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Eddie Howe is not given to dramatics or sweeping media statements. So by his usual demeanor, his media briefing after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat counts as a angry outburst. His side took an early lead but West Ham were ahead by half-time, while also striking the woodwork and seeing a spot-kick overturned by VAR, leading Howe to make a triple change at the half-time.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” the coach said. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I believe that was a reflection of where we were at that stage in the game 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 the club, so I felt the team required some shaking up at half-time. That’s why I made those decisions.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth were substituted at the interval and Newcastle did stabilise somewhat in the second half, but never really looking like they might get back into the contest against a side that had won only one of their last nine league matches. Given the congestion the middle of the standings currently is, with just three points 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 left Newcastle stranded but, equally, they cannot finish the season in 13th.

The Problem of Expectations

The challenge partially is one of perception. With the Saudi PIF, the club have the richest backers in the world. The expectation at the time the Saudi fund acquired a majority stake of the club in recent years was that it would have a transformative effect, as Roman Abramovich had at Chelsea or the City Group did at the Etihad. The difference is that those two owners assumed control before the advent of financial fair play regulations (while the current charges against City relate to whether they breached those regulations once they were in place).

Profit and sustainability restrictions restrict the ability of owners, no matter how wealthy, to spend money on their teams and so in that sense probably might have slowed any Saudi attempt to raise Newcastle to the level of Manchester City. However there is no need for the club's spending to have been quite as cautious as it has; they could have invested further and remained within the threshold – or simply taken a relatively meagre European fine given their big problem is primarily with the European than the Premier League regulation.

Infrastructure Spending and Financial Rules

Additionally, infrastructure spending is exempted from PSR calculations; the simplest way to increase revenue to generate additional PSR headroom would be to extend or renovate the stadium. Considering the location of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on two sides, practically that likely means constructing an entirely new venue. Rumors circulated in spring of potentially undertaking the short move to a local park – resistance from community organizations could surely have been overcome with a commitment to build a new park on the existing ground location – but there has not been no movement on that proposal. There has been significant cutbacks from the PIF on a range of projects as it shifts focus on domestic affairs; the approach to the football club seems entirely in alignment with that change of approach.

Player Sales Saga

The Alexander Isak saga was born of that tension. A bolder leadership might have portrayed his sale as necessary to release capital for further investment; instead there was a vain attempt to keep him. That meant Newcastle began the season amid a feeling of frustration despite the signings of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The start was mixed: one win in their first six games.

Yet it seemed a corner was reached. They secured five in six before the weekend, a run 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 issue perhaps is that the team's approach is very aggressive, high-energy; a slight drop-off in energy can have significant effects. Maybe the pressure of domestic, Champions League and Carabao Cup matches, five games in 15 days, had got to them. Woltemade started all five matches and appeared particularly weary.

Reality of Contemporary Football

This is the nature of today's the sport. Managers must be ready to make changes. The manager has been unfortunate that the forward's fitness issue has left him lacking attacking options but, no matter how reasonable the reasons, Sunday’s performance was inexcusable –particularly after scoring first at a stadium ready to criticize its home team.

The Newcastle boss will wish it was merely a temporary setback, one of those days when all players is below par simultaneously, but if the Magpies are to secure the Champions League in the future, let alone eventually mount an genuine championship bid, they cannot be as inconsistent as they have been.