despite the signings of several new players. The start was indifferent: one win in their first six fixtures.

Yet it seemed a corner was reached. They had won five victories in six matches prior to the weekend, a run that included convincing wins of Union Saint-Gilloise and Benfica in the European competition. That’s why the performance against the Hammers was such a shock. The problem maybe is that the team's approach is very aggressive, high-energy; a slight drop-off in energy can have significant effects. Perhaps the pressure of domestic, Champions League and cup competition, five games in 15 days, had got to them. The German forward featured in all five games and appeared particularly fatigued.

The Nature of Modern Football

That’s the nature of today's the sport. Managers have to be ready to rotate. The manager has been unlucky that the forward's injury has meant he is lacking attacking options but, regardless of how valid the explanations, Sunday’s showing was inexcusable –particularly following scoring first at a stadium primed to criticize its own side.

Howe will wish it was merely a temporary setback, one of those days when all players is below par at once, but if Newcastle are to secure the European competition next season, not to mention one day mount an genuine title challenge, they must not be as unreliable as this.