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Eddie Howe is not given to dramatics or sweeping media pronouncements. Based on his usual demeanor, his press conference after the weekend's loss to West Ham counts as a furious tirade. Newcastle scored first but West Ham took the lead by the interval, as well as hitting the post and having a penalty revoked by VAR, leading Howe to execute a three substitutions at the break.

“The opening period was particularly irritating,” Howe stated. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I believe this indicated of where we were in that moment during the match and it’s very, very rare for me to have that impression. Actually, I cannot recall having done so since I’ve been head coach of Newcastle, so I felt the squad required some shaking up at the break. This explains why I made those decisions.”

Three key players all came off at the interval and Newcastle did stabilise somewhat in the latter period, without ever appearing like they could get back into the game against a side that had won only one of their last nine league matches. Considering the congestion the middle of the table is, with a mere three-point gap separating the top spots from mid-table, and nine points between the upper and lower ranks, a run of 12 points from ten matches has not placed Newcastle stranded but, equally, they must not end the campaign in 13th.

The Problem of Expectations

The problem to an extent is one of perception. With the Saudi PIF, Newcastle have the richest owners in the globe. The assumption when the Saudi fund bought a majority stake of the team in recent years was that it would bring a game-changing impact, similar to Roman Abramovich had at Chelsea or Sheikh Mansour did at the Etihad. The difference is that both of those owners took over prior to the advent of financial fair play regulations (and the ongoing charges against Manchester City relate to if they breached those regulations after they were implemented).

Financial regulations restrict the capacity of proprietors, however rich, to invest funds on their squads and therefore probably would have slowed every Saudi effort to elevate Newcastle to the standard of City. However there is no need for the club's expenditure to have been so restrained as it has been; they could have invested further and remained within the limit – or simply taken a fairly minor European penalty since their major issue is primarily with the European than the domestic rules.

Stadium Spending and Financial Regulations

Besides which, infrastructure spending is exempted from PSR calculations; the simplest method to raise income to create additional PSR headroom would be to extend or redevelop the stadium. Considering the site of St James’ Park, with protected structures on two sides, practically that probably means constructing an completely new stadium. There was talk in March of potentially making the nearby relocation to Leazes Park – resistance from local groups could surely have been overcome with a commitment to create a replacement green space on the existing stadium site – but there has been any progress on that plan. There has occurred significant retrenchment from the Saudi fund on a range of initiatives as it shifts focus on local investments; the approach to Newcastle seems completely in alignment with that strategic shift.

Player Sales Situation

The star striker saga was born of that conflict. A more confident leadership might have portrayed his sale as necessary to release capital for further investment; rather there was a vain effort to keep him. That meant the team began the season amidst a sense of disappointment despite the acquisitions of several new players. The opening was indifferent: one win in their first six fixtures.

But it appeared a corner was reached. They had won five victories in six matches prior to the weekend, a streak that featured demolitions of a Belgian side and a Portuguese club in the European competition. That’s why the display against West Ham was so surprising. The issue maybe is that the team's approach is very aggressive, very high-octane; a slight drop-off in intensity can have profound consequences. Maybe the pressure of domestic, European and cup competition, five fixtures in a fortnight, had got to them. The German forward featured in all five matches and looked especially weary.

Reality of Modern Football

That’s the reality of today's the sport. Managers must be prepared to rotate. Howe has been unlucky that the forward's fitness issue has meant he is short of attacking options but, regardless of how valid the reasons, Sunday’s showing was unacceptable –particularly following scoring first at a stadium primed to turn on its own side.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was just a blip, one of those days when all players is off-colour simultaneously, but if Newcastle are to secure the Champions League next season, let alone eventually launch an actual championship bid, they must not be as inconsistent as this.