🔗 Share this article

Eddie Howe isn't typically prone to dramatics or sweeping media statements. So by his standards, his press conference following Sunday’s 3-1 defeat counts as a furious outburst. His side scored first but West Ham were ahead by the interval, as well as striking the woodwork and having a penalty overturned by VAR, leading Howe to make a three substitutions at the break.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” the coach said. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I think this indicated of our performance level at that stage in the game and it's extremely uncommon for me to have that impression. In fact, I don’t think I have during my tenure as manager of the club, therefore I believed the team required a significant change at half-time. That’s why I did those decisions.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth all came off at half-time and the team managed to steady to an extent in the latter period, without ever really looking like they could get back into the game against a side that had secured just a single victory of their last nine league matches. Given the congestion the middle of the table currently is, with just three points dividing the top spots from mid-table, and a nine-point margin between the upper and lower ranks, a run of 12 points from 10 games has not placed the Magpies stranded but, similarly, they cannot end the campaign in thirteenth place.

The Issue of Perception

The challenge to an extent is one of public view. With the Saudi PIF, the club have the wealthiest owners in the globe. The assumption at the time the Saudi fund bought a majority stake of the club in 2021 was that it would bring a transformative effect, as the former Chelsea owner had at Chelsea or Sheikh Mansour did at the Etihad. The distinction is that those two investors took over before the advent of financial fair play rules (and the current allegations against Manchester City relate to whether they breached those guidelines after they were in place).

Profit and sustainability regulations limit the ability of owners, however rich, to spend money on their squads and therefore probably might have slowed every Middle Eastern attempt to raise Newcastle to the level of Manchester City. However there is no need for the club's expenditure to have been so restrained as it has; they could have spent more and remained within the threshold – or simply taken a fairly minor Uefa penalty since their big problem is more with the European than the Premier League regulation.

Stadium Spending and Financial Rules

Additionally, stadium development is excluded from PSR calculations; the easiest method to increase revenue to generate more PSR flexibility would be to expand or renovate the arena. Considering the site of the home ground, with listed buildings on multiple sides, in reality that probably means constructing an entirely new stadium. There was talk in spring of potentially making the nearby relocation to Leazes Park – resistance from local groups might have been surmounted with a promise to create a replacement green space on the current ground location – but there has been any progress on that proposal. There has occurred significant cutbacks from the Saudi fund on a variety of projects as it refocuses on domestic affairs; the approach to Newcastle seems completely in keeping with that change of approach.

The Alexander Isak Situation

The star striker episode was arose from that conflict. A more confident management might have framed his sale as necessary to free up funds for additional spending; rather there was a unsuccessful attempt to keep him. That meant the team started the campaign amidst a sense of frustration despite the acquisitions of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The start was mixed: one win in their initial six fixtures.

Yet it seemed a turning point was reached. They secured five victories in six matches prior to the weekend, a streak that featured demolitions of a Belgian side and Benfica in the European competition. That’s why the display against West Ham was such a shock. The issue maybe is that the team's approach is very aggressive, high-energy; a slight drop-off in energy can have significant consequences. Maybe the strain of domestic, Champions League and cup matches, five fixtures in 15 days, had got to them. The German forward started all five matches and appeared especially weary.

Reality of Contemporary Soccer

This is the reality of today's the sport. Coaches must be ready to make changes. Howe has been unfortunate that the forward's fitness issue has left him short of attacking options but, no matter how valid the reasons, Sunday’s showing was inexcusable –particularly after taking the lead at a stadium ready to criticize its own side.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was just a blip, one of those days when all players is below par at once, but if Newcastle are to qualify for the European competition in the future, not to mention one day mount an actual title challenge, they cannot be as inconsistent as this.