🔗 Share this article

The Newcastle manager is not prone to dramatics or sweeping media statements. So by his usual demeanor, his press conference after the weekend's 3-1 defeat qualifies as a angry outburst. His side scored first but West Ham took the lead by half-time, as well as hitting the post and seeing a spot-kick revoked by VAR, prompting Howe to execute a three substitutions at the break.

“The opening period was particularly irritating,” the coach stated. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I believe this indicated of where we were at that stage in the game and it’s very, very rare for me to have that impression. In fact, I don’t think having done so during my tenure as head coach of Newcastle, so I felt the team required some shaking up at the break. That’s why I did those decisions.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth were substituted at the interval and Newcastle managed to steady to an extent in the second half, without ever really looking like they could get back into the contest against an opponent that had won only one of their last nine league matches. Given how packed the centre of the table is, with a mere three-point gap separating the top spots from mid-table, and a nine-point margin between second and 17th, a run of twelve points from 10 games has not placed Newcastle adrift but, similarly, they cannot end the campaign in 13th.

The Issue of Perception

The problem to an extent is one of perception. With the Saudi PIF, the club have the richest owners in the world. The expectation when the Saudi fund bought a majority stake of the club in recent years was that it would bring a transformative effect, similar to Roman Abramovich achieved at Stamford Bridge or the City Group had at Manchester City. The difference is that those two investors took over prior to the introduction of financial fair play rules (while the ongoing allegations against Manchester City relate to if they violated those guidelines after they were implemented).

Profit and sustainability restrictions limit the ability of owners, no matter how wealthy, to spend money on their teams and therefore likely might have hindered any Saudi effort to elevate the team to the level of City. However it wasn't necessary for Newcastle’s expenditure to have been so restrained as it has; they might have invested further and stayed inside the threshold – or simply taken a relatively meagre Uefa penalty given their big issue is more with the continental than the Premier League rules.

Stadium Spending and PSR Regulations

Additionally, stadium development is excluded from Profit and Sustainability calculations; the easiest method to increase revenue to create additional PSR headroom would be to expand or redevelop the arena. Considering the location of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on two sides, practically that probably means building an completely new venue. Rumors circulated in spring of potentially undertaking the nearby relocation to Leazes Park – opposition from local groups could surely have been overcome with a promise to build a replacement green space on the existing ground location – but there has been no movement on that plan. There has occurred significant retrenchment from the Saudi fund on a variety of projects as it shifts focus on domestic affairs; the approach 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 portrayed his sale as necessary to free up funds for further spending; rather there was a unsuccessful attempt to retain him. That meant the team began the season amidst a feeling of disappointment despite the acquisitions of several new players. The opening was indifferent: a single victory in their initial six fixtures.

Yet it appeared a turning point was reached. They secured five victories in six matches prior to the weekend, a run that included demolitions of Union Saint-Gilloise and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. This explains the display against West Ham was such a shock. The issue maybe is that Newcastle’s style is very aggressive, high-energy; a slight drop-off in intensity can have profound consequences. Perhaps the pressure of Premier League, European and Carabao Cup matches, five games in 15 days, had got to them. The German forward featured in each of those games and appeared especially fatigued.

The Nature of Modern Soccer

This is the nature of today's the sport. Managers have to be prepared to make changes. Howe has been unfortunate that Wissa’s injury has left him lacking forward choices but, regardless of how valid the explanations, the weekend's performance was unacceptable –particularly following taking the lead at a stadium primed to criticize its home team.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was just a blip, an off-day when everybody is off-colour at once, but if the Magpies are to secure the Champions League next season, not to mention one day mount an actual title challenge, they must not be as inconsistent as they have been.