There is meanwhile a sit-in protest taking place at the London.
Here’s Paul MacInnes’ report from the London Stadium.
Healthier table for Hammers, gloomy for Newcastle.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Brentford | 10 | -2 | 13 |
| 13 | Newcastle | 10 | -1 | 12 |
| 14 | Fulham | 10 | -2 | 11 |
| 17 | Burnley | 10 | -7 | 10 |
| 18 | West Ham | 10 | -11 | 7 |
| 19 | Nottm Forest | 10 | -12 | 6 |
Jarrod Bowen spoke to Sky: Massively. So, obviously it’s been a difficult period, but we’re the only ones that can change it it. We’ve got to put a performance, we’ve got to go out there and do what we know that we’re capable of.
You know, sometimes you think, is that luck gonna change? And we’ll be stuck at it. And then, you know, you go on and get a comfortable win. I know we’ve got that as a group, but we just haven’t shown it enough recently. And I think the more we realise what we have in this, in this group, the potential that we can go to, yes, it’s been frustrating, but, you know, I say to the players all the time we’ve got so much potential in this squad, we have to understand it and go out there and show it. You know, it’s it’s our stage, you know, we can do all the tactics in the world, but once we go out, it starts playing football and doing what we love.
So did Lucas Paqueta: “Yeah, I think today you have shown, you are collective, you play, like, positive, and stay focussed on the game in the end, and you play really well, and 3 points. It’s gonna be hard, but you have to stay together, everyone, and keep going.
Chris P is back once more: “Aside from the emotional and physical toll of this disastrous performance, what will my excuse be for the lecturer when the assignment is submitted late tomorrow?
“Sorry ma’am, Joelinton just wasn’t at the races and generally speaking, we didn’t turn up at all. It was all going well when Jacob Murphy stole us a lead and I even had a structure for my essay in the first half. But conceding just before half-time really threw my referencing out of whack and everything really fell apart by the time we crawled to the conclusion.
“And yes: that is a photo of Marlon Harewood in a half-and-half West Ham / Newcastle kit on the title page.
“PS. Sorry about the lack of footnote.”
Kári Tulinius gets in touch: “While Howeball mk II is much more defensively solid than the first iteration, it also depends on the side being very energetic. Newcastle will get fatigued this season, and they need to figure out a way to play well when not at a 100 percent. They look like they need a holiday, but they have Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday and Brentford on Sunday. After that they get a break though.”
Full-time: West Ham 3-1 Newcastle
Nuno has a big smile, and his celebrations were wild when Soucek slid that goal home. That’s his first win as Hammers boss and it was richly deserved. They were excellent, as poor as Newcastle were – Newcastle were made to look poor – Freddie Potts was outstanding and the Hammers’ big players came through around him in Paqueta, Bowen and Soucek.
90+9 min: Or was it an offside? Mr Jones, the referee, takes some consultation and rules the goal WILL STAND.
Goal! West Ham 3-1 Newcastle (Soucek, 90+7)
Bowen and Paqueta escape on the counter. Do they go for the corner? No, Bowen shoots and Pope spills, and Soucek slides in. Did Pope have hands on it?
Updated
90+6 min: Paqueta eats up more time by thundering to the corner and getting in fracas with Ramsey. Both players are booked. The home fans bay for the whistle.
90+5 min: Supreme piece of timewasting from big Alphonse. Will he rue it?
90+4 min: Huge roar as Areola claims the ball, from a corner that was bouncing all over the show. Somehow, Areola has got a dose of cramp. Or has he?
90+2 min: Bowen gets a chance on the break, and smashes over. He asks for a corner. He won’t get one but West Ham get a goalkick when a ball smashed at Elanga is way off-beam.
90+1 min: Soucek leaps to head clear, and takes one in the crown jewels for his troubles. He’ll be auditioning to be a soprano.
90 min: Newcastle are at least pushing on. Osula’s header from Elanga’s cross is the first attempt on target. Five minutes will be added on at the end.
