West Ham v Newcastle - Preview

International breaks. Seriously, what purpose do they serve? Other than making we wish I’d been born in San Marino to enable the dual dream of international footballer and hotel manager. It was a mixed bag for the lads on duty. The Dutch looked horrendous – with our own Gini missing a right sitter against the Turks. Mitrovic scored a knee to shin belter. And Sissoko by all accounts had a decent game against Portugal.

Wait, Sissoko. He’s been blowing all sorts of hot air with some rather questionable answers he delivered to French journalists. It’s difficult, of course, to assess the context in which the questions were asked, or the scope of mistranslation, but it appears that Moussa thinks that Cabaye has a better shot at the French squad because he’s plying his trade for the mighty….Palace. Either this is some excellent post-ironic banter, or Moussa perhaps needs a councilor to return his head to reality. Either way – it’s disconcerting to hear him talk so liberally with apparent disregard for the fans he knew would soon discover these quotes. It’s a strange one, because he’s seemed pretty motivated so far. Likely, he’ll be off after the Euros. Good player – but I’ll take the profit.

Onto West Ham. Last season, Newcastle took till the eighth game of the season to register a victory. But fan discontent was established way before then, with Pardew’s head vociferously called for after the non-performance at Southampton (0-4). It’s an interesting analogy to draw with this season. Still no win, but a remarkable shift in fan attitude. Thanks to some inspiring defending, this “new” Newcastle has the fans believing that there has been a departure from Pardew. Coupled with a series of decent signings, the sense is the Toon are on the right path, with the first win just around the corner.

I do wonder though, whether this optimism dissipates if McClaren’s men leave Upton Park with nil on Monday night. Though there’s been no fan pressure heaped on Schteve yet, he will surely know that lose to the Hammers and fans may begin to question just how new this era really is. Don’t get me wrong, Newcastle fans are a reasonable bunch. Contrary to their portrayal in the London British media, they’ll give any manager, player, owner their backing until their incompetence becomes clear. And let’s be clear, there’s been plenty of incompetence floating around Tyneside in the past. But, it also isn’t unreasonable to expect Newcastle to get off the mark soon. If not West Ham, who, admittedly, have been schizophrenic so far, then Watford (H) is a must.

Team News:

All the lads are fit barring Dummett. Mitro will have to plant his studs elsewhere for the next 3 games. There’s been talk that Cisse could still yet find his place on the bench, with either de Jong, Perez, or a combination thereof coming in. Personally, I’m a big fan of de Jong (possible man crush here guys). The man’s going to come good. I’d play him from the start. I imagine we’ll be unchanged everywhere else. I’m sure Tiote will be eager for some game time, if only to keep pace with Mitrovic in the yellow card department.

Prediction:

We could do with a win. We’d be above Chelsea! But I fancy a draw. 1-1.