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The Newcastle manager isn't typically prone to dramatics or sweeping public pronouncements. So by his standards, his press conference after the weekend's loss to West Ham counts as a furious outburst. His side took an early lead but the opposition took the lead by the interval, as well as striking the woodwork and having a penalty overturned by VAR, prompting Howe to make a triple change at the half-time.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe said. “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 very, very rare for me to have that impression. Actually, I cannot recall having done so during my tenure as manager of Newcastle, so I felt the squad needed some shaking up at half-time. That’s why I did what I did.”

Three key players all came off at half-time and Newcastle managed to steady to an extent in the second half, but never appearing like they might get back into the contest against an opponent that had secured just a single victory of their previous nine league matches. Considering how packed the centre of the table currently is, with just three points dividing third from 11th, and nine points between the upper and lower ranks, a run of twelve points from 10 games has not placed the Magpies adrift but, similarly, they cannot finish the season in 13th.

The Issue of Perception

The challenge partially is one of public view. With the Saudi PIF, Newcastle have the wealthiest backers in the world. The assumption at the time the Saudi fund bought 80% of the team in recent years was that it would have a transformative effect, as Roman Abramovich achieved at Stamford Bridge or Sheikh Mansour had at Manchester City. The difference is that both of those owners assumed control prior to the introduction of financial fair play regulations (and the current charges against City concern if they breached those regulations once they were implemented).

Financial restrictions limit the ability of owners, no matter how wealthy, to spend money on their squads and therefore probably would have hindered every Middle Eastern attempt to raise Newcastle to the level of City. But there is no need for the club's spending to have been quite as cautious as it has; they could have invested further and remained within the limit – or simply taken a relatively meagre European penalty given their major problem is more with the continental than the Premier League rules.

Infrastructure Investment and PSR Rules

Additionally, infrastructure spending is exempted from PSR assessments; the simplest method to raise income to create additional PSR flexibility would be to extend or redevelop the stadium. Given the site of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on two sides, in reality that likely means building an entirely new stadium. There was talk in spring of potentially undertaking the nearby relocation to Leazes Park – opposition from community organizations could surely have been surmounted with a promise to build a new park on the current stadium site – but there has not been no movement on that proposal. There has been significant cutbacks from the PIF on a variety of projects as it shifts focus on domestic affairs; the approach to Newcastle appears completely in alignment with that change of approach.

The Alexander Isak Saga

The star striker episode was born of that tension. A more confident management might have portrayed his transfer as necessary to free up capital for additional spending; rather there was a unsuccessful effort to retain him. That meant Newcastle started the campaign amidst a feeling of frustration even with the acquisitions of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The opening was mixed: a single victory in their first six games.

Yet it seemed a turning point was reached. They secured five victories in six matches prior to the weekend, a streak that featured demolitions of Union Saint-Gilloise and Benfica in the European competition. That’s why the display against the Hammers was so surprising. The issue perhaps is that the team's style is very aggressive, very high-octane; a slight drop-off in intensity can have significant effects. Perhaps the strain of domestic, Champions League and cup matches, five games in a fortnight, had got to them. The German forward started all five games and looked especially weary.

The Nature of Modern Football

This is the reality of today's the sport. Managers have to be prepared to make changes. Howe has been unfortunate that the forward's injury has left him lacking attacking options but, no matter how reasonable the reasons, the weekend's showing was inexcusable –especially after taking the lead at a ground ready to turn on its home team.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was just a blip, one of those days when all players is below par at once, but if the Magpies are to secure the European competition in the future, let alone one day mount an genuine title challenge, they cannot be as unreliable as this.