Alan Pardew said:

“It hurts too much to judge our start at the moment. We have a side that has played its 17th game and it is proving difficult to get into a rhythm at home at the moment.

"Away from home, we have been strong and solid and dogged without really pulling up many trees. But at home, we need to perform better than we did today, for sure. Defensively, we shouldn't have conceded that goal. We made a mistake on that and gave Kevin an easy opportunity.

"I didn’t think Europe had much impact here, we had a team that was protected from that. We prepared well and had a good mind set, but we just didn’t click and the pressure did not produce a special moment.

"We are kicking ourselves. It was the West Ham performance we knew we were going to get, but what we lacked was the verve and imagination to unlock them. We had eight or nine shots but none with any purpose or quality. Newcastle at home must score one, two, three or maybe four and we got none today.

"It's nothing to do with our European game - we made lots of changes and the team was fresh - but we didn't do ourselves justice in the first 30 minutes. We didn't come alive until they scored and that is not good enough. We've got a home game next week and we're under pressure to produce a performance and win."

As he had done on numerous occasions for Newcastle - including in both previous outings against West Ham - Kevin Nolan's knack of being in the right place at the right time ultimately decided the destination of the points in this game.

His first appearance in opposition colours at St.James' Park since leaving in June 2011 was just one of several sub-plots that made this clash of two Uniteds so intriguing. Nolan's sidekick Andy Carroll was openly coveted by Alan Pardew in his pre-game press conference - either a pointer to our future transfer policy or an attempt at mind games, depending on your viewpoint. 

And while Pardew oversaw the 71st Premier League of his Newcastle tenure against one of his old sides, the bloke in the away dugout managed 50 less in his Magpies career before the owner (and public opinion) drove him back down the A1 with a big fat cheque to go with his big fat...ego.  
   
Given all of this, the likes of Demba Ba (ex-Hammer), Neil Macdonald (ex-Mag) and Modibo Maiga (very nearly a Mag before Cisse was signed) were relegated to supporting roles in the soap opera, while George McCartney's mackem associations were overlooked altogether. Rather than pen pics, the match programme really should have included some sort of flow chart of who did what to who.

A smirking Allardyce had left here almost exactly two years before, having guided Blackburn Rovers to victory over a Newcastle side including messrs Nolan and Carroll. That resulted hastened the departure of Chris Hughton from Gallowgate, but proved to be almost the last hurrah for big Sham, who was himself ousted from Ewood just hours after Pardew was unveiled by the Magpies.

Fast forward to 2012 and the gum chewer was equally jubilant as he took his leave - basking in the glow of what he described as the best Hammers performance since their top flight return. 

And while there was the usual Allardyce mythologising over a decent but flawed display from a side with numerous weak links (substitute Demel in particular), it was the home side who tried and failed to play the much-maligned long ball game. Artless punts, as we said at the time.

Protestations by Alan Pardew that his side weren't suffering from the effects of Thursday's trip to Belgium were undermined by Tim Krul's admission that they were collectively lacking the strength and fitness to come from behind today - something we haven't actually done for over two years.

What did seem again apparent though were shortcomings in the head as well as the legs of the Magpies. Pardew euphemistically referred to problems with his side's rhythm this season, but an apparent dullness of thinking is becoming habitually evident: be it the increasingly over-ambitious dribbles of Hatem Ben Arfa, the general poorness of our deliveries into the box or the fact that our two strikers seem incapable of avoiding each other when making forward runs. 

The appearance of the lion-hearted Nolan though also led inevitably to notions that his successors were lacking some of the appetite for the struggle that his combative playing style (and that of Joey Barton) epitomised during his time on Tyneside. However that does ignore the revival in fortunes we enjoyed last season after deliberately going in another direction, both on and off the field. 

Had Tiote and Coloccini been available then we may well have shown more midfield bite and defensive composure, but in their absence we were comparatively toothless (although Fergie pleasingly tried to shift some skin) and worryingly rudderless in terms of leadership. The loss of Gutierrez saw referee Mike Dean ferry the captain's armband to Ba but really it was immaterial.   

Although it's often the case that coming back here puts a spring in the step and and extra few % into the performance, our former captain seemed noticeably fitter than when he left, supplying a couple of lung bursting runs in both halves. Nolan wasn't in the mood for dancing though when firing home at the Gallowgate End, refraining from his usual goal celebration on a day when the original chicken dancer Robbie Elliott was in town.

Starting off in great voice, our inability to take a firm grasp on this game dampened the home crowd's contribution until the later stages of the first half, noise levels rising again when Shane Ferguson's goalbound effort bounced off a defender and a deflection almost took Ben Arfa's shot in.

By then though, another forced reshuffle had come when Jonas Gutierrez was unable to continue after a heavy tackle involving Yossi Benayoun - who also ended up being substituted. That brought Vurnon Anita into the fray, but those looking for evidence that getting off the mark for his new club in midweek had improved his overall contribution and effectiveness had a job on their hands. 

With Shola on for the second half (brother Sammy missing due to injury), the omens looked good initially, when Ba headed goalwards and the ball seemed have crossed the goal line before 'keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen reached it. However the official's decision to play on was later seen to be the correct one, if for no other reason than various camera angles all proved inconclusive.

Sensing that we were rapidly running out of ideas - although it was fairly bloody obvious given the aimless wafts upfield that passed for service - the visitors looked to hit us on the break; only Krul's instinctive stop preventing Carroll from scoring his first West Ham goal after Nolan teed him up. 

For much of this game our huff and puff was laboured and predictable as it had been against West Bromwich Albion, but the dollop of good fortune that led to a last-gasp winner was conspicuous by its absence. Go a little further back and scraping a draw against Villa and edging past Norwich hardly look to be glittering results - none of those home performances were anything special frankly and today was just the latest instalment in that decline. 
 
After a stuttering draw at Reading thanks to the fist of Ba and this demoralising defeat at the hands of the Hammers, Pardew could be excused for approaching our next post-European game against Southampton - another of his former employers - with a certain trepidation. There again, we look slightly happier on our travels, with less pressure to make the play and take the initiative. 

Before that though, there's the little matter of Swansea City on home soil, when not just the result but the manner of the performance now assumes greater importance. Against a backdrop of an injury and suspension list that is steadily eroding the experience in our squad though, the pressure is starting to ramp up a little - and questions asked of the manager by those in charge of the purse strings seem to be proving more difficult to answer.   

While Marty's mackem muddle remains the source of much mirth, each poor result they suffer amplifies the opportunity missed to beat them. It's worth reflecting on whether the mild discontent expressed so far over our lack of form this season would be a more pronounced anger were the mackems riding high in the table - and putting our continued averageness into sharper focus. 

Regardless of our tactics and formation and the many online "experts" ready to provide guidance to the manager in that department, our concern lies more with things like attitude, commitment and desire - getting back to playing as a team. Losing to better footballing outfits is one thing, but coming second best to a side like this quite another. We're supposed be better than that.  
 
Biffa