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The Newcastle manager is not prone to histrionics or sweeping media statements. So by his usual demeanor, his media briefing following the weekend's 3-1 defeat qualifies as a furious outburst. His side took an early lead but West Ham took the lead by half-time, as well as striking the woodwork and having a penalty overturned by VAR, prompting Howe to execute a triple change at the break.

“The opening period was particularly irritating,” the coach said. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I think this indicated of where we were at that stage during the match and it's extremely uncommon for me to have that impression. In fact, I cannot recall I have during my tenure as manager of Newcastle, therefore I believed the team needed a significant change at the break. This explains why I did those decisions.”

Three key players all came off at the interval and the team did stabilise somewhat in the latter period, without ever really looking like they could get back into the game against a side that had secured just a single victory of their last nine league matches. Considering how packed the middle of the table currently is, with just three points separating the top spots from mid-table, and nine points between second and 17th, a run of 12 points from 10 games has not left the Magpies stranded but, equally, they must not finish the season in 13th.

The Problem of Perception

The challenge partially is one of perception. In the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the club have the wealthiest owners in the globe. The assumption when the PIF bought a majority stake of the club in recent years was that it would have a game-changing impact, as the former Chelsea owner had at Chelsea or Sheikh Mansour did at the Etihad. The distinction is that both of those owners took over prior to the introduction of financial fair play regulations (while the ongoing charges against Manchester City concern if they breached those guidelines after they were in place).

Financial regulations restrict the capacity of proprietors, no matter how wealthy, to spend money on their squads and therefore probably might have slowed any Saudi effort to raise Newcastle to the standard of Manchester City. But it wasn't necessary for Newcastle’s expenditure to have been quite as cautious as it has; they might have invested further and stayed inside the limit – or just accepted a fairly minor European fine since their big problem is primarily with the European than the domestic rules.

Stadium Investment and PSR Regulations

Besides which, stadium development is exempted from Profit and Sustainability calculations; the simplest way to raise income to create more PSR flexibility would be to expand or redevelop the stadium. Given the location of the home ground, with protected structures on multiple sides, practically that probably implies constructing an completely new venue. Rumors circulated in March of possibly making the nearby relocation to a local park – opposition from community organizations might have been overcome with a commitment to build a new park on the current stadium site – but there has not been any progress on that proposal. There has been significant retrenchment from the PIF on a variety of initiatives as it refocuses on local investments; the attitude to the football club seems entirely in alignment with that change of approach.

Player Sales Situation

The star striker episode was born of that conflict. A bolder management might have portrayed his transfer as necessary to release capital for additional spending; instead there was a vain effort to keep him. This resulted in the team began the season amid a feeling of frustration despite the signings of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The start was mixed: one win in their first six games.

Yet it appeared a turning point had been turned. They had won 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 display against the Hammers was so surprising. The issue perhaps is that Newcastle’s approach is extremely intense, high-energy; a slight drop-off in energy can have profound effects. Maybe the strain of domestic, European and cup matches, five fixtures in a fortnight, had taken its toll. Woltemade featured in each of those games and looked particularly fatigued.

Reality of Contemporary Soccer

This is the reality of modern football. Coaches have to be ready to make changes. The manager has been unfortunate that the forward's fitness issue has left him lacking forward choices but, no matter how valid the reasons, the weekend's performance was unacceptable –especially following taking the lead at a ground primed to criticize its own side.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was just a blip, one of those days when everybody is below par simultaneously, but if Newcastle are to qualify for the European competition next season, let alone one day mount an actual title challenge, they must not be as inconsistent as this.