Strugglers braced for window shopping

IT was not simply the Arctic weather which was causing shivers in the St James’ Park stands on Saturday.

Both these clubs have good reason to fear the impact of the January transfer window, with cash-rich vultures circling for their prize assets, just as the relegation battle is starting to take shape.

West Ham appear the more vulnerable, with the club up for sale, but Newcastle will be grateful — and surprised — if February arrives and Shay Given, their consistently impressive goalkeeper, is still in situ.

“We want to keep what we’ve got and we are not really in the position where we can afford to lose our best players,” Chris Hughton, the assistant manager, declared.

“We are hopeful of keeping our best players, most definitely.”

But that could be merely wishful thinking.

Manchester City have become the latest club to contend for Given’s signature — the race also includes Tottenham and Arsenal — with a £12m (€13.6m) fee mooted yesterday.

Given is too professional to allow talk of his departure to affect his performances and he was excellent again on Saturday, saving brilliantly from Mark Noble as West Ham — who had already seen Craig Bellamy superbly equalise Michael Owen’s smart opener — sought to assert their dominance.

Given was helpless when Carlton Cole slammed in the Hammers’ second shortly after the interval but local boy Andy Carroll kept the crisis talk at bay on Tyneside with a 78th-minute header.

Hammers manager Gianfranco Zola is another man eager to keep hold of his star names, with Lee Bowyer and Matthew Etherington already off-loaded and Bellamy and Scott Parker also linked with moves away.

“It’s very annoying I have to say, but we’re confident we can keep our best players,” Zola said, rather optimistically.

NEWCASTLE (4-4-2): Given 7, Taylor 6, Coloccini 5, Bassong 6, Jose Enrique 6, Gutierrez 6, Guthrie 6, Geremi 4 (N’Zogbia 62, 5), Duff 5, Owen 6, Carroll 6.

Subs Not Used: Harper, Xisco, Kadar, Edgar, LuaLua, Donaldson.

Booked: Guthrie.

WEST HAM (4-4-2): Green 6, Neill 6, Collins 6, Upson 7, Ilunga 5, Behrami 6, Parker 9, Noble 6 (Mullins 86, 5), Collison 6 (Boa Morte 76, 5), Cole 6, Bellamy 8 (Di Michele 81, 5).

Subs Not Used: Stech, Faubert, Tristan, Tomkins.

REFEREE: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire) 6: Even-handed throughout and generally kept his cards in his pocket.

MATCH RATING: *** Both sides gave it everything, but West Ham were a shade more impressive.