88 min: Horrendous miss from Harvey Barnes sums up the utter hopelessness of Newcastle’s performance. They have had all the ball but not got a shot on target all game. Really very poor.
86 min: West Ham are in sight of a precious win, and safety. They play Burnley next week. The six-pointer with Scott E Parker.
84 min: Neat stuff from Ramsey but it’s still too deep. When he gets it back he fouls Paqueta. A Hammers change: Igor to replace Fernandes,
There’s a lot of Igors in the Premier League these days.
83 min: Jeremy Boyce is in: “I’m doing better than Chris in so much as I’ve just managed to sort out some concrete poetry about Bus Stops ready to submit them to a magazine. Apart from that, pretty much on this match, which sounds well entertaining. Hammers will thank their lucky stars that Wolves only pulled the trigger on Pereira today, not a couple of weeks ago. He would surely have been tempted by the idea of going back to save them ?”
82 min: Newcastle part like the Red Sea, only for Fernandes to take too much time, and have his shot blocked. It should have been 3-1; will the Hammers pay for that deliberation?
81 min: Eric Peterson gets in touch: “I wouldn’t worry too much about Newcastle. They had the tumult around the Alexander Isak situation all through August, and they’ve been active in three competitions with games to play every available midweek interval since the September international window. They’re a work in progress with incorporating Nick Woltemade, and they’ve still managed six wins out of their last eight in all competitions. I know the whole “you should be up for every game” cliche, but it’s easier said than done.”
I’m not especially worried but Newcastle have been rotten in this match. Stunk the place out.
78 min: Bruno storms in on a loose ball, and clatters it into the bar section behind the away fans. Off goes Summerville, on comes Kyle Walker-Peters, a player who will defend. Tonali is Newcastle’s right-back right now.
76 min: West Ham have another corner after more pressure. Elanga replaces Murphy. Where will he play? Newcastle’s shape is, well, shapeless. Their form is, well, formless.
74 min: Another Newcastle change is coming in Antony Elanga. He’s got a bit to do to prove himself to the Toon Army.
73 min: The VAR re-run shows Soucek’s boot-length denied the Potts family a family celebration. Sky keep referring to Steve Potts but forgetting poor old Danny, currently without a club.
71 min: Chris Paraskevas is back in touch: “...should have stuck with the assignment. (Update: 0 pages of 10 completed. Notes marked up.)“
70 min: West Ham rampant, Bowen skidding in a shot that Pope reads well. Pope was culpable for the first goal but he’s been his team’s best player since then.
Hammers goal ruled out!
68 min: Nice play, taken short to Diouf and Kilman’s header forces yet another Pope save. Big Hammers pressure…and Potts shoots. A debut goal?! No, offside. Aargh, Soucek’s toenail was offside, and Potts’ fine finish comes to naught. VAR confirms. Poor Fred. Poor Steve, pictured in the crowd.
Updated
67 min: Free-kick in a dangerous position for West Ham. Once Joelinton stops complaining, Paqueta smashes goalward, and Pope does well. Another corner.
65 min: Howe is going for it. He has to. Sven Botman is off, and Harvey Barnes goes on the wing, with Jacob Murphy behind him. Thiaw is back in the centre of defence. Howe rolling the dice, and beginning to look desperate.
62 min: If Newcastle are trying to force the issue there’s not much evidence of force. Soucek has gone up front as the big man. He’s no Chris Wood, Nuno’s former talismn. Murphy whips a shot at goal. He’s the continued danger man.
60 min: Tomas Soucek comes on, to add his height to the defence of a long throw. Wan Bissaka heads Big Dan Burn’s throw away.
59 min: Big Dan Burn forces a corner. Jacob Ramsey, just on, is limping. The Hammers clear that with ease. Off goes Callum Wilson after a worthy shift, applauded by both sets of fans.
58 min: Paqueta buys time by buying a foul. He’s been “at it”.
