Nolan’s happy Hammers! Newcastle 0-1 West Ham

Newcastle succumbed to defeat yesterday losing 1-0 to West Ham United at St James’ Park, with old boy Kevin Nolan on hand to do the damage.

A defeat is always hard to take, especially at home, but when you suffer defeat in the manner we did then questions have to be asked.

A lack of urgency, composure, goal threat and many other things combined ensured yet another abject display was on offer, with West ham seldom looking like losing the lead once Nolan had put the away side into a 37th minute lead. Something needs to change and it needs to change sooner rather than later.

In a first half devoid of any real goal threat the best Newcastle could muster was a shot from Papiss Cisse which went well wide. Hatem Ben Arfa tried to create something with the ball at is his feet but alas everything he tried he failed. At least he was trying though…

It feels odd writing this but it wasn’t until Kevin Nolan was in the right place at the right time to turn a wayward shot into the back of Tim Krul’s net to give the away side the lead eight minutes before half time.

In truth you would be hard pushed to deny West Ham didn’t deserve to be in front.

Half-time: Newcastle 0-1 West Ham

I’d like to say the second half improved for Newcastle, but it didn’t. Demba Ba thought he had equalised but the officials judged that his header hadn’t crossed the line and that Jussi Jaaskelainen had done enough to deny Demba against his former club.

Mike Williamson almost bundled the ball over the line before Hatem Ben Arfa went close direct from a corner, but there really wasn’t a lot to shout about from a black and white perspective. Indeed Andy Carrol could have wrapped up the point for West Ham but for a smart save from Tim Krul, who nearly connected with a header at the other end on a last ditch foray up front.

It wasn’t to be though and that was that.

Full-time: Newcastle 0-1 West Ham

So where do we start? The players need to take some of the blame for being woeful again. The only player I’d give any real credit to is Davide Santon who did alright. Ben Arfa tried also so I’ll give him that. The rest need to sort themselves out and get going again before this season drifts into obscurity.

Alan Pardew also needs to take some of the blame. He is paid to keep players happy, it’s part of his job, but he is mainly paid to get results and whether that means dropping out of form players or playing players in positions they perhaps would prefer not to be played in the he has to make the call. He can’t keep trying 4-4-2 hoping it clicks, he needs to be proactive in trying to make things click. In fairness he didn’t try the tired excuse after Europe post match, which is what I thought he’d try…

Of course he hasn’t been helped by chubby and his not-so-able sidekick Derek, who seem to believe that one first team player per position is enough leaving Pardew with little or no options when it comes to trying to drop players or shuffle the pack.

Next up, Swansea… A must win.

Howay the lads!

Newcastle: Tim Krul, Danny Simpson, Steven Taylor, Mike Williamson, Davide Santon, Hatem Ben Arfa, Yohan Cabaye, Jonas Gutierrez, Shane Ferguson, Papiss Cisse, Demba Ba

Subs: Rob Elliot, Vurnon Anita, Gael Bigirimana, Romain Amalfitano, Sylvain Marveux, Gabriel Obertan, Shola Ameobi

West Ham: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Joey O’Brien, Winston Reid, James Tomkins, George McCartney, Mark Noble, Mohamed Diame, Kevin Nolan, Matt Jarvis, Yossi Benayoun, Andy Carroll

Subs: Raphael Speigel, Carton Cole, Modibo Maiga, James Collins, Guy Demel, Gary O’Neil, Robert Hall

Attendance: 51,855

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

416 thoughts on “Nolan’s happy Hammers! Newcastle 0-1 West Ham

  1. Cheers Kim 😀

    It was a strange one, I’ve come out of plenty of interviews thinking I’d nailed them and then getting nothing. I was pathetic in this one, yet they gave me the job? Still, it is the University of Newport…commonly found on the bottom of the Times Good University Guide etc 😆

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  2. Kim – we’re the Eastenders of the PL! You can see it coming – 4 or 5 players out and we thump Swansea.

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  3. Georgio, I wonder which player gets the doof doofs at the end of sats game 😉

    Ice, Last year was so nice ,getting taken seriously for once ,ah well nowt last where the Toon are concerned eh. 🙄

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  4. There are actually a few positives out of Jonas’ injury
    1) He gets the rest that some claimed he needed
    2) By the time he gets back his 4 yellow cards will be reset so won’t get suspended
    3) It gives players like Ferguson a chance to show what he can do
    On the news about Remy
    If we can get Remy for 6/7m + Marvauew then that’ll be an unbelievable coup.
    In other news
    I’M GOING TO THE GAME ON SATURDAY!!!!!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: .

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  5. Just noticed the previous post was two and half hours ago 😕 , where is everyone 😥 ?
    Typical that I come on when everyone else is gone 🙄 .

