Lake Palmer aka Monk wrote:
Watched today's game and some of yesterday and no doubt, no question it was shit. But it honestly means nothing. First team just getting the right amount of minutes in and getting rid of any rustiness and that is it.


By and large I'd agree - but I'd suggest that the four shared opponents mean ever-so-slightly more than nothing to the Newcastle fans.  Especially the travelling ones.  Whilst the optimistic Hammers who travelled will be returning home saying exactly what you typed.

Had we won three of four, scoring nine conceding four (as opposed to losing three and getting a nil-nil, scoring twice conceding eight), then, I'd suggest, the intangible, ephemeral, 'mood' would be different - and beneficially so.

And one rather suspects that that is the case at Newcastle - it's not a massive stretch of the imagination to see their travelling fans returning home and telling their buddies that no matter how they perceive their own problems they'll be fine in the Premier League this year 'cos they're nowhere near as bad as West Ham.

Never mind though - all this irrelevant 'fitness work' (if that's essentially all it is) will be forgotten with a cracking performance on the first day of the season, ideally three points and all the nerves will be settled and all the murmurs quietened...