56 min: If West Ham are more defensive minded, then Newcastle still full of torpor. Saw them at Brighton the other week – a better team, sure – and they gave a rather similar performance. What’s going on? It can’t just be Isak? Isak who, you may well ask.
54 min: Osula is a speedier player than Woltemade, and runs the channels, forcing a shot on goal when other teammates were ready to receive.
53 min: Even Murphy’s touch deserting him as he up-and-unders a ball that lands in Areola’s hands. Poor stuff so far, lacking in ideas.
51 min: Early heave from Newcastle; West Ham sat back deep, a dangerous proposition that feeds into Nuno’s line of thinking rather too often.
49 min: Woltemade barely touched the ball; Newcastle play Athletic Club in midweek. West Ham continue to look up for this contest. Tonali is dropping deeper to get the ball.
48 min: Joelinton has gone left, Schar into central defence with Thiaw going to full-back, and Ramsey into midfield.
Away we go for the second half
46 min: Eddie Howe wasn’t very happy with that half. Woltemade, Gordon and Krafth OFF. Schar, Osula and Ramsey ON.
The big news for the relegation battle is Wolves pulling the trigger.
Tony Potts: “So Potts’s tackle was a foul but the penalty call wasn’t? I swear, in no other country would that penalty be denied...”
Brian Robson in British Columbia: “Newcastle have a dead ball specialist right? Why do they show nothing that hasn’t been thought of in any Sunday league game? In order to prove my hipster credentials, they are, like Nick Pope flapping at Paqueta’s shot, at sixes and sevens.”
Peter Oh: “Holy guacamole Botman! What an unfortunate own goal!”
Half-time: West Ham 2-1 Newcastle
What a difference those 40 minutes have made. A poor start for West Ham turns to a fine performance, and they leave the field accompanied by a huge cheer at the break. Newcastle have been abject, West Ham have made them look so.
Goa! West Ham 2-1 Newcastle (Botman, 45+5 OG)
Wan Bissaka sets off on a saunter down the flank, and his cross comes off Botman and bounces in. How’s your luck? The Hammers have, though, deserved this.
Updated
45+3 min: Summerville, lively all game, cuts inwards and shoots on goal. This time, Pope reads the angles correctly.
45 min: Five added minutes to this half. Joelinton, makes a burst, and fires at goal. Areola is forced to make a save.
44 min: Nick Pope sweeps up as Bowen is the target for a long ball; plenty of those from the Hammers. Nuno has been reading the manual; Newcastle’s midfield keeps being bypassed.
42 min: Murphy has been Newcastle’s shining light, and he zings in a shot that just travels over the bar. He’s been a fine player for the Toon. Was Rafa Benitez the boss who signed him?
41 min: When Paqueta is on, he’s on. And he looks up for this one. Only a desperate tackle stops Summerville being released. Where was this West Ham all season?
39 min: Here’s the Newcastle response, Murphy sets up Gordon, fine shot, fine save from Areola. Corner again, and cleared.
37 min: Pope got his hand to the ball, but not enough of a hand. Newcastle have been poor since the goal but perhaps let’s credit West Ham. That famed midfield trio have been circumvented.
Goal! West Ham 1-1 Newcastle (Paqueta, 36)
Oh that was coming. Summerville’s cross is palmed away, Paqueta’s shot is low and Pope is far too slow in getting down to it. Huge celebration from the Brazilian.
Updated
33 min: Nuno is prowling; his team, for the first time maybe, are responding to whatever the plan is, and adversity. Wilson has been a decent focal point. Now why wasn’t Nuno selecting him?
32 min: Summerville wins another corner. Potts’ kick is a beauty, and Kilman’s header is tipped over by Pope. The Hammers hammering on the door. The next kick not as successful but hacked clear in mounting anxiety.
31 min: Paqueta is in range, and fancies this one. Bruno acts as draught excluder but Paqueta’s kick is low and heading in. Fine save from Nick Pope.
