Eddie Howe tears into his 'unrecognisable' Newcastle players after dismal West Ham defeat and warns: 'I could have taken anyone off'

Eddie Howe branded his Newcastle side unrecognisable after a dismal defeat at relegation-threatened West Ham extended their atrocious away form.

The Magpies spurned an early lead to lose 3-1 at the London Stadium to leave themselves without an away league win since April and in the bottom half of the Premier League .

‘The dynamism wasn't there,’ said Howe. ‘The physicality and the energy were missing. We scored early and could have grabbed hold of the game but we didn’t and let it slip away.

‘It didn't look like a Newcastle team that we've seen in recent seasons. The body language, the collective spirit on the pitch, loads of little things weren’t there. It was a by-product of us just not being where we needed to be mentally.’

Howe made a drastic triple change at half-time, including hauling off top scorer Nick Woltemade and Anthony Gordon , to try to spark a reaction but failed to see much of a response as West Ham pressed home their advantage.

‘I could have taken anyone off,’ added Howe. ‘That is a reflection of where we were at that stage of the game. It is very rare for me to feel that way. I don't think I have since I have been Newcastle manager.’

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe admitted he could have subbed any one of his players after their sorry showing in east London

The Magpies spurned an early lead to lose 3-1 at the London Stadium to leave themselves without an away league win since April

The West Ham United victory was new boss Nuno Espirito Santo's first in charge of the club

West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo jumped for joy at the final whistle as he enjoyed his first victory as Hammers boss and the club’s first since at the London Stadium since February.

Strikes from Lucas Paqueta and a late finish from Tomas Soucek following Sven Botman’s own goal gave the home fans something to cheer about, though a few thousand still stayed behind after the game to protest against the club’s owners.

‘I think the fans saw something in the team today,’ said Nuno. ‘This is what we want. How can we as a team show to our fans that we want to fight and we want to change the situation.’