Rewarding the 3,000 West Ham fans who made the 600-mile round trip to Newcastle on Monday night, knowing they would not get home until the early hours, was priceless for Julen Lopetegui.
Any club’s away supporters are the true barometer of backing for a manager and after the three-goal hammering at Nottingham Forest on 2 November, Lopetegui needed to get them back on side.
West Ham delivered their best performance of the season at St James’ Park. This was a deserved win, unlike their last success, against Manchester United, which even club officials accepted was only possible because the visitors failed to take a ridiculous number of excellent first-half chances.
The Hammers were solid enough at the back. Carlos Soler was excellent in midfield on only his second Premier League start. Lucas Paqueta was something like his old self, Jarrod Bowen was a threat and Michail Antonio a battering ram in attack.
Lopetegui’s problems have not gone away, but they can approach Saturday’s visit of Arsenal to the London Stadium with some degree of confidence. After that comes meetings with struggling Leicester City and Lopetegui’s former club Wolves.
If West Ham can put some positive results together, instead of being top of the teams at the bottom of the table, they would be firmly in the mid-table mix and eyeing a European berth.
Should results go the other way, Lopetegui will be under fire again.
The Newcastle effort was no more than a single win. Lopetegui cannot afford it to be an isolated good day.
