Why Middle Eastern Money Hasn't Turned Newcastle into Title Challengers

Eddie Howe isn't typically prone to histrionics or grand media pronouncements. Based on his usual demeanor, his media briefing following the weekend's 3-1 defeat counts as a angry outburst. His side took an early lead but West Ham took the lead by the interval, while also striking the woodwork and seeing a spot-kick overturned by VAR, leading Howe to make a three substitutions at the break.

“The opening period was particularly irritating,” Howe said. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I think this indicated of our performance level at that stage in the game and it's extremely uncommon for me to have that impression. In fact, I don’t think I have since I’ve been manager of the club, so I felt the squad needed some shaking up at the break. This explains why I made those decisions.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth were substituted at half-time and the team did stabilise somewhat in the second half, without ever really looking like they might fight back into the game against a side that had secured just a single victory of their previous nine fixtures. Considering how packed the centre of the table currently is, with just three points dividing third from 11th, and a nine-point margin between second and 17th, a sequence of 12 points from ten matches has not placed Newcastle stranded but, equally, they cannot finish the season in 13th.

The Problem of Expectations

The problem to an extent is one of perception. In the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the club have the richest backers in the world. The assumption when the Saudi fund bought a majority stake of the club in 2021 was that it would bring a game-changing impact, similar to Roman Abramovich achieved at Stamford Bridge or Sheikh Mansour did at the Etihad. The distinction is that those two owners assumed control prior to the introduction of financial fair play regulations (while the ongoing charges against City relate to whether they violated those guidelines once they were implemented).

Profit and sustainability regulations limit the capacity of proprietors, no matter how wealthy, to spend money on their squads and so in that sense probably might have slowed every Middle Eastern attempt to elevate Newcastle to the standard of City. However there is no need for the club's spending to have been so restrained as it has; they might have spent more and stayed inside the limit – or simply taken a fairly minor European penalty given their major issue is more with the continental than the Premier League rules.

Infrastructure Spending and Financial Regulations

Additionally, stadium development is exempted from Profit and Sustainability assessments; the simplest method to raise income to create additional financial flexibility would be to extend or redevelop the arena. Given the site of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on two sides, practically that probably means building an entirely new venue. There was talk in March of potentially undertaking the nearby relocation to Leazes Park – resistance from community organizations might have been overcome with a commitment to create a new park on the existing stadium site – but there has been any progress on that plan. There has occurred significant cutbacks from the Saudi fund on a range of initiatives as it refocuses on domestic affairs; the attitude to the football club appears completely in alignment with that change of approach.

Player Sales Saga

The Alexander Isak episode was born of that conflict. A more confident leadership might have framed his sale as necessary to free up funds for further spending; rather there was a unsuccessful attempt to keep him. That meant the team started the campaign amid a sense of frustration even with the acquisitions of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The start was mixed: a single victory in their first six fixtures.

But it appeared a corner was reached. They had won five victories in six matches before the weekend, a run that included demolitions of Union Saint-Gilloise and a Portuguese club in the European competition. This explains the performance against West Ham was so surprising. The problem maybe is that the team's style is very aggressive, high-energy; a minor decrease in intensity can have profound effects. Perhaps the pressure of domestic, Champions League and cup matches, five fixtures in a fortnight, had got to them. Woltemade featured in each of those matches and looked especially fatigued.

The Nature of Modern Football

This is the nature of modern the sport. Managers must be ready to rotate. Howe has been unfortunate that Wissa’s fitness issue has meant he is short of forward choices but, no matter how reasonable the explanations, Sunday’s performance was unacceptable –particularly after scoring first at a ground primed to criticize its own side.

Howe will wish it was just a blip, one of those days when all players is off-colour simultaneously, but if the Magpies are to qualify for the Champions League next season, not to mention one day launch an actual title challenge, they cannot be as unreliable as this.