🔗 Share this article

The Newcastle manager is not prone to histrionics or grand public statements. So by his standards, his media briefing following the weekend's loss to West Ham counts as a angry tirade. 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 revoked by VAR, leading Howe to execute a triple change at the break.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe stated. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I think that was a reflection of our performance level at that stage during the match and it's extremely uncommon for me to have that impression. Actually, I don’t think I have during my tenure as head coach of the club, therefore I believed the squad needed a significant change at the break. 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 to an extent in the latter period, without ever appearing like they could fight back into the game against a side that had won only one of their previous nine league matches. Considering the congestion the middle of the standings currently is, with just three points dividing the top spots from mid-table, and a nine-point margin between the upper and lower ranks, a run of 12 points from ten matches has not left Newcastle adrift but, equally, they cannot end the campaign in thirteenth place.

The Problem of Expectations

The challenge to an extent is one of perception. In the Saudi Public Investment Fund, Newcastle have the wealthiest owners in the world. The assumption at the time the PIF bought a majority stake of the club in 2021 was that it would have a transformative effect, as the former Chelsea owner had at Chelsea or the City Group had at Manchester City. The distinction is that those two investors assumed control before the introduction of FFP regulations (and the current allegations against City concern whether they violated those regulations once they were implemented).

Financial regulations limit the capacity of owners, however rich, to spend money on their squads and so in that sense probably would have slowed any Saudi attempt to raise the team to the standard of Manchester City. But there is no need for Newcastle’s spending to have been so restrained as it has; they could have invested further and remained within 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 excluded from PSR assessments; the easiest way to raise income to generate additional PSR flexibility would be to extend or renovate the stadium. Given the site of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on two sides, in reality that probably implies constructing an entirely new venue. There was talk in spring of possibly making the short move to Leazes Park – resistance from community organizations might have been overcome with a promise to create a new park on the existing stadium site – but there has not been no movement on that plan. There has been significant retrenchment from the Saudi fund on a range of initiatives as it shifts focus on domestic affairs; the approach to Newcastle appears entirely in alignment with that change of approach.

Player Sales Saga

The star striker episode was arose from that tension. A more confident leadership might have framed his transfer as necessary to free up capital for additional spending; instead there was a vain effort to keep him. That meant Newcastle started the campaign amid a feeling of disappointment even with the signings of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The opening was indifferent: a single victory in their first six fixtures.

Yet it appeared a corner was reached. They secured five in six prior to the weekend, a run that included demolitions of Union Saint-Gilloise and Benfica in the European competition. This explains the performance against West Ham was so surprising. The issue maybe is that Newcastle’s approach is extremely intense, high-energy; a minor decrease in intensity can have significant consequences. Perhaps the strain of domestic, European and cup matches, five games in a fortnight, had got to them. Woltemade featured in each of those games and appeared particularly weary.

Reality of Contemporary Football

This is the reality of modern the sport. Managers have to be ready to rotate. The manager has been unlucky that Wissa’s fitness issue has left him short of forward choices but, no matter how reasonable the explanations, Sunday’s performance was inexcusable –especially following taking the lead at a ground primed to turn on its home team.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was merely a temporary setback, one of those days when everybody is below par at once, but if the Magpies are to qualify for the European competition next season, let alone eventually mount an genuine championship bid, they must not be as unreliable as they have been.