The Reasons Saudi Investment Has Not Turned Newcastle into Title Contenders

The Newcastle manager isn't typically given to histrionics or grand public pronouncements. So by his usual demeanor, his media briefing following the weekend's 3-1 defeat counts as a angry tirade. His side scored first but West Ham took the lead by the interval, as well as hitting the post and having a penalty overturned by VAR, prompting Howe to execute a three substitutions at the break.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe stated. “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 very, very rare for me to feel that way. In fact, I cannot recall I have since I’ve been head coach of the club, therefore I believed the team needed a significant change at the break. That’s why I made what I did.”

Three key players all came off at half-time and Newcastle managed to steady to an extent in the latter period, without ever really looking like they could fight back into the contest against an opponent that had won only one of their last nine league matches. Considering how packed the centre of the table currently is, with a mere three-point gap separating third from 11th, and nine points between the upper and lower ranks, a sequence of 12 points from 10 games has not placed Newcastle adrift but, equally, they cannot end the campaign in 13th.

The Problem of Expectations

The challenge partially is one of perception. With the Saudi PIF, the club have the richest backers in the globe. The expectation at the time the Saudi fund bought 80% of the team in 2021 was that it would have a game-changing impact, similar to Roman Abramovich had at Chelsea or Sheikh Mansour had at Manchester City. The difference is that both of those investors assumed control before the advent of financial fair play regulations (and the ongoing allegations against City concern if they violated those guidelines once they were in place).

Profit and sustainability regulations restrict the ability of owners, no matter how wealthy, to invest funds on their teams and so in that sense likely might have hindered any Middle Eastern effort to elevate Newcastle to the standard of Manchester City. But there is no need for Newcastle’s expenditure to have been so restrained as it has been; they might have invested further and stayed inside the limit – or simply taken a relatively meagre Uefa penalty given their big problem is primarily with the continental than the domestic rules.

Infrastructure Investment and PSR Regulations

Besides which, infrastructure spending is exempted from Profit and Sustainability calculations; the easiest way to raise income to generate more financial headroom would be to expand or renovate the stadium. Considering the site of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on two sides, in reality that likely means building an entirely new stadium. There was talk in March of potentially making the short move to a local park – resistance from local groups could surely have been surmounted with a commitment to create a new park on the current ground location – but there has not been no movement on that proposal. There has occurred substantial cutbacks from the PIF on a range of projects as it shifts focus on local investments; the attitude to the football club seems entirely in keeping with that change of approach.

Player Sales Situation

The Alexander Isak episode was arose from that conflict. A bolder leadership might have portrayed his sale as necessary to free up capital for additional spending; instead there was a vain effort to keep him. That meant Newcastle began the season amidst a sense of disappointment despite the acquisitions of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The opening was indifferent: one win in their initial six fixtures.

Yet it seemed a turning point had been turned. They secured five victories in six matches prior to the weekend, a run that included demolitions of a Belgian side and a Portuguese club in the European competition. That’s why the display against West Ham was such a shock. The issue maybe is that Newcastle’s approach is extremely intense, very high-octane; a minor decrease in energy can have significant consequences. Maybe the pressure of domestic, European and Carabao Cup competition, five fixtures in a fortnight, had taken its toll. Woltemade started all five matches and appeared particularly fatigued.

The Nature of Modern Football

That’s the reality of today's football. Coaches have to be ready to rotate. The manager has been unfortunate that the forward's injury has meant he is lacking forward choices but, no matter how valid the reasons, Sunday’s showing was unacceptable –particularly after taking the lead at a ground ready to turn on its home team.

The Newcastle boss will wish it was merely a temporary setback, an off-day when everybody is off-colour at once, but if Newcastle are to secure the European competition next season, not to mention one day mount an actual championship bid, they must not be as inconsistent as they have been.