29 min: Newcastle wobbling, as indicated by Nick Pope punching clear in no little panic. Gordon has to come back to tackle Bowen. Summerville is fouled by Bruno.
27 min: The corner is cleared and eventually goes back to Areola. There are vital signs from West Ham. Better.
26 min: Thiaw delivers some find defending again, somehow getting the ball clear from Wan-Bissaka’s ball. West Ham have a corner.
24 min: Nick Pope comes out to head a Kilman ball smashed into Wilson. That was purest Route One. Paqueta wins a corner, following some decent work from Wilson. Oh no, he was offside. Hammers look a little better, Newcastle not at it.
22 min: Potts loses the ball, and then fouls Bruno. He doesn’t get booked, and the end result is another corner. It’s Summerville of all people who clears it.
20 min: Big Dan Burn has a knock, Fernandes having leaned into him. Big Dan is made of stern stuff so will forge on.
19 min: Woltemade and Murphy link up, and a fine save from Areola. Or at least, enough of a save. The good news continues for West Ham by the corner being cleared. That’s almost a novelty.
17 min: The game always takes a while to reset after such delays. The mutterings from the crowd continue.
15 min: That was actually a fine tackle by Thiaw, even if the locals are very unhappy. That took four minutes and 15 seconds to decide.
Penalty ruled ou!
14 min: Referee Rob Jones, he of the oblong hairstyle, has some VAR in his ear. Did Thiaw get a touch? Jones goes to the screen. Thiaw touched the ball first. Long long delay. The man on the mic says the “no 12 clearly took the ball”. Boos but it was the right call.
Penalty to West Ham!
11 min: Gordon sets off an excursion, only for Wan-Bissaka to rob him. Bowen sets off an a run after a fine pass. Thiaw steals in, and Bowen goes down.
Updated
9 min: Paqueta attempts to make something happen. There were signs that Newcastle can be got at. Callum Wilson, from a narrow angle, leather the ball and Nick Pope makes a save, punching the ball away from danger.
7 min: Potts has the ball in midfield. That area of the Hammers team was like an open gate in that goal. The sound that can be heard is the Toon Army in full voice.
5 min: To say Diouf’s defending was lax is putting it mildly, he showed Murphy the way to goal. Bowen’s shot had smashed off the bar. The London Stadium curse continues.
Goal! West Ham 0-1 Newcastle (Murphy, 4)
Oh wow. Bowen hits a post after fine work by Summerville, and 26 seconds later, Murphy smashes in for Newcastle.
Updated
3 min: Young Potts is taking on the might of Bruno, Tonali and Joelinton. Tough schooling for him.
2 min: Emile Krafth is at full-back in the Premier League for the first time in ages. Newcastle are seeking to get Anthony Gordon on the ball.
Away we go at the London Stadium
1 min: Nuno stands in his usual vigil position, the bubbles streaming past his shrouded form. Impassive as ever. Kick-off is here. But there are quite a few empty seats in the stands.
Game faces on, bubbles being blown, we are almost go at the London Stadium.
Freddie Potts, making his Premier League debut today, is the son of Steve Potts, long-serving Hammers defender, Mr Versatility, and American-born in Connecticut, Hartford, the insurance capital of America. Maybe it was the AVCO insurance that attracted Steve to the Hammers, who was a decent centre-back despite being not the tallest.
His elder son Dan, a long-serving Luton player, also played a couple of games in the Premier League for the Hammers back in 2013; I recall him getting a nasty head injury at Arsenal one time when he was just 18. Freddie, though, is a midfielder of the West Ham model, the Mark Noble, Alan Dickens type. He’s 22 and has been on loan at Wycombe and Portsmouth.
Eddie Howe has been speaking about Callum Wilson, a useful player for him at Bournemouth and Newcastle: “He is still the same person today as he was at the beginning of his career, so for all those reasons and seeing how hard he has worked at his game, he is absolutely right up there.”
