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Eddie Howe is not given to histrionics or grand media pronouncements. Based on his usual demeanor, his press conference following the weekend's 3-1 defeat qualifies as a furious tirade. His side took an early lead but West Ham took the lead by half-time, while also hitting the post and seeing a spot-kick revoked by VAR, prompting Howe to execute a triple change at the break.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” the coach said. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I think that was a reflection of where we were in that moment in the game and it's extremely uncommon for me to have that impression. Actually, I cannot recall having done so during my tenure as head coach of the club, therefore I believed the team required a significant change at the break. This explains why I did what I did.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth were substituted at half-time and Newcastle did stabilise somewhat in the latter period, without ever appearing like they might get back into the game against a side that had secured just a single victory of their previous nine league matches. Given the congestion the middle of the standings is, with just three points dividing third from 11th, and a nine-point margin between second and 17th, a sequence of 12 points from ten matches has not placed the Magpies stranded but, equally, they cannot finish the season in 13th.

The Issue of Expectations

The challenge partially is one of perception. With the Saudi PIF, Newcastle have the wealthiest backers in the globe. The expectation when the Saudi fund bought 80% of the club in recent years was that it would have a transformative effect, similar to the former Chelsea owner had at Chelsea or Sheikh Mansour did at the Etihad. The difference is that those two investors assumed control before the introduction of FFP regulations (and the ongoing allegations against City concern if they violated those regulations after they were in place).

Financial regulations limit the ability of proprietors, however rich, to spend money on their teams and therefore probably would have slowed any Saudi effort to raise Newcastle to the standard of City. But 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 limit – or simply taken a fairly minor European fine since their major issue is primarily with the European than the domestic rules.

Infrastructure Spending and PSR Regulations

Additionally, infrastructure spending is excluded from Profit and Sustainability calculations; the simplest method to raise income to create more PSR flexibility would be to expand or redevelop the arena. Given the site of the home ground, with listed buildings on multiple sides, in reality that probably implies building an entirely new stadium. There was talk in spring of potentially making the short move to a local park – resistance from community organizations could surely have been surmounted with a commitment to create a replacement green space on the current ground location – but there has been no movement on that plan. There has been substantial retrenchment from the PIF on a variety of projects as it shifts focus on domestic affairs; the attitude to the football club appears entirely in alignment with that change of approach.

Player Sales Saga

The Alexander Isak saga was born of that conflict. A more confident leadership could have framed his transfer as necessary to release capital for additional spending; rather there was a unsuccessful attempt to keep him. That meant Newcastle started the campaign amidst a sense of frustration even with the acquisitions of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The start was indifferent: one win in their initial six fixtures.

But it appeared a turning point was reached. They secured five in six before the weekend, a run that included convincing wins of Union Saint-Gilloise and Benfica in the Champions League. That’s why the display against the Hammers was such a shock. The issue perhaps is that the team's style is very aggressive, very high-octane; a minor decrease in intensity can have profound consequences. Perhaps the strain of domestic, Champions League and cup matches, five games in 15 days, had taken its toll. The German forward featured in all five matches and looked particularly fatigued.

The Nature of Modern Football

This is the nature of today's the sport. Coaches must be prepared to rotate. The manager has been unlucky that Wissa’s fitness issue has left him lacking forward choices but, regardless of how reasonable the reasons, the weekend's showing was unacceptable –especially after taking the lead at a ground ready to turn on its own side.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was just a blip, an off-day when all players is below par simultaneously, but if Newcastle are to secure the Champions League in the future, not to mention one day launch an actual championship bid, they must not be as inconsistent as this.