🔗 Share this article

Eddie Howe is not prone to dramatics or grand public statements. So by his standards, his media briefing following the weekend's 3-1 defeat qualifies as a furious tirade. His side scored first but the opposition took the lead by half-time, while also hitting the post and having a penalty overturned by VAR, leading Howe to make a three substitutions at the half-time.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe stated. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I think this indicated of where we were 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 head coach of Newcastle, so I felt the squad required a significant change at the break. That’s why I made what I did.”

Three key players were substituted at the interval and the team did stabilise to an extent in the second half, but never really looking like they could get back into the contest against an opponent that had secured just a single victory of their last nine fixtures. Considering how packed the centre of the table is, with a mere three-point gap dividing third from 11th, and nine points between the upper and lower ranks, a sequence of 12 points from ten matches has not left Newcastle stranded but, similarly, they must not finish the season in 13th.

The Problem of Perception

The challenge partially is one of perception. With the Saudi PIF, the club have the wealthiest backers in the globe. The expectation at the time the PIF bought a majority stake of the team in recent years was that it would bring a transformative effect, as the former Chelsea owner had at Chelsea or the City Group had at Manchester City. The distinction is that both of those investors assumed control before the introduction of FFP rules (while the ongoing charges against Manchester City relate to whether they breached those regulations after they were implemented).

Financial restrictions limit the capacity of proprietors, no matter how wealthy, to invest funds on their squads and so in that sense likely would have slowed every Middle Eastern attempt to raise the team to the standard of 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 stayed inside the threshold – or simply taken a relatively meagre Uefa penalty given their big issue is more with the European than the Premier League regulation.

Stadium Investment and Financial Rules

Besides which, infrastructure spending is exempted from Profit and Sustainability calculations; the easiest method to raise income to create more financial flexibility would be to expand or redevelop the stadium. Considering the site of the home ground, with protected structures on multiple sides, practically that likely implies constructing an completely new venue. Rumors circulated in March of potentially making the nearby relocation to a local park – resistance from local groups could surely have been overcome with a promise to create a new park on the existing ground location – but there has been no movement on that proposal. There has occurred significant cutbacks from the Saudi fund on a variety of initiatives as it refocuses on local investments; the attitude to the football club seems completely in keeping with that change of approach.

Player Sales Saga

The star striker saga was arose from that conflict. A more confident leadership could have framed his transfer as essential to free up funds for further investment; rather there was a unsuccessful effort to retain him. That meant the team began the season amid a feeling of disappointment even with 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 had won five in six prior to Sunday, a streak that featured convincing wins of Union Saint-Gilloise and Benfica in the Champions League. This explains the performance against the Hammers was such a shock. The issue perhaps is that the team's style is extremely intense, very high-octane; a slight drop-off in intensity can have profound consequences. Perhaps the strain of Premier League, Champions League and cup matches, five games in a fortnight, had got to them. The German forward started all five games and appeared especially fatigued.

The Nature of Contemporary Football

This is the reality of modern football. Managers have to be ready to make changes. The manager has been unfortunate that Wissa’s injury has meant he is lacking forward choices but, no matter how reasonable the explanations, the weekend's performance was inexcusable –especially after scoring first at a stadium ready to turn on its own side.

The Newcastle boss will wish it was just a blip, an off-day when everybody is below par at once, but if Newcastle are to secure the Champions League next season, let alone eventually mount an actual title challenge, they cannot be as unreliable as this.