Why Saudi Money Hasn't Turned Newcastle into Championship Challengers

The Newcastle manager is not given to dramatics or grand media statements. So by his standards, his press conference after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat counts as a angry tirade. Newcastle scored first but West Ham were ahead by half-time, as well as striking the woodwork and having a penalty overturned by VAR, prompting Howe to execute a triple change at the break.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” the coach stated. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I think that was a reflection of our performance level in that moment in the game and it's extremely uncommon for me to have that impression. In fact, I don’t think having done so during my tenure as manager of the club, therefore I believed the squad required a significant change at the break. This explains why I did what I did.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth were substituted at half-time and the team did stabilise to an extent in the latter period, but never appearing like they might fight back into the contest against an opponent that had won only one of their previous nine fixtures. Considering how packed the centre of the table is, with a mere three-point gap dividing third from 11th, and a nine-point margin between the upper and lower ranks, a sequence of 12 points from ten matches has not placed the Magpies stranded but, similarly, they cannot finish the season in thirteenth place.

The Problem of Expectations

The problem to an extent is one of public view. With the Saudi PIF, the club have the wealthiest backers in the world. The assumption when the PIF acquired 80% 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 did at the Etihad. The difference is that those two owners assumed control before the advent of financial fair play regulations (while the current allegations against City concern whether they breached those guidelines after they were in place).

Financial regulations limit the capacity of owners, however rich, to invest funds on their squads and therefore probably would have hindered every Middle Eastern effort to elevate the team to the standard of City. However it wasn't necessary for Newcastle’s spending to have been quite as cautious as it has; they could have invested further and stayed inside the limit – or simply taken a fairly minor Uefa fine given their big issue is primarily with the European than the domestic regulation.

Stadium Spending and Financial Regulations

Additionally, infrastructure spending is excluded from PSR assessments; the simplest way to increase revenue to create more financial flexibility would be to extend or renovate the arena. Given the location of St James’ Park, with protected structures on two sides, in reality that likely implies building an entirely new stadium. There was talk in March of potentially undertaking the short move to Leazes Park – resistance from community organizations might have been overcome with a promise to create a replacement green space on the existing ground location – but there has been any progress on that plan. There has occurred significant cutbacks from the PIF on a range of initiatives as it shifts focus on local investments; the attitude to the football club seems entirely in keeping with that change of approach.

Player Sales Saga

The star striker episode was born of that conflict. A more confident leadership might have portrayed his transfer as essential to release funds for additional spending; rather there was a vain attempt to retain him. That meant Newcastle started the campaign amid a sense of disappointment despite the signings of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The opening was indifferent: a single victory in their initial six games.

Yet it appeared a corner had been turned. They had won five in six before Sunday, a streak that featured demolitions of Union Saint-Gilloise and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. That’s why the performance against the Hammers was so surprising. The issue maybe is that the team's approach is extremely intense, very high-octane; a minor decrease in energy can have profound effects. Perhaps the strain of domestic, European and cup matches, five games in a fortnight, had got to them. The German forward started all five games and appeared particularly fatigued.

Reality of Modern Football

That’s the reality of modern football. Managers have to be prepared to make changes. The manager has been unlucky that the forward's injury has meant he is lacking forward choices but, regardless of how valid the explanations, Sunday’s performance was inexcusable –especially following scoring first at a ground ready to turn on its own side.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was just a blip, one of those days when everybody is below par simultaneously, but if Newcastle are to qualify for the Champions League next season, not to mention eventually launch an genuine championship bid, they must not be as unreliable as this.