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The Newcastle manager is not prone to histrionics or grand media pronouncements. Based on his usual demeanor, his press conference after the weekend's loss to West Ham counts as a furious outburst. Newcastle scored first but the opposition were ahead by the interval, while also hitting the post and having a penalty revoked by VAR, leading Howe to make a triple change at the half-time.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe said. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I think this indicated of where we were in that moment in the game and it's extremely uncommon 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 squad required a significant change at the break. That’s why I made those decisions.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth all came off at the interval and Newcastle did stabilise somewhat in the second half, but never appearing like they might get back into the contest against a side that had secured just a single victory of their previous nine fixtures. Given how packed the centre of the table currently is, with just three points dividing the top spots from mid-table, and nine points between second and 17th, a run of twelve points from 10 games has not left the Magpies stranded but, equally, they cannot end the campaign in thirteenth place.

The Issue of Perception

The challenge to an extent is one of public view. In the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the club possess the wealthiest owners in the globe. The expectation when the PIF bought 80% of the club in recent years was that it would have a transformative effect, as Roman Abramovich had at Chelsea or Sheikh Mansour had at Manchester City. The distinction is that those two investors assumed control before the advent of FFP rules (and the ongoing charges against City concern if they breached those guidelines after they were in place).

Profit and sustainability restrictions restrict the ability of proprietors, however rich, to spend money on their teams and so in that sense likely would have hindered every Middle Eastern attempt to elevate Newcastle to the standard of City. However it wasn't necessary for the club's spending to have been so restrained as it has; they might have invested further and stayed inside the limit – or just accepted a relatively meagre European fine given their big problem is primarily with the European than the Premier League rules.

Stadium Spending and PSR Rules

Besides which, infrastructure spending is excluded from PSR assessments; the easiest method to raise income to generate more financial headroom would be to extend or renovate the stadium. Considering the location of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on two sides, in reality that probably implies constructing an completely new venue. There was talk in spring of potentially undertaking the short move to a local park – resistance from local groups might have been overcome with a commitment to build a replacement green space on the current stadium site – but there has been no movement on that proposal. There has been significant cutbacks from the Saudi fund on a variety of projects as it refocuses on local investments; the approach to the football club appears entirely in alignment with that change of approach.

The Alexander Isak Saga

The Alexander Isak saga was arose from that conflict. A bolder leadership could have portrayed his transfer as necessary to free up funds for additional spending; instead there was a vain attempt to keep him. That meant Newcastle started the campaign amid a sense of frustration even with the acquisitions of several new players. The start was indifferent: one win in their initial six games.

But it seemed a corner had been turned. They secured five in six before Sunday, a streak that included convincing wins of a Belgian side and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. That’s why the performance against West Ham was such a shock. The problem perhaps is that the team's approach is very aggressive, very high-octane; a minor decrease in energy can have profound effects. Maybe the strain of domestic, European and cup matches, five games in a fortnight, had got to them. Woltemade started all five games and appeared especially weary.

The Nature of Modern Football

That’s the nature of today's football. Managers must be ready to make changes. The manager has been unfortunate that the forward's injury has left him short of forward choices but, regardless of how reasonable the reasons, the weekend's performance was unacceptable –especially after scoring first at a ground primed to criticize its own side.

The Newcastle boss will wish it was just a blip, an off-day when all players is below par simultaneously, but if Newcastle are to secure the Champions League next season, not to mention eventually mount an genuine championship bid, they must not be as inconsistent as they have been.