The Reasons Middle Eastern Money Hasn't Turned Newcastle into Championship Contenders

Eddie Howe isn't typically prone to histrionics or sweeping media statements. Based on his standards, his press conference after Sunday’s loss to West Ham counts as a furious tirade. Newcastle took an early lead but West Ham took the lead by half-time, while also hitting the post and having a penalty overturned by VAR, prompting Howe to execute a three substitutions at the break.

“The opening period was particularly irritating,” the coach said. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I believe that was a reflection of our performance level in that moment in the game and it’s very, very rare for me to have that impression. In fact, I cannot recall having done so during my tenure as manager of the club, so I felt the team needed some shaking up at the break. This explains why I did those decisions.”

Three key players were substituted at half-time and Newcastle managed to steady to an extent in the latter period, but never appearing like they could get back into the contest against a side that had secured just a single victory of their last nine league matches. Given how packed the centre of the table currently is, with just three points dividing third from 11th, and a nine-point margin between the upper and lower ranks, a sequence of 12 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 perception. With the Saudi PIF, Newcastle have the richest backers in the world. The expectation when the PIF bought 80% of the team in 2021 was that it would have a game-changing impact, as Roman Abramovich achieved at Stamford Bridge or the City Group did at the Etihad. The distinction is that both of those investors took over before the advent of financial fair play rules (while the ongoing allegations against City concern whether they violated those guidelines after they were implemented).

Financial regulations limit the ability of proprietors, no matter how wealthy, to invest funds on their teams and therefore probably might have slowed every Saudi effort to elevate the team to the standard of City. But 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 remained within the limit – or just accepted a fairly minor European penalty since their big problem is primarily with the European than the domestic regulation.

Stadium Investment and PSR Regulations

Besides which, infrastructure spending is exempted from PSR assessments; the simplest method to raise income to create additional financial headroom would be to extend or renovate the stadium. Considering the location of the home ground, with listed buildings on two sides, practically that probably implies building an completely new venue. Rumors circulated in spring of possibly making the nearby relocation to Leazes Park – opposition from community organizations might have been surmounted with a promise to build a new park on the current ground location – but there has not been any progress on that plan. There has occurred significant cutbacks from the PIF on a variety of projects as it shifts focus on local investments; the attitude to Newcastle appears entirely in keeping with that change of approach.

The Alexander Isak Saga

The Alexander Isak episode was born of that tension. A bolder leadership might have portrayed his sale as necessary to free up funds for additional spending; rather there was a vain attempt to keep him. That meant Newcastle started the campaign amid a feeling of disappointment even with the acquisitions of several new players. The opening was mixed: a single victory in their initial six games.

Yet it seemed a turning point was reached. They secured five victories in six matches before the weekend, a streak that featured convincing wins of Union Saint-Gilloise and Benfica in the Champions League. This explains the display against West Ham was such a shock. The issue maybe is that the team's style is very aggressive, very high-octane; a slight drop-off in energy can have significant consequences. Perhaps the strain of Premier League, Champions League and cup matches, five games in 15 days, had taken its toll. Woltemade featured in each of those matches and appeared particularly weary.

The Nature of Modern Soccer

This is the nature of today's the sport. Managers must be ready to rotate. Howe has been unlucky that the forward's injury has left him lacking forward choices but, regardless of how valid the reasons, the weekend's showing was unacceptable –particularly following taking the lead at a stadium primed to criticize its home team.

Howe will wish it was just a blip, an off-day when all players is off-colour simultaneously, but if Newcastle are to secure the Champions League next season, let alone one day launch an actual championship bid, they cannot be as unreliable as they have been.