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Eddie Howe isn't typically prone to histrionics or sweeping media pronouncements. So by his usual demeanor, his media briefing following Sunday’s 3-1 defeat qualifies as a angry outburst. His side scored first but the opposition were ahead by the interval, while also hitting the post and seeing a spot-kick overturned by VAR, prompting Howe to execute a three substitutions at the break.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” the coach said. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I believe this indicated of our performance level in that moment in the game and it's extremely uncommon for me to feel that way. Actually, I cannot recall I have since I’ve been manager of Newcastle, so I felt the team needed a significant change at the break. This explains why I did what I did.”

Three key players all came off at the interval and the team did stabilise somewhat in the second half, but never really looking like they might fight back into the game against a side that had won only one of their previous nine league matches. Considering the congestion the middle of the standings is, with a mere three-point gap separating the top spots from mid-table, and a nine-point margin between the upper and lower ranks, a sequence of twelve points from ten matches has not placed Newcastle stranded but, equally, they must not end the campaign in thirteenth place.

The Issue of Expectations

The challenge to an extent is one of public view. With the Saudi PIF, Newcastle have the wealthiest owners in the world. The expectation at the time the PIF bought 80% of the team in recent years was that it would have a transformative effect, similar to Roman Abramovich had at Chelsea or the City Group did at the Etihad. The distinction is that those two owners took over before the advent of FFP rules (while the ongoing allegations against City concern whether they breached those regulations once they were in place).

Financial regulations limit the capacity of owners, however rich, to spend money on their squads and therefore probably might have hindered every Saudi effort to raise the team to the standard of Manchester City. However there is no need for the club's spending to have been quite as cautious as it has been; they could have invested further and stayed inside the limit – or simply taken a relatively meagre Uefa fine since their major issue is more with the European than the domestic rules.

Infrastructure Spending and Financial Regulations

Additionally, stadium development is exempted from PSR assessments; the easiest way to increase revenue to create more financial flexibility would be to extend or renovate the arena. Considering the site of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on two sides, practically that likely means building an entirely new stadium. There was talk in spring of possibly undertaking the nearby relocation to Leazes Park – opposition from local groups might have been surmounted with a promise to create a new park on the existing ground location – but there has been no movement on that proposal. There has been significant cutbacks from the PIF on a variety of projects as it refocuses on domestic affairs; the approach to Newcastle appears entirely in keeping with that strategic shift.

Player Sales Saga

The Alexander Isak episode was born of that tension. A bolder management might have framed his transfer as essential to release capital for further investment; rather there was a vain attempt to keep him. This resulted in Newcastle started the campaign amid a sense of frustration despite the acquisitions of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The opening was indifferent: one win in their initial six games.

Yet it seemed a turning point had been turned. They secured five victories in six matches before the weekend, a streak that featured demolitions of Union Saint-Gilloise and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. That’s why the performance against West Ham was such a shock. The issue maybe is that Newcastle’s style is extremely intense, high-energy; a slight drop-off in energy can have profound consequences. Perhaps the strain of domestic, European and Carabao Cup matches, five fixtures in a fortnight, had got to them. Woltemade featured in each of those games and looked especially fatigued.

Reality of Contemporary Soccer

This is the reality of modern football. Coaches have to be prepared to rotate. The manager has been unfortunate that the forward's injury has left him short of forward choices but, regardless of how reasonable the reasons, Sunday’s performance was inexcusable –especially after scoring first at a stadium primed to criticize its own side.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was merely a temporary setback, one of those days when all players is off-colour at once, but if the Magpies are to qualify for the European competition next season, let alone one day launch an actual title challenge, they cannot be as unreliable as they have been.