🔗 Share this article

The Newcastle manager is not prone to histrionics or sweeping public pronouncements. Based on his usual demeanor, his press conference following the weekend's 3-1 defeat qualifies as a angry outburst. His side scored first but West Ham were ahead by the interval, as well as hitting the post and having a penalty revoked by VAR, prompting Howe to execute a three substitutions at the half-time.

“The opening period was particularly irritating,” the coach said. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I think that was a reflection of our performance level in that moment during the match and it's extremely uncommon for me to feel that way. In fact, I cannot recall I have since I’ve been head coach of Newcastle, so I felt the squad needed some shaking up at the break. That’s why I did what I did.”

Three key players were substituted at half-time and Newcastle did stabilise somewhat in the second half, without ever appearing like they could get back into the game against an opponent that had won only one of their previous nine fixtures. Considering the congestion the centre of the table currently is, with a mere three-point gap separating third from 11th, and nine points between the upper and lower ranks, a run of twelve points from ten matches has not placed the Magpies stranded but, equally, they must not finish the season in 13th.

The Issue of Expectations

The problem partially is one of public view. In the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the club have the wealthiest backers in the globe. The assumption at the time the Saudi fund bought 80% of the club in recent years was that it would have a transformative effect, as Roman Abramovich achieved at Stamford Bridge or Sheikh Mansour did at the Etihad. The distinction is that those two investors took over prior to the introduction of FFP rules (and the ongoing allegations against City relate to whether they breached those guidelines once they were in place).

Profit and sustainability restrictions limit the capacity of proprietors, no matter how wealthy, to spend money on their teams and therefore probably might have slowed every Saudi attempt to raise the team to the level of City. But it wasn't necessary for Newcastle’s expenditure to have been quite as cautious as it has been; they might have invested further and stayed inside the threshold – or just accepted a relatively meagre European penalty given their big problem is primarily with the European than the Premier League regulation.

Stadium Investment and Financial Regulations

Additionally, infrastructure spending is exempted from Profit and Sustainability assessments; the simplest method to raise income to generate more PSR headroom would be to extend or redevelop the arena. Given the location of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on multiple sides, practically that probably implies building an completely new stadium. Rumors circulated in March of possibly making the nearby relocation to Leazes Park – opposition from community organizations might have been overcome with a promise to build a new park on the current ground location – but there has not been no movement on that plan. There has occurred significant cutbacks from the Saudi fund on a variety of projects as it shifts focus on local investments; the attitude to the football club seems completely in keeping with that strategic shift.

The Alexander Isak Saga

The star striker saga was arose from that tension. A more confident management might have portrayed his transfer as necessary to free up capital for additional spending; rather there was a unsuccessful effort to retain him. This resulted in Newcastle started the campaign amidst a sense of disappointment despite the signings of several new players. The start was indifferent: a single victory in their first six fixtures.

Yet it seemed a turning point had been turned. They had won five in six prior to Sunday, a run that featured convincing wins of Union Saint-Gilloise and Benfica in the European competition. That’s why the performance against West Ham was such a shock. The issue maybe is that the team's approach is extremely intense, very high-octane; a minor decrease in intensity can have significant effects. Perhaps the strain of domestic, Champions League and Carabao Cup competition, five fixtures in a fortnight, had got to them. The German forward featured in each of those games and looked particularly fatigued.

Reality of Contemporary Football

That’s the reality of modern football. Coaches must be ready to rotate. Howe has been unfortunate that the forward's fitness issue has left him lacking forward choices but, no matter how valid the explanations, Sunday’s performance was unacceptable –especially following scoring first at a stadium primed to turn on its home team.

Howe will wish it was merely a temporary setback, one of those days when everybody is off-colour at once, but if Newcastle are to secure the Champions League in the future, let alone eventually launch an genuine championship bid, they must not be as inconsistent as this.