Slaven Bilic hails Dimitri Payet as Newcastle boss admits the defeat is a 'wake up call'

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic hailed Dimitri Payet for scoring both goals against Newcastle

SLAVEN BILIC hailed match winner Dimitri Payet as a man who makes players around him play better as the two-goal Frenchman inspired West Ham to their first home win of the season.

 

Bilic’s team climbed to fifth in the Premier League and left a miserable Newcastle rock bottom without a win after five games under manager Steve McClaren.

Payet, the £10.7million summer signing from Marseille, scored goal in each half and ran the show. “Payet was a player I wanted from the start here but it happened so quickly, I couldn’t believe. He came in five days,” said Bilic.

 

“I had known him for a long time, I tried to get him when I was Besiktas. He is one of those players who is not only a great player but he makes players around him better.

“We fully deserved three points, we were better from the start, and we scored our goals at the right time.

“In the second half I was proud of our performance, because we were solid, good at keeping the ball and great at counter attacking.”

Skipper Mark Noble, who set up the first goal, said: “I knew as soon as I set him up he would score as he has been doing that every day in training.”

 

Newcastle have now won only three league games in 2015 and are staring a relegation struggle in the face after only arriving at Upton Park 25 minutes before kick-off due to traffic problems.

McClaren, who tried but failed to get the kick-off put back beforehand, said: “I don’t know whether it was the journey that caused our problems with our preparation, but we didn’t deal with it. No excuses.

“This is a wake up call. You need to be 100 per cent every minute in the Premier League or you get beat. We need a big reaction now against Watford on Saturday, there is no doubt about that.

“Absolutely it is a concern that we have only scored two goals so far. We need to put this game to bed and get on with it and recover. We are learning as we go on. The players will have learned from this game. The only thing you can do is dust yourself down and go back to work.” 

 

Newcastle boss Steve McClaren is feeling the pressure as his side have won just three games in 2015

Newcastle have now won only three league games in 2015 and are staring a relegation struggle in the face after only arriving at Upton Park 25 minutes before kick-off due to traffic problems.

McClaren, who tried but failed to get the kick-off put back beforehand, said: “I don’t know whether it was the journey that caused our problems with our preparation, but we didn’t deal with it. No excuses.

“This is a wake up call. You need to be 100 per cent every minute in the Premier League or you get beat. We need a big reaction now against Watford on Saturday, there is no doubt about that.

“Absolutely it is a concern that we have only scored two goals so far. We need to put this game to bed and get on with it and recover. We are learning as we go on. The players will have learned from this game. The only thing you can do is dust yourself down and go back to work.”