Why Middle Eastern Investment Hasn't Transformed The Magpies into Title Challengers

The Newcastle manager isn't typically prone to dramatics or sweeping media statements. So by his standards, his media briefing after the weekend's loss to West Ham counts as a furious tirade. His side took an early lead but West Ham were ahead by the interval, as well as hitting the post and seeing a spot-kick revoked by VAR, prompting Howe to make a triple change at the half-time.

“The opening period was particularly irritating,” Howe said. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I believe this indicated of where we were at that stage in the game and it's extremely uncommon for me to have that impression. In fact, I cannot recall having done so during my tenure as manager of Newcastle, so I felt the squad required a significant change at half-time. This explains why I did those decisions.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth all came off at the interval and the team did stabilise somewhat in the latter period, but never really looking like they could fight back into the contest against an opponent that had secured just a single victory of their previous nine fixtures. Considering the congestion the middle of the standings is, with just three points separating third from 11th, and a nine-point margin between second and 17th, a sequence of twelve points from 10 games has not left the Magpies adrift but, similarly, they cannot end the campaign in thirteenth place.

The Problem of Expectations

The challenge partially is one of perception. With the Saudi PIF, the club have the richest owners in the world. The assumption at the time the Saudi fund bought 80% of the club in recent years was that it would have a transformative effect, as the former Chelsea owner achieved at Stamford Bridge or the City Group did at the Etihad. The distinction is that both of those owners took over prior to the introduction of FFP regulations (and the current allegations against Manchester City relate to if they violated those regulations once they were in place).

Financial restrictions limit the ability of proprietors, however rich, to invest funds on their teams and so in that sense likely would have slowed any Saudi attempt to raise Newcastle to the level of City. However there is no need for the club's expenditure to have been quite as cautious as it has been; they might have invested further and stayed inside the limit – or simply taken a relatively meagre European penalty given their big issue is primarily with the European than the Premier League regulation.

Stadium Investment and Financial Rules

Additionally, stadium development is exempted from PSR calculations; the easiest method to raise income to create additional PSR headroom would be to extend or redevelop the stadium. Considering the site of the home ground, with listed buildings on two sides, in reality that probably implies constructing an entirely new stadium. There was talk in March of possibly undertaking the nearby relocation to a local park – opposition from community organizations might have been surmounted with a commitment to build a new park on the current ground location – but there has been any progress on that proposal. There has been substantial retrenchment from the PIF on a range of initiatives as it refocuses on local investments; the attitude to Newcastle seems completely in keeping with that change of approach.

The Alexander Isak Situation

The Alexander Isak episode was arose from that conflict. A more confident leadership might have portrayed his transfer as essential to free up capital for additional investment; instead there was a unsuccessful effort to keep him. This resulted in Newcastle started the campaign amidst a sense of frustration even with the signings of several new players. The start was mixed: a single victory in their initial six fixtures.

But it seemed a corner was reached. They had won five in six prior to Sunday, a streak that included convincing wins of a Belgian side and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. That’s why the performance against West Ham was so surprising. The problem maybe is that the team's approach is very aggressive, very high-octane; a minor decrease in intensity can have profound effects. Maybe the strain of Premier League, European and Carabao Cup competition, five games in 15 days, had got to them. The German forward featured in each of those matches and appeared especially fatigued.

The Nature of Modern Football

That’s the nature of modern football. Coaches must be prepared to make changes. Howe has been unfortunate that Wissa’s injury has left him short of forward choices but, regardless of how reasonable the explanations, Sunday’s performance was inexcusable –especially following taking the lead at a ground primed to criticize its own side.

Howe will hope it was merely a temporary setback, an off-day when everybody is off-colour at once, but if the Magpies are to secure the European competition next season, let alone one day launch an genuine championship bid, they must not be as unreliable as they have been.