Chris Paraskevas is in: “G’day J.B. Hope you’re well! Just ticked over midnight and I’m living the dream: approximately 0 pages written out of a 10-page assignment - due date: this afternoon. I’m hoping for a clinical, professional, uncomplicated win here to give me an academic / life boost, but we all know when Calum Wilson woke up this morning, there was a big red circle around this fixture on his wall calendar (...that’s right, I’m suggesting he still rocks a physical calendar in 2025). A real shame (for Newcastle fans) that West Ham’s central defensive rock ‘Dino’ Mavropanos is missing, by the way.”
Ian Sargeant gets in touch: “As the Jubilee Line tube pulls into Stratford for the second game of my weekend, I’m not holding out much hope for my beloved Hammers. Hopefully the inverted full backs experiment will be ditched-but we are threadbare on the bench compared to our opponents. After the massive high of yesterday (a 96th minute away derby winner at Maidstone for Tonbridge Angels), where every one of the Angels left everything on the pitch, another abject effortless home performance from West Ham and things will turn ugly. There’s supposed to be a sit-in afterwards. One wag has said its been organised by the board to keep people in the ground longer than 70 minutes. We will see...”
Neither team are exactly where they’d like to be.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Brentford | 10 | -2 | 13 |
| 13 | Newcastle | 9 | 1 | 12 |
| 14 | Fulham | 10 | -2 | 11 |
| 18 | Nottm Forest | 10 | -12 | 6 |
| 19 | West Ham | 9 | -13 | 4 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 10 | -15 | 2 |
Newcastle have not won an away game in the Premier League since April. Here’s what Eddie Howe had to say in his Friday news conference. “It would be huge for us and I think it is only with back-to-back wins, if you look at the league table, that we are going to propel ourselves back up. It’s so tight. There are a lot of teams congested around where we are and you are looking for one positive result to try and elevate you. So this is a big game for us. All games in the Premier League are important, but as we go to the next international break the next two [at West Ham and Brentford] are huge.”
Some comments from Jarod Bowen, whose job this season has mainly been fronting up post-match, in the match day programme. “We need to really pull our fingers out now. We’re in trouble now. We have not played great, but we have got results when we have all been together.” Ooof.
Word is that Nuno is playing a back four for the Hammers. Jacob Steinberg’s j’accuse of the absolute state of West Ham is a rare old paintstripping.
Yet another switcheroo from the Nuno selection tombola. Callum Wilson lines up against the club he departed in the summer; the Hammers will have a striker, at last. Mateus Fernandes, who scored v Leeds, and Freddie Potts, who impressed, in place of Tomas Soucek and Andy Irving, who didn’t. Ollie Scarles has an injury.
That’s a strong Newcastle team, with their midfield trio back together. Eddie Howe has made six changes from the defeat of Tottenham in midweek. Nick Pope, Sven Botman, Joelinton, Anthony Gordon, Jacob Murphy, and Bruno Guimaraes all come in.
Here are the teams
West Ham: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Diouf, Potts, Fernandes, Paqueta, Bowen, Wilson, Summerville. Subs: Hermansen, Walker-Peters, Igor, Mayers, Rodriguez, Magassa, Irving, Luis Guilherme, Soucek
Newcastle: Pope, Krafth, Thiaw, Botman, Burn, Tonali, Guimaraes, Joelinton, Murphy, Woltemade, Gordon Subs: Ramsdale, Hall, Schar, Barnes, Osula, Elanga, Ramsey, Miley
Preamble
Last Friday at the London Stadium was a miserable affair, well beaten by Leeds. Nuno Espirito Santo is finding life just as difficult as Graham Potter did. Maybe it’s the club after all, and there’s many a Hammers fan would agree with that. Wolves have taken steps, in sacking Vitor Pereira when the button has already been pushed on Potter, to little avail. Newcastle are having troubles of their own, inconsistency their main issue, the issues of balancing the Champions League with the Premier League taking their toll. Still, it could be worse, they could be West Ham.
Kick-off at 2pm UK time. Join me.
