ALAN Pardew believes that the opening 30 minutes of the clash with
Newcastle United at St James' Park will be crucial to his
side's chances of taking something from their trip to the North
East.
After watching his Hammers squad triumph with a superb 3-1 win over
Blackburn Rovers last weekend, the West Ham United manager is
rightly looking forward to the match against Graeme Souness'
team.
But he knows Hammers will face a stern test of their Premier League
credentials in this first away trip of the season.
"St. James' Park is a great place to play football,"
he said. "It's a special stadium with a special
atmosphere, and in many ways very similar to Upton Park in the way
they approach their football up there.
"The passion of the fans and the way there is great family
tradition at Newcastle are all things you associate with West Ham
United and its fans. It's a big game for us and one we know
will be very tough.
"I saw Newcastle play Arsenal last Sunday and although they
lost 2-0, up until the sending off of Jermaine Jenas the two teams
were very even.
"The first 30 minutes of the game is going to be crucial for
us. In the opening period of the Blackburn game we looked a bit
intimidated by the occasion and we've got to make sure that
doesn't happen at Newcastle.
"It's important that we force ourselves onto the game from
the kick-off so we don't get dictated to. When you play against
quality opposition like Newcastle you have to expect them to
dominate for periods of the game.
"That's why we've got to be patient, keep our heads
and make sure we don't give anything away. All three of those
we did very well against Blackburn last week and that will give us
plenty of belief going to St James' Park."
Hammers take an excellent run of form with them to the North East.
Pards' team have lost just once in their last 14 games
stretching back to March, with their last away defeat coming to
Reading in the same month.
"We go to Newcastle on the back of a very good run and with
the squad on a high," he said. "The boys are in high
spirits after the Blackburn game, but they have been like that for
a good few months now and it's a feeling that we want to keep
around the squad over the coming games.
"With the international games we haven't really had a
chance to sit down and reflect as a squad on what happened against
Blackburn last weekend. Really we have only had one full day to
prepare on Thursday, which is not idea at all.
"But that's the agenda we have to deal with and we go to
Newcastle knowing that at the very least we can keep at this level.
"Being second in the table is obviously very nice for the
Club, but it doesn't mean a great deal at this stage of the
season and we're certainly not getting carried after just one
win.
"This is going to be a tough test for us against a team with
quality players. Our defence in particular were excellent against
Blackburn and they'll have to be again to cope with an
extremely tough opponent in Alan Shearer.
"He's so experienced and like all top players has got the
quality to decide the outcome of a game. We'll have to be on
our guard, but we do feel that we've got that kind of quality
in our team as well.
"This game will be a huge challenge for the players and staff
of the Club, and for both sets of fans I'm sure it will be an
enjoyable occasion.
"Hopefully we can get a result though and St James' Park
will be quiet come the end of the game."
Pards' Patient Start
19th August 2005