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The Newcastle manager is not given to histrionics or grand public statements. So by his standards, his press conference after Sunday’s loss to West Ham qualifies as a furious outburst. Newcastle scored first but the opposition were ahead by the interval, as well as striking the woodwork and having a penalty overturned by VAR, prompting 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 believe that was a reflection of our performance level in that moment during the match and it's extremely uncommon for me to have that impression. Actually, I don’t think having done so during my tenure as head coach of the club, so I felt the team required a significant change at the break. That’s why I made what I did.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth were substituted at half-time and Newcastle managed to steady somewhat in the second half, but never appearing like they might fight back into the game against an opponent that had secured just a single victory of their previous nine league matches. Given the congestion the middle of the standings currently is, with just three points dividing the top spots from mid-table, and nine points between second and 17th, a sequence of 12 points from ten matches has not placed the Magpies adrift but, equally, they must not finish the season in thirteenth place.

The Problem of Expectations

The problem partially is one of public view. With the Saudi PIF, the club possess the wealthiest owners in the globe. The expectation at the time the PIF bought 80% of the team in recent years was that it would have a transformative effect, as Roman Abramovich had at Chelsea or Sheikh Mansour did at the Etihad. The distinction is that both of those owners took over before the introduction of financial fair play regulations (while the current allegations against City concern whether they violated those regulations after they were in place).

Financial restrictions limit the ability of owners, no matter how wealthy, to invest funds on their teams and therefore likely would have hindered any Saudi effort to elevate the team to the standard of City. However there is no need for the club's spending to have been quite as cautious as it has; they might have spent more and remained within the limit – or simply taken a fairly minor European fine since their major problem is primarily with the European than the Premier League rules.

Stadium Investment and PSR Regulations

Besides which, stadium development is exempted from PSR calculations; the simplest way to raise income to create additional financial flexibility would be to expand or renovate the arena. Considering the location of the home ground, with listed buildings on two sides, in reality that probably means constructing an completely new stadium. There was talk in March of potentially undertaking the short move to a local park – resistance from community organizations could surely have been surmounted with a promise to build a new park on the existing ground location – but there has been any progress on that proposal. There has occurred significant retrenchment from the Saudi fund on a variety of projects as it refocuses on domestic affairs; the attitude to the football club seems completely in alignment with that strategic shift.

The Alexander Isak Situation

The Alexander Isak episode was born of that conflict. A bolder leadership could have framed his sale as essential to release funds for further spending; rather there was a vain effort to retain him. That meant Newcastle started the campaign amid a feeling of disappointment even with the acquisitions of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The start was mixed: one win in their first six fixtures.

But it appeared a turning point was reached. They secured five in six before Sunday, a run that included demolitions of Union Saint-Gilloise and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. This explains the performance against West Ham was so surprising. The problem perhaps is that the team's style is very aggressive, high-energy; a minor decrease in intensity can have profound consequences. Maybe the strain of Premier League, European and Carabao Cup competition, five games in a fortnight, had got to them. Woltemade featured in all five games and appeared particularly fatigued.

Reality of Contemporary Football

This is the reality of today's the sport. Managers have to be ready to rotate. The manager has been unlucky that Wissa’s injury has left him lacking attacking options but, regardless of how valid the reasons, Sunday’s showing was unacceptable –especially following taking the lead at a stadium ready to criticize its own side.

Howe will hope it was just a blip, one of those days when everybody is below par at once, but if the Magpies are to qualify for the Champions League in the future, let alone eventually mount an actual championship bid, they cannot be as unreliable as they have been.