Why Saudi Investment Hasn't Transformed The Magpies into Championship Contenders

The Newcastle manager is not prone to dramatics or grand media pronouncements. So by his usual demeanor, his press conference following the weekend's loss to West Ham counts as a angry tirade. His side took an early lead but the opposition took the lead by half-time, as well as hitting the post and seeing a spot-kick revoked by VAR, prompting Howe to execute a triple change at the half-time.

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

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth were substituted at half-time and Newcastle managed to steady somewhat in the second half, but never appearing like they could fight back into the contest against an opponent that had secured just a single victory of their previous nine league matches. Given how packed the centre of the table currently is, with a mere three-point gap separating third from 11th, and a nine-point margin between second and 17th, a sequence of 12 points from ten matches has not left Newcastle adrift but, similarly, they must not end the campaign in 13th.

The Issue of Perception

The challenge to an extent is one of public view. With the Saudi PIF, Newcastle possess the richest owners in the world. The assumption when the Saudi fund bought 80% of the club in recent years was that it would bring a game-changing impact, as the former Chelsea owner achieved at Stamford Bridge or Sheikh Mansour did at the Etihad. The difference is that both of those investors took over before the advent of FFP regulations (and the ongoing charges against Manchester City concern if they breached those regulations once they were implemented).

Financial restrictions limit the capacity of owners, however rich, to spend money on their teams and therefore likely might have hindered any Middle Eastern effort to elevate Newcastle to the standard of Manchester City. But there is no need for the club's spending to have been quite as cautious as it has; they could have invested further and remained within the threshold – or simply taken a fairly minor Uefa penalty given their major problem is more with the continental than the domestic rules.

Infrastructure Investment and Financial Regulations

Besides which, infrastructure spending is excluded from PSR calculations; the easiest way to increase revenue to generate more PSR flexibility would be to extend or renovate the arena. Considering the location of St James’ Park, with protected structures on multiple sides, practically that likely means building an entirely new stadium. There was talk in spring of possibly making the short move to Leazes Park – resistance from community organizations might have been overcome with a commitment to create a new park on the existing ground location – but there has not been no movement on that proposal. There has occurred significant retrenchment from the Saudi fund on a variety of initiatives as it refocuses on local investments; the attitude to the football club appears entirely in keeping with that change of approach.

Player Sales Saga

The star striker saga was born of that conflict. A more confident management might have portrayed his sale as necessary to free up funds for further spending; rather there was a vain effort to retain him. That meant Newcastle started the campaign amid a feeling of disappointment even with the acquisitions of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The opening was indifferent: a single victory in their initial six fixtures.

Yet it seemed a corner had been turned. They had won five in six before the weekend, a streak that included convincing wins of a Belgian side and Benfica in the European competition. This explains the performance against West Ham was so surprising. The issue perhaps is that Newcastle’s approach is extremely intense, very high-octane; a slight drop-off in energy can have profound effects. Perhaps the strain of domestic, European and Carabao Cup matches, five fixtures in a fortnight, had taken its toll. The German forward started all five matches and looked particularly weary.

The Nature of Modern Soccer

This is the reality of modern the sport. Coaches must be prepared to make changes. Howe has been unfortunate that Wissa’s fitness issue has left him short of forward choices but, regardless of how valid the explanations, Sunday’s showing was inexcusable –particularly after scoring first at a stadium primed to criticize its home team.

The Newcastle boss will hope it was merely a temporary setback, one of those days when all players is below par simultaneously, but if Newcastle are to qualify for the Champions League in the future, not to mention eventually mount an actual championship bid, they cannot be as unreliable as they have been.