'Always under pressure' - patience for Nuno wanes at West Ham

On the record, of course, Nuno, projected unity. "All of us are really frustrated," he said.

"There's a lot of explanations - the basics are we didn't play good, we conceded too easy."

All the talk before and after the game was about West Ham's astonishing record of now having fallen behind in 10 of their 16 games in all competitions this season.

Albion's opener was the fourth goal they have conceded in the opening 20 minutes across their past three home league games. They have not managed one of their own in that spell.

Nuno held a meeting with the players about this very topic in the run-up to the game, yet it made no difference.