**Newcastle United took just four minutes to open the scoring against West Ham United on Sunday, thanks to a sublime Jacob Murphy strike.**
Unfortunately, though, that was where the positives ended for the Magpies, except perhaps for a couple of moments of blind luck that went our way.
Jarrod Bowen's excellent driven shot that cannoned off the post, which came 26 seconds before Murphy's goal, the overturned penalty decision and the goal in the second half were ruled out for a toe being offside.
Newcastle were simply woeful all game, with, in our view, only Malick Thiaw having any credibility left by the time the full-time whistle blew.
Eddie Howe says he could have hooked anyone at half time
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Even Eddie Howe admitted that there simply aren't enough substitutions allowed to deal with that kind of performance, insisting to the media at full time that he could have hooked anyone at half time as he brought off Nick Woltemade, Anthony Gordon and Emil Krafth.
> "The dynamism wasn't there. The physicality and the energy were missing. We scored early and could have grabbed hold of the game but we didn’t and let it slip away. It didn't look like a Newcastle team that we've seen in recent seasons. The body language, the collective spirit on the pitch, loads of little things weren’t there. It was a by-product of us just not being where we needed to be mentally."
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> "I could have taken anyone off. That is a reflection of where we were at that stage of the game. It is very rare for me to feel that way. I don't think I have since I have been Newcastle manager."
Athletic Bilbao come to St James' Park on Wednesday, and they must be rubbing their hands together after that
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We can't imagine the training ground is going to be a fun place to be today, at least we hope not, because every single player needs a good kick up the jacksie after that.
Newcastle have Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League to contend with on Wednesday, and if we play like that again, we're going to get blown away.
Thankfully, that game is at St James' Park, where the fans can actually be heard, so with the twelfth man behind them, they surely have to be better.