JONJO SHELVEY showed he is happy to be in the thick of things as he helped Newcastle climb out of the bottom three.
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| Debutant Shelvey (left) celebrates Wijnaldum's strike at St James' Park |
The England midfielder, whose attitude has been questioned by some – among them Toon legend Alan Shearer – celebrated his Magpies debut after his £12million move from Swansea by playing a part in two goals in the first 15 minutes.
Ayoze Perez gave Newcastle a sixth-minute lead and Georginio Wijnaldum grabbed his ninth goal for the club.
West Ham’s half-time substitute Nikica Jelavic struck only four minutes after his introduction, but their eight-match unbeaten league run is over.
It was long-overdue revenge for Newcastle boss Steve McClaren over opposite number Slaven Bilic. The West Ham boss was in charge of Croatia when they dumped McClaren’s England out of qualifying for Euro 2008.
And McClaren was delighted with the win and Shelvey’s display. He said: “You always worry with the first game, whether a player will blend in.
"I thought the balance was perfect and that first pass forward created the first goal and the crossfield pass for the second, the speed of it gives you that extra two seconds so the defence can’t recover.
“That’s the difference between top-quality midfielders and average ones. He has the potential to be top class but he has a long way to go.’’
Shelvey said: “This was not about me, but a great win for the team. I thought we were really outstanding, especially in the first half. It’s often hard at first when you move clubs, but our players made it easy for me.’’
It wasn’t all positive for the new man though. Shelvey was at the centre of a flashpoint shortly before half-time when he raised his arm as he blocked off Hammers striker Enner Valencia.
Referee Neil Swarbrick, who had a clear view of the incident, took no further action.
McClaren said: “It was handbags. It was shoulder-to-shoulder – he couldn’t move Jonjo. Let’s talk about the game and not stupid little incidents.”
Shelvey, an ex-Hammers youth player and boyhood fan, made an immediate impression. It was his ball into the feet of Wijnaldum, whose lay-off presented Perez with the chance to curl his finish inside Adrian’s left-hand post.
Aleksandar Mitrovic almost doubled the lead a minute later when he arrowed an angled effort that Adrian tipped over.
But Shelvey sprayed a glorious ball out to Daryl Janmaat and the right-back centred for fellow Dutchman Wijnaldum to beat the keeper from no more than six yards.
Newcastle, who also handed a debut to new £4.5m Senegal midfielder Henri Saivet as a second-half sub, saw Adrian deny Mitrovic on three more occasions, but needed keeper Rob Elliot to make a vital late block.
Bilic said: “That wasn’t good enough from us. Nobody played well in the first half – we should have started with more confidence than them.”
MAN OF THE MATCH: JONJO SHELVEY – Showed the range of his passing by prompting the moves for Newcastle’s goals with measured deliveries.
Ref: N Swarbrick
NEWCASTLE: Elliot; Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Dummett (Saivet 57); Shelvey, Colback; Sissoko, Wijnaldum, Perez (Gouffran 80); Mitrovic (Lascelles 90).
WEST HAM: Adrian; Tomkins (Jenkinson 75), Collins, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Obiang (Jelavic 46); Noble, Kouyate, Payet; Antonio (Moses 70), Valencia
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