Nuno Espírito Santo appeared resolute ahead of the mountain to climb at St James’s Park this afternoon. The West Ham manager knows his side have to do everything they can to first silence the home fans and then cause the kind of anxiety that the Irons used to suffer themselves at London Stadium – by taking the game to their opponents.
In fact, Nuno is reported as ‘sending a message to the St James’ Park boo boys‘ by Shieldsgazette.com who clearly believe the Magpies are there for the taking this afternoon after dreadful recent home form:
“Tyneside is no longer a fortress, with Newcastle aiming to give supporters a consolation victory to cheer in their final home fixture of the campaign. As for West Ham, they are fighting for top-flight survival and cannot afford to return to East London empty-handed.
Eddie Howe shakes hands with Nuno
Nuno’s first West Ham win was a 3-1 comeback win against Newcastle: Time for history to repeat itself.
The Magpies have lost five of their last seven Premier League fixtures at St James’ Park. Defeats to Aston Villa, Brentford, Sunderland, Everton and Bournemouth were all met with boos at the full-time whistle.
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“When asked if the Hammers can capitalise on a tense St James’ Park crowd, Nuno commented: “If we are able to perform well, that (home crowd booing) can happen. But we cannot do anything unless we perform well. It’s about us and our task.”
“Every game is a new game. What I believe is that we keep our approach. The value of points are the same in the first round to the last round. These two rounds are going to be the deciders.”
A tense St James’ Park Crowd? they don’t know the meaning of the word. Try being a West Ham supporter for the last two seasons. It’ll take a summer of talking therapy and a massive World Cup to get over this season. And that’s if we stay ‘up’.