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Eddie Howe isn't typically prone to dramatics or grand public statements. Based on his standards, his press conference after Sunday’s loss to West Ham qualifies as a furious tirade. His side scored first but West Ham took the lead by the interval, while also striking the woodwork and seeing a spot-kick revoked by VAR, leading Howe to make a three substitutions 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 our performance level at that stage in the game and it’s very, very rare for me to feel that way. In fact, I cannot recall I have during my tenure as head coach of the club, so I felt the team required some shaking up at half-time. This explains why I made those decisions.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth were substituted at half-time and Newcastle did stabilise somewhat in the latter period, without ever appearing like they might fight back into the game against an opponent that had secured just a single victory of their last nine league matches. 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 12 points from 10 games has not placed the Magpies adrift but, equally, they cannot end the campaign in 13th.

The Issue of Perception

The problem to an extent is one of public view. In the Saudi Public Investment Fund, Newcastle have the wealthiest owners in the globe. The expectation when the PIF acquired a majority stake of the team in 2021 was that it would bring a transformative effect, similar to Roman Abramovich had at Chelsea or Sheikh Mansour had at Manchester City. The distinction is that those two owners assumed control before the advent of financial fair play regulations (while the current charges against City concern if they violated those regulations after they were in place).

Financial regulations limit the capacity of proprietors, no matter how wealthy, to spend money on their squads and so in that sense probably would have slowed every Middle Eastern attempt to elevate the team to the standard of City. However there is no need for the club's spending 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 Uefa penalty given their major problem is more with the European than the Premier League regulation.

Stadium Investment and Financial Regulations

Besides which, infrastructure spending is excluded from Profit and Sustainability assessments; the easiest method to raise income to create more PSR flexibility would be to expand or redevelop the stadium. Given the site of the home ground, with protected structures on multiple sides, practically that likely implies building an completely new venue. Rumors circulated in March of potentially making the short move to Leazes Park – opposition from local groups might have been overcome with a commitment to build a replacement green space on the existing stadium site – but there has not been any progress on that proposal. There has occurred substantial retrenchment from the PIF on a range of initiatives as it shifts focus on local investments; the approach to the football club appears entirely in keeping with that change of approach.

Player Sales Situation

The Alexander Isak episode was arose from that tension. A more confident management might have framed his transfer as essential to release capital for additional spending; rather there was a unsuccessful attempt to retain him. This resulted in the team began the season amidst a sense of disappointment even with the acquisitions of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The start was indifferent: a single victory in their first six fixtures.

Yet it appeared a turning point was reached. They secured five in six before the weekend, a streak that included demolitions of a Belgian side and Benfica in the Champions League. This explains the performance against the Hammers was so surprising. The problem maybe is that the team's style is very aggressive, very high-octane; a minor decrease in intensity can have profound effects. Perhaps the pressure of domestic, European and Carabao Cup matches, five games in 15 days, had taken its toll. Woltemade started each of those matches and appeared especially weary.

The Nature of Contemporary Football

That’s the reality of modern the sport. Coaches have to be ready to rotate. The manager has been unlucky that Wissa’s injury has meant he is short of forward choices but, regardless of how reasonable the explanations, Sunday’s performance was inexcusable –especially after scoring first at a stadium ready to turn on its own side.

The Newcastle boss 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, not to mention one day mount an genuine championship bid, they must not be as inconsistent as this.