The Athletic’s George Caulkin has told Pod On The Tyne that there was real ‘concern’ within the club ahead of Newcastle United‘s Premier League clash with West Ham United.
The Magpies took on David Moyes’ side at St James’ Park on Saturday night, just days after the club booked their place in the Carabao Cup final.
Beating Southampton last Tuesday was a special night, with Sean Longstaff scoring the goals to send us to Wembley. The local lad got the job done, and allowed fans to make concrete plans for a trip to the capital.
The atmosphere was raucous, and it was always going to be likely that the ground would be a bit flatter in our next game.
That proved to be the case, with Newcastle not at their best as they drew with the Hammers.
St James’ Park wasn’t quite rocking like it has been, while Eddie Howe’s players were at a level below what has become their usual standard.
Newcastle had ‘proper concern’ ahead of West Ham
The flatness both on the pitch and in the stands was clear for all to see, and it was something that Newcastle were worried about internally ahead of the game according to Caulkin.
“There had been proper concern within the club that there would be a flatness, both to the atmosphere and the team’s performance, after getting through to the cup final,” he told Pod On The Tyne (7:33).
“They were really trying to guard against that. Howe had made a point, certainly at the training ground in the week, to emphasise the importance of these matches.
“And it was noticeable that the announcer was saying ‘it’s flat, it’s flat, we need to liven up’.”
Flatness on Saturday night was inevitable
While the club was aware that it could be an issue, they were unable to prevent it. It was always going to happen.
It is something we have seen already at Newcastle this season. After beating Leicester in the League Cup quarter final, we entertained Fulham just days later in the league. St James’ Park was nowhere near as loud, while Howe’s players were able to snatch an unlikely victory thanks to Alexander Isak’s last-gasp winner.
Ahead of kickoff on Saturday, the stadium announcer did make a point to mention that the ground was not that loud like it had been during the week, and Newcastle did their best to give the crowd an immediate boost.
They had the ball in the net twice in the first three minutes, one of which was disallowed. The Magpies started like a proverbial house on fire, but were unable to maintain that pace.
It culminated in West Ham getting back into the game and the away fans being the only ones you could really hear. Both sides took a point, and Newcastle’s internal fears were realised.
After the emotional high of Tuesday night, it was clear that Saturday was never going to reach those levels – both in terms of performance and atmosphere.
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