IN THE WORDS of the tough American baseball manager, Leo Durocher: “Nice guys finish last.” There could scarcely be a nicer guy than Gianfranco Zola, who has been appointed by West Ham to his first job in club management, of a team suffering not only from injuries but from a procession of departing players.

Yet if West Ham have been in difficulties this season, parting company in bitter circumstances with one manager, Alan Curbishley, then Newcastle United are in chaos. West Ham supporters may wonder why, if they have a billionaire owner-chairman in Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, they should have been obliged to sell so many players, but Newcastle’s besieged owner, Mike Ashley, is trying in vain to sell his whole club, demanding £481m, which would make even the richest Arab mogul balk.

Moreover, since ousting Kevin Keegan, Ashley can no longer attend the club’s matches, flaunting the black and white stripes and sinking a pint of lager in a single draft, as he recently did at the Emirates stadium.

Though missing half a dozen senior players, including Lee Bowyer, Craig Bellamy, Kieron Dyer and Dean Ashton, injured yet again in training, Zola’s initial team rose above themselves to brush a plainly demoralised Newcastle aside.

Multimedia

• Chelsea: On-the-job training

• Man United: You've been merked, Capello

• Reading: Is Lita's yesterday's man?

Now there are TWO ways to feed your fantasy

We have built on last year's success of PlayTheGame by offering fantasy football managers double the fun this coming season

Related Links

• Tyne is money with no reward for Ashley

• Zola can handle Dennis Wise words

• Chelsea let Clarke leave for West Ham

West Ham, lacking Ashton to lead their attack, were particularly happy with the home debut of the Italian striker David Di Michele, who has joined them on loan from Torino, his seventh Italian club, with whom he had been for just one season.

Previously, he had moved around the peninsular, the best known of his clubs being Udinese. On his 32nd birthday, he scored twice and set up the third West Ham goal.

Newcastle’s managerial situation is deadlocked until Ashley manages to sell the club. Sympathy must go to Chris Hughton, formerly assistant manager at Tottenham, who has been put in charge. Newcastle themselves missed such players as the incisive Nigerian Obafemi Martins, but their feeble and disorganised defending made them vulnerable throughout.

True, Michael Owen eventually snapped up a goal to remind us what he can do at his best, but against that, in stoppage time the Londoners’ substitute, Luis Boa Morte, missed rather carelessly when a through-ball from young Freddie Sears sent him clean through.

West Ham and Di Michele were encouraged by an eighth-minute goal. Cutting in from the right, the Italian evaded the Argentine centre-back, Fabrizio Coloccini, and his shot then cannoned off first David Edgar then Steven Taylor to curl tantalisingly over the head of the unfortunate Shay Given.

There would not be another Hammers goal for another half-hour, but during this time, only the elegant footwork and crisp crossing on the left of Damien Duff kept Newcastle, however tenuously, in the game.

On 37 minutes, Mark Noble’s defence-splitting pass sent Di Michele through alone. He should have scored immediately, but his initial shot bounced off Given. The chance seemed to have gone, but instead Di Michele raced to his right, beat Taylor and shot home.

The third goal came in the 53rd minute, Di Michele racing up the right flank to cross for Matthew Everington to score at leisure. Newcastle’s goal, for what it was worth, came on 67 minutes, when Claudio Cacapa found Owen, who neatly side-stepped defender Lucas Neill and scored.

“It was OK,” said a predictably delighted Zola afterwards. “I have to say that’s 70 minutes of being very good. We tried to play our very best team from the beginning, and the players had to run a lot. It’s a new adventure for me. Especially at the beginning, you don’t know how players will react to your telling them.”

As for Hughton, he declared: “All we can do is the best that we can and get results.” He insisted that morale was good, too.

The manager’s job? “It’s something I’ve not even thought about,” he said. “All my thoughts are about preparing the team.”

WEST HAM: Green 7, Neill 7, Ilunga 6, Parker 7 (Mullins 71min), Etherington 7 (Boa Morte 77min), Cole 7 (Sears 86min), Upson 6, Noble 7, Faubert 6, Behrami 6, Di Michele 8

NEWCASTLE: Given 6, Coloccini 6, Cacapa 6 (Gonzales 81min), Owen 6, Duff 7, N’Zogbia 5, Zisco 5, Geremi 6, Butt 7, Taylor 5, Edgar 5 (Bassong 59mins)