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The Newcastle manager is not prone to dramatics or grand media statements. Based on his standards, his press conference following the weekend's 3-1 defeat qualifies as a furious outburst. Newcastle scored first but the opposition were ahead by the interval, while also striking the woodwork and seeing a spot-kick revoked by VAR, leading Howe to execute a triple change at the break.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe said. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I believe that was a reflection of where we were in that moment in the game and it’s very, very rare for me to feel that way. In fact, I don’t think I have since I’ve been manager of Newcastle, therefore I believed the squad needed a significant change at the break. This explains why I made those decisions.”

Three key players all came off at the interval and the team managed to steady to an extent in the second half, but never appearing like they might get back into the game against an opponent 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 sequence of 12 points from 10 games has not left Newcastle stranded but, equally, they must not end the campaign in thirteenth place.

The Issue of Perception

The challenge partially is one of public view. With the Saudi PIF, the club possess the richest owners in the world. The expectation when the PIF acquired a majority stake of the club in recent years was that it would have 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 rules (while the current charges against Manchester City relate to whether they violated those guidelines once they were in place).

Profit and sustainability regulations restrict the ability of proprietors, no matter how wealthy, to invest funds on their squads and therefore likely might have hindered every Saudi effort to raise the team to the standard of City. However it wasn't necessary for Newcastle’s expenditure to have been quite as cautious as it has been; they could have spent more and stayed inside the threshold – or just accepted a fairly minor Uefa penalty given their big problem is more with the continental than the Premier League regulation.

Stadium Spending and PSR Rules

Additionally, infrastructure spending is excluded from PSR assessments; the simplest method to raise income to create additional financial flexibility would be to extend or redevelop the arena. Considering the location of the home ground, with protected structures on two sides, in reality that probably means building an completely new venue. There was talk in March of possibly undertaking the short move to Leazes Park – opposition from local groups might have been overcome with a promise to create a replacement green space on the existing ground location – but there has not been no movement on that plan. There has occurred significant cutbacks from the PIF on a range of initiatives as it shifts focus on domestic affairs; the attitude to Newcastle appears entirely in alignment with that change of approach.

The Alexander Isak Saga

The star striker episode was arose from that tension. A bolder leadership could have framed his transfer as essential to free up capital for further investment; instead there was a unsuccessful attempt to keep him. This resulted in Newcastle started the campaign amid a feeling of disappointment even with the signings of several new players. The start was indifferent: a single victory in their initial six fixtures.

Yet it seemed a turning point had been turned. They had won five victories in six matches before the weekend, a streak that featured demolitions of Union Saint-Gilloise and a Portuguese club in the European competition. This explains the performance against the Hammers was so surprising. The issue perhaps is that the team's approach is very aggressive, high-energy; a slight drop-off in energy can have significant consequences. Perhaps the strain of domestic, Champions League and cup competition, five games in a fortnight, had taken its toll. The German forward featured in each of those games and looked especially fatigued.

The Nature of Contemporary Football

That’s the nature of modern the sport. Coaches have to be ready to rotate. Howe has been unfortunate that Wissa’s fitness issue has meant he is lacking forward choices but, no matter how reasonable the explanations, the weekend's showing was inexcusable –especially after scoring first at a stadium ready to turn on its home team.

Howe will wish it was just a blip, an off-day when all players is off-colour at once, but if the Magpies are to secure the Champions League next season, let alone one day mount an genuine title challenge, they must not be as unreliable as this.