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EPL Premier League Action Newcastle's away record in the league of late is awful Jacques Feeney/Offside The question posed by West Ham United supporters was drenched in self-deprecation and it was entirely reasonable. Half-time was looming, empty white seats were dotted around the London Stadium but if mutiny had been expected, it had been supplanted, (at least temporarily), by general bemusement. “How s*** must you be, we’re winning at home, ” came the song. Advertisement Pretty damn s*** was the unspoken reply. A great opportunity for Newcastle United had become a great test. Newcastle had not won away in the Premier League this season, West Ham had not won here for nine months. Good teams get the job done with no empathy and little fuss, but a run of five victories in six fixtures in all competitions proved misleading. The results from the test are in: abject failure. Outside St James’ Park, Newcastle are a long way short of being a good team, that much is clear. Jacob Murphy’s fourth-minute goal doubled their away tally in league football, but a flashing, dashing quicksilver move which saw Bruno Guimaraes spread the ball wide and the winger step inside and then outside of El Hadji Malick Diouf before shooting beyond Alphonse Areola was a mirage. Stop the clocks: West Ham were much the better side. For the second away match in succession, Eddie Howe made changes at half-time. Their 2-1 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion had felt bad enough, but it was a masterpiece of cohesion next to this, when Fabian Schar, Jacob Ramsey and William Osula all came on and the only thing reinforced was desperation. By the end of the game, Sandro Tonali was playing at right-back. “I almost could have taken anyone off, ” Howe told The Athletic afterwards. “And I think that was a reflection of where we were in that moment. And it’s very, very rare for me to feel that way. In fact, I don’t think I have since I’ve been manager of Newcastle. ” Across the pitch, Newcastle were sloppy and disjointed. In the moments before Murphy’s goal, Jarrod Bowen had struck the right post, but the sense of hope draining from West Ham’s ground was lost on Howe’s players. They were slack and slow, ceding possession way too readily and completely allergic to momentum, allowing the hapless hosts to grope their way into form. Advertisement “Not one positive. Lazy. Leggy. Lethargic, ” was Alan Shearer’s take on social media and even this felt unduly diplomatic. “Collectively, we know we weren’t good enough, ” Murphy told Sky Sports. “We know we have to put things right. ” A lack of goals is one thing — when Nick Woltemade took his leave of the pitch at half-time, it was with a single touch in the West Ham box — but a dearth of creative clarity is another. Until Areola comfortably held a tame header from Joelinton near the end, Newcastle had not mustered an effort on target since the 39th minute. This means they did not give themselves a chance to have a chance of winning. Their x G was 0. 54. Off days are regrettable but part of the game. Way off days set alarms clanging. Newcastle are in the midst of another glut of fixtures, but Howe made six changes to his starting XI after making eight against Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night (when they had an on day), which means that fatigue should not be a factor, yet they played as if struck down by a winter flu. Where was the energy and the anger? Howe had stored up some of it; the team have seldom, if ever, played this poorly on the head coach’s watch. “I don’t think it looked like the Newcastle team we’ve seen in recent seasons, ” he said. “Just the body language, the collective spirit, loads of little things that contribute to our performance, weren’t there. I don’t think that was tactical. I don’t think that was necessarily technical. It was a by-product of us just not being where we needed to be mentally. ” With a League Cup quarter-final against Fulham ahead of them, with a Champions League fixture against Athletic Club to come on Wednesday, Newcastle have plenty to look forward to. With their home crowd behind them, in one-off matches, they are competitive, focused and a force and are able to steamroller their own transitional nature. Away from home, their deficiencies look more stark. Without Alexander Isak’s goals, they no longer have a reliable get-out. They are crying out for Yoane Wissa’s direct instincts. Advertisement Big players did not step up in a game which required authority; Woltemade was anonymous, Anthony Gordon was dreadful, Newcastle’s midfield exerted little control. Circumstances favoured them, but Bowen’s early misfortune and a West Ham penalty award which was overturned by VAR scarcely influenced them. Lucas Paqueta equalised, Sven Botman slid the ball into his own net and then Tomas Soucek gilded the scoreline at the death and, through all of it, Newcastle were powerless. Howe described it as “the worst we’ve played”, but the wider issue is how much Newcastle are scratching for fluidity away from home. Across 2025, they have picked up 16 points from a possible 42, with their only victories coming against Leicester City and Southampton, both of whom were relegated, West Ham and Spurs. Home or away, they have not mustered consecutive victories in the Premier League, where they stand 13th. This, to put it mildly, is not ideal, not when it is put together with the kind of afternoon which obliterates mitigation. “Of course it’s a concern when you’re not where you want to be, because you’re always in a position where you’re chasing results, ” Howe said. He also promised “a period of reflection”. For West Ham supporters, protests came after the final whistle. Tension, frailty, a stadium which should be full of love reduced to apathy and antipathy and drift; it is a path which Newcastle have walked before and have now left behind. Their story is different now, but there was no ferocity, no attempt to entrench West Ham’s struggle without remorse. They made it so easy for them. “We’ll go away and try and learn from today, ” Howe said. “It’s hopefully a turning point we can use for our advantage. ” It needs to be. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle George Caulkin has been reporting on football in the North East of England since 1994, 21 of those years for The Times. There have been a few ups, a multitude of downs and precisely one meaningful trophy. Follow George on Twitter @George Caulkin