Why Saudi Money Has Not Transformed Newcastle into Championship Contenders

The Newcastle manager isn't typically prone to dramatics or sweeping public statements. So by his usual demeanor, his media briefing following Sunday’s 3-1 defeat qualifies as a furious tirade. Newcastle took an early lead but West Ham were ahead by half-time, as well as striking the woodwork and seeing a spot-kick revoked by VAR, leading Howe to execute a three substitutions at the break.

“The opening period was particularly irritating,” the coach stated. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I believe that was a reflection of where we were in that moment during the match and it’s very, very rare for me to have that impression. In fact, I don’t think having done so during my tenure as manager of the club, so I felt the squad required some shaking up at the break. This explains why I made what I did.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth all came off at the interval and the team managed to steady somewhat in the second half, but never appearing like they could get back into the game against an opponent that had secured just a single victory of their last nine fixtures. Given the congestion the middle of the standings currently is, with a mere three-point gap separating the top spots from mid-table, and a nine-point margin between the upper and lower ranks, a run of 12 points from ten matches has not left Newcastle adrift but, similarly, they cannot finish the season in thirteenth place.

The Problem of Expectations

The challenge partially is one of perception. With the Saudi PIF, Newcastle possess the richest owners in the world. The assumption at the time the Saudi fund bought a majority stake of the team in recent years was that it would bring a game-changing impact, similar to Roman Abramovich achieved at Stamford Bridge or Sheikh Mansour had at Manchester City. The distinction is that both of those investors took over before the advent of FFP regulations (while the current allegations against City concern whether they violated those regulations once they were implemented).

Financial restrictions restrict the capacity of proprietors, no matter how wealthy, to invest funds on their teams and therefore likely might have slowed every Middle Eastern effort to elevate Newcastle to the level of City. But it wasn't necessary for Newcastle’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 Uefa penalty since their big issue is more with the continental than the domestic regulation.

Stadium Investment and Financial Rules

Besides which, infrastructure spending is excluded from Profit and Sustainability assessments; the simplest way to raise income to create additional financial flexibility would be to expand or redevelop the stadium. Considering the location of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on multiple sides, practically that likely means constructing an entirely new venue. Rumors circulated in spring of possibly making the nearby relocation to a local park – opposition from community organizations might have been overcome with a commitment to build a replacement green space on the current ground location – but there has been any progress on that proposal. There has been substantial retrenchment from the PIF on a variety of projects as it refocuses on domestic affairs; the approach to the football club appears entirely in alignment with that strategic shift.

Player Sales Situation

The star striker saga was arose from that tension. A more confident leadership could have framed his sale as necessary to free up capital for further spending; instead there was a unsuccessful effort to retain him. This resulted in the team began the season amidst a feeling of disappointment even with the signings of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The opening was indifferent: a single victory in their first six games.

But it appeared a turning point was reached. They had won five in six prior to Sunday, a run that featured convincing wins of Union Saint-Gilloise and Benfica in the European competition. This explains the performance against the Hammers was such a shock. The issue perhaps is that Newcastle’s style is very aggressive, very high-octane; a minor decrease in intensity can have significant effects. Perhaps the pressure of domestic, European and cup matches, five games in 15 days, had got to them. The German forward started each of those matches and looked especially weary.

The Nature of Contemporary Soccer

This is the reality of modern the sport. Coaches must be prepared to make changes. The manager has been unfortunate that the forward's injury has meant he is short of attacking options but, no matter how reasonable the reasons, the weekend's performance was unacceptable –particularly following scoring first at a ground ready to turn on its own side.

Howe will hope it was just a blip, one of those days when everybody is off-colour at once, but if the Magpies are to qualify for the European competition in the future, not to mention eventually launch an genuine championship bid, they cannot be as inconsistent as this.