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Eddie Howe isn't typically given to dramatics or grand public statements. So by his standards, his press conference after the weekend's loss to West Ham counts as a furious outburst. His side scored first but the opposition were ahead by half-time, as well as hitting the post and having a penalty revoked by VAR, leading Howe to make a triple change at the break.

“The opening period was particularly irritating,” 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 very, very rare for me to feel that way. In fact, I don’t think having done so since I’ve been manager of the club, therefore I believed the team required some shaking up at the break. This explains why I did those decisions.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth all came off at the interval and Newcastle did stabilise somewhat in the second half, without ever really looking like they might get back into the contest against a side that had secured just a single victory of their last nine league matches. Given how packed the middle of the standings is, with just three points separating the top spots from mid-table, and a nine-point margin between the upper and lower ranks, a run of twelve points from ten matches has not placed the Magpies stranded but, similarly, they cannot end the campaign in thirteenth place.

The Problem of Expectations

The problem to an extent is one of perception. With the Saudi PIF, the club have the richest owners in the world. The expectation when the PIF acquired a majority stake of the team in recent years was that it would bring a game-changing impact, similar to Roman Abramovich achieved at Stamford Bridge or Sheikh Mansour did at the Etihad. The distinction is that both of those investors assumed control before the introduction of financial fair play regulations (and the ongoing allegations against Manchester City concern whether they breached those guidelines after they were in place).

Profit and sustainability regulations limit the capacity of owners, however rich, to spend money on their teams and therefore probably might have slowed any Saudi attempt to elevate Newcastle to the standard of Manchester City. But there is no need for the club's spending to have been so restrained as it has; they could have spent more and stayed inside the threshold – or just accepted a relatively meagre Uefa fine given their big issue is more with the European than the Premier League regulation.

Infrastructure Investment and PSR Regulations

Besides which, stadium development is excluded from PSR assessments; the easiest way to increase revenue to generate more financial headroom would be to extend or redevelop the stadium. Given the location of the home ground, with listed buildings on two sides, practically that likely implies constructing an completely new stadium. There was talk in spring of possibly undertaking the nearby relocation to Leazes Park – opposition from community organizations could surely have been surmounted with a promise to build a replacement green space on the current stadium site – but there has not been no movement on that plan. There has occurred substantial retrenchment from the PIF on a range of projects as it refocuses on domestic affairs; the attitude to Newcastle seems entirely in alignment with that change of approach.

Player Sales Saga

The star striker saga was born of that conflict. A bolder management might have portrayed his sale as essential to release capital for further investment; rather there was a unsuccessful attempt to retain him. This resulted in the team started the campaign amidst a sense of disappointment even with the signings of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The opening was indifferent: a single victory in their first six fixtures.

But it appeared a corner had been turned. They had won five in six prior to the weekend, a streak that included convincing wins of Union Saint-Gilloise and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. That’s why the performance against West Ham was so surprising. The problem perhaps is that Newcastle’s approach is extremely intense, very high-octane; a minor decrease in intensity can have profound consequences. Perhaps the pressure of Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup matches, five fixtures in 15 days, had taken its toll. Woltemade started each of those games and looked especially weary.

Reality of Modern Football

This is the nature of modern football. Coaches have to be prepared to rotate. Howe has been unfortunate that the forward's injury has left him lacking forward choices but, no matter how reasonable the explanations, Sunday’s showing was unacceptable –particularly after scoring first at a stadium primed to criticize its own side.

Howe will hope it was merely a temporary setback, one of those days when everybody is off-colour simultaneously, but if Newcastle are to qualify for the Champions League in the future, let alone one day launch an actual championship bid, they must not be as unreliable as this.