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  6. Andy @383 ,I’m well jel as they say 😉 Hope you have a great day and witness a thumping win by the Toon. 😎

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  7. Cabaye is out on Saturday, i aint fussed to be fair hes bin **** all season hopefully benny will get a central role with anita and tiote sitting deep.

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  8. @ Alex post 388: That is a bit of good news. Force Pardew into something different as this seems to be the only way he will change anything. I don’t think he has been poor this season I just think this is him at his best.

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  9. Kim & Dave
    Here’s hoping 😉 . 4 games won out of 5 in the PL that I’ve been to since we were promoted isn’t bad and every game we saw it the championship was a win (mind you, we were unbeaten at home that season).

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  10. I’m not buying this “Ibrahimovich’s goal is best ever” thing, was absolutely class technically but Hart left the goal open and gifted the ball to zlatan. Give me a Maradona/Messi/Ben Arfa darting run goal any day, or a Cisse-esque goal for that matter.

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  11. Michael 12, hes had his good moments, but he looks lost sometimes asif he isnt sure what his role is, his set pieces have been woeful too. Wud lyk marvaux and abeid to get a game, he looked on it for thn u21s against man u.

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  12. Alex
    I would like to see Abeid get some games aswell, however how will he? Even if we’re playing a cup game Abeid would be behind Bigirimana and Anita for the back-up midfielder spot, and that’s with Vuckic and Gosling injured. Abeid’s only hope of breaking through would be a loan out to a championship club to demonstrate what he can do, Inman saw this and is now pushing through a move to a league 1 club (Hartlepool?).
    I don’t see a future at the club for Marv, he’s 25/26, rarely gets on to the bench and is behind ferguson and sammy for the lm/lw spot. This Remy rumour about a player exchange would be a blessing for both the club and the player if he wants to see game time.

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  13. Think tomorrow is going to be a tough day, Not sure who we have to play in midfield , think Swansea might suit Anita tho and hopefully he can show why we bought him, not sure who is going to be played beside him which is why Im worried. We really need to start picking up 3 points.

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  14. Bloody hell are we still on the nolan thread? I do remember him although it’s been a long while. He’s a bit slow for the PL don’t you think?

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  15. Andy ,How desperate we must be to bring him back into the fold , he should be training with a prison team not our first team 👿 .I would love to see Adam Campball get a run out before that little tosspot .

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  16. would rather see xisco in the fold than ranger though.
    In other personal news
    Was just chatting to a old friend from singapore who I hadn’t seen/talked to in 8 years 😯 , the magic of facebook I guess 😀 .

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  17. Is it that long Andy? – actually Jan isn’t that long, it’s less than six weeks. Not too long before our master gets his chequebook out and buys us M’Biwa, Debuchy and Sissoko.

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  18. 😀 Kim it’s just a pity young Campbell is injuried 👿
    Yeah its very quiet on here, have to get Aussie to ask his Lass to knock an article up as it bores the **** out of me scrolling downon my phone to see what has been said 😥

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  19. Johno – has to be Tiote. Andy – ever the optimist. It is possible they’ll go for the big spend in Jan and blow the summer pennies too. The regime is too wacky to predict.

    It’s what I’d do because in my mind this team is desperate for a lift in quality. Willo and Simmo definitely need replacing and they’re the main reason we set up as we do – trying to protect a poor defence. It’s what we did last season but worse with the injuries this season. For that protection it’s vital that our attacking players play like bloody defenders. Benny’s the perfect example.

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  20. Is tiote not suspended for tomorrow? I would agree with youi Georgio about Will and simpson needing replacement. Im not having a go at them , they are good players and have rarely let us down. However for us to take the next step we need better players than them and to me they are the weakest players in our team. I do they are good players and would be perfect squad additions but not sure how happy they’d be with that role

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  21. I didn’t even realise Simmo was still with his previous girl. Just what we need, another player unfocused who won’t be at his best.

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  22. I’m not concerned in the slightest with what those two think! For tomorrow I’d be tempted to put young Tav in at left back. Of all the kids he’s impressed me the most and I think he’s nearest to regular football. He’s strong and is good going forward. I’d then shift Santon to right midfield and have him and Anita just ahead of Tiote.

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  23. Toto = Tiote
    Just thought I’d clarify that 😆
    WBA
    Liverpool
    West Ham
    Thats three matches that tiote was susspended for so he’s back for tomorrow’s game.

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  24. Georgio
    Playing Santon RM would be very harsh on Sammy, Santon’s best position seems to be LB as he likes to cut into the box on his right. He’s also been our best player these last few matches, defending really well and skipping over challenges when going forward.

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