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Eddie Howe is not prone to dramatics or grand public pronouncements. So by his standards, his media briefing after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat counts as a angry outburst. His side scored first but West Ham were ahead by half-time, as well as hitting the post and seeing a spot-kick revoked by VAR, leading Howe to execute a triple change at the half-time.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe said. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I think this indicated of where we were in that moment during the match and it’s very, very rare for me to have that impression. In fact, I cannot recall having done so since I’ve been head coach of the club, so I felt the team required a significant change at half-time. This explains why I did what I did.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth were substituted at the interval and the team managed to steady to an extent in the second half, without ever appearing like they might get back into the game against a side that had secured just a single victory of their last nine fixtures. Considering how packed the middle of the standings currently is, with just three points separating third from 11th, and nine points between the upper and lower ranks, a run of 12 points from 10 games has not left the Magpies adrift but, equally, they cannot end the campaign in 13th.

The Issue of Perception

The problem partially is one of public view. With the Saudi PIF, the club possess the wealthiest backers in the globe. The assumption when the Saudi fund bought a majority stake of the club in recent years was that it would bring a game-changing impact, similar to Roman Abramovich achieved at Stamford Bridge or Sheikh Mansour had at Manchester City. The distinction is that both of those investors took over prior to the advent of FFP regulations (and the ongoing allegations against City concern whether they violated those regulations after they were implemented).

Profit and sustainability restrictions limit the ability of proprietors, however rich, to invest funds on their teams and therefore probably would have slowed every Saudi attempt to raise the team to the level of Manchester City. But it wasn't necessary for the club's expenditure to have been so restrained as it has; they could have invested further and stayed inside the limit – or simply taken a fairly minor Uefa fine given their major issue is more with the European than the domestic regulation.

Stadium Spending and Financial Rules

Besides which, infrastructure spending is excluded from Profit and Sustainability calculations; the easiest method to increase revenue to create additional PSR flexibility would be to extend or renovate the arena. Given the site of the home ground, with protected structures on two sides, practically that likely means constructing an entirely new venue. Rumors circulated in spring of potentially making the short move to a local park – resistance from local groups could surely have been overcome with a commitment to build a new park on the existing ground location – but there has been any progress on that plan. There has been substantial 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 alignment with that change of approach.

Player Sales Situation

The star striker episode was born of that conflict. A bolder management could have portrayed his sale as essential to free up funds for additional spending; instead there was a vain effort to retain him. This resulted in the team started the campaign amidst a sense of frustration despite the signings of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The start was indifferent: a single victory in their first six fixtures.

Yet it seemed a turning point was reached. They had won five victories in six matches before the weekend, a streak that included demolitions of a Belgian side and Benfica in the European competition. This explains the performance against West Ham was so surprising. The problem maybe is that the team's style is extremely intense, very high-octane; a slight drop-off in energy can have profound consequences. Perhaps the strain of Premier League, European and cup matches, five games in a fortnight, had taken its toll. Woltemade featured in each of those matches and looked especially fatigued.

The Nature of Contemporary Soccer

That’s the reality of modern the sport. Coaches have to be prepared to rotate. The manager has been unlucky that the forward's injury has meant he is lacking forward choices but, no matter how reasonable the explanations, the weekend's performance was inexcusable –particularly after scoring first at a stadium primed to criticize its own side.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was merely a temporary setback, an off-day when all players is off-colour simultaneously, but if Newcastle are to secure the European competition in the future, let alone one day mount an actual title challenge, they cannot be as inconsistent as they have been.