Why Saudi Investment Has Not Turned The Magpies into Title Contenders

The Newcastle manager isn't typically given to dramatics or sweeping media statements. So by his standards, his press conference following the weekend's loss to West Ham counts as a furious outburst. His side took an early lead but the opposition were ahead 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 half-time.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe stated. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I believe this indicated of our performance level at that stage in the game and it's extremely uncommon for me to feel that way. Actually, I cannot recall having done so during my tenure as manager of Newcastle, therefore I believed the team required some shaking up at the break. This explains why I made what I did.”

Three key players all came off at half-time and Newcastle managed to steady somewhat in the latter period, but never really looking like they could get back into the game against a side that had secured just a single victory of their last nine league matches. Considering how packed the centre of the table is, with a mere three-point gap separating third from 11th, and a nine-point margin between second and 17th, a run of 12 points from 10 games has not placed Newcastle stranded but, equally, they cannot end the campaign in 13th.

The Problem of Expectations

The challenge to an extent is one of perception. In the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the club possess the wealthiest owners in the world. The expectation when the Saudi fund acquired 80% of the club in 2021 was that it would bring a transformative effect, as the former Chelsea owner had at Chelsea or Sheikh Mansour had at Manchester City. The distinction is that those two owners took over before the advent of FFP rules (and the current charges against City relate to whether they violated those guidelines once they were in place).

Financial regulations limit the capacity of proprietors, no matter how wealthy, to spend money on their teams and so in that sense probably would have slowed any Saudi attempt to raise the team to the standard of City. However 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 threshold – or simply taken a relatively meagre Uefa fine given their major problem is primarily with the European than the Premier League rules.

Stadium Spending and PSR Rules

Additionally, stadium development is exempted from Profit and Sustainability assessments; the easiest method to raise income to create more financial headroom would be to extend or renovate the stadium. Considering the location of the home ground, with protected structures on two sides, in reality that likely implies building an completely new venue. There was talk in March of possibly making the nearby relocation to Leazes Park – resistance from local groups might have been overcome with a promise to build a new park on the current stadium site – but there has not been no movement on that plan. There has been significant retrenchment from the PIF on a variety of projects as it refocuses on domestic affairs; the approach to the football club seems completely in alignment with that strategic shift.

Player Sales Saga

The Alexander Isak saga was arose from that conflict. A bolder management could have portrayed his transfer as necessary to free up funds for further investment; instead there was a vain effort to keep him. This resulted in the team began the season amid a feeling of disappointment even with the acquisitions of several new players. The start was mixed: a single victory in their initial six games.

But it appeared a corner had been turned. They had won five victories in six matches before the weekend, a streak that featured demolitions of a Belgian side and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. That’s why the display against West Ham was so surprising. The problem perhaps is that the team's style is very aggressive, high-energy; a slight drop-off in intensity can have profound effects. Perhaps the strain of Premier League, European and cup matches, five games in a fortnight, had taken its toll. Woltemade featured in all five matches and looked particularly fatigued.

Reality of Modern Football

That’s the reality of today's football. Managers must be prepared to rotate. The manager has been unfortunate that the forward's fitness issue has left him lacking forward choices but, no matter how reasonable the explanations, Sunday’s performance was unacceptable –particularly after taking the lead at a ground ready to turn on its home team.

The Newcastle boss will wish it was just a blip, one of those days when everybody is off-colour simultaneously, but if Newcastle are to secure the European competition in the future, not to mention eventually mount an genuine title challenge, they cannot be as unreliable as this.