An APOLOGY to Alan Pardew
I’d like to apologise to Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew. When Newcastle owner Mike Ashley sacked Chris Hughton at the back end of last year, the only reason I could think he’d made that decision was to bring in an exciting new manager at the helm. That was not how I would describe Pardew, and fears of relegation returned. News that Pardew and Ashley were big mates and went to casinos together further disappointed me. He was of course given a five and a half year contract and I was thinking ‘here we go again’.
I was clearly not alone. In a poll of 40,000 Newcastle supporters only 5% were said to be pleased by the appointment of Alan Pardew. Like the rest of the Toon Army, despite my dismay at the appointment of Pardew, I got behind the manager and the team and things couldn’t have started much better – a 3-1 home win against Liverpool, but that was essentially a match played with Hughton’s team. A home defeat to Manchester City and a disappointing performance at Tottenham followed, before back-to-back wins against Wigan and West Ham, meant that Pardew won 3 of his first 5 matches in charge of Newcastle – not at all bad.
Then came Pardew’s darkest day as Newcastle manager so far – a 3-1 defeat to Stevenage in the FA Cup. Newcastle fans love a cup run as much as anyone, and to go out in the third round was a bitter blow, but the way Pardew and his team have recovered has been admirable. Two draws against Sunderland and Tottenham followed, with the Magpies denied three points in both games by late equalisers, then there was the Fulham match – the less said about that the better. That was quickly forgotten as the magnificent comeback against Arsenal at St James’ Park took centre stage. Whatever Pardew said at half-time clearly worked, and he showed on that day that he could get the team to play for him.
An away draw against Blackburn in a match Newcastle dominated, was followed by a comfortable win at Birmingham and a home draw against Bolton on Saturday – a match Newcastle could have won if Ryan Taylor hadn’t of been sent off and it had been eleven v eleven for ninety minutes. So in Pardew’s 13 games so far, he’s won 4 (could have easily been 6), drawn 5 and lost 4 – not particularly impressive. But since that loss against Stevenage and aside from the Fulham game, I have been pleasantly surprised by the way Newcastle have played and in particular the way they’ve kept the ball – some credit must go to Pardew’s coaching.
Of course, like every Newcastle manager over recent years, things haven’t been made easy for Pardew. The loss of Andy Carroll and being unable to bring in a replacement has left him with an uphill task, but he seems to have his head screwed on and he strikes me as an extremely sensible bloke. John Carver spoke to 5 Live on Friday and explained that Pardew said that as neither knew how each other worked and whether they would gel together or not, that they would work together on a four month basis to start of with when he arrived on Tyneside, a sort of trial if you like. This has obviously worked out well and now Carver is on a five and a half year contract at Newcastle and Pardew has an assistant manager who knows the club inside out.
As far as signings are concerned, he gets a big tick for securing the permanent deal of Hatem Ben Arfa and tying Cheik Tiote down to a long term contract. The loan of Stephen Ireland seems to be a strange one, but you never know it could work out, and bringing in Shefki Kuqi was clearly a case of desperate times calling for desperate measures. The big test for Pardew in terms of acquisitions will come in the summer when he gets to spend some of the Carroll money; whether he has the reputation to bring in exciting players we’ll just have to wait and see but hopefully he’ll be able to encourage some to sign on the dotted line.
So, as we come to the end of Alan Pardew’s first three months on Tyneside and with Premier League status seemingly secure for next season, it’s time to look ahead to Newcastle’s future under him and I have to say that I’m pretty optimistic. When Pardew joined I thought we were doomed to relegation; now I think he can do a decent job at St James’ Park, bring a bit of stability and challenge in the top half of the table. So Alan Pardew; I’d like to apologise for thinking the worst when you were appointed Newcastle manager, and may you continue to exceed expectations long into the future!
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Yup I agree with the article. Pardew has impressed me in his sensible approach and he could hardly have done better. I just hope we keep our key players this summer and I am pleased to see he’s honest when he says things like every player has his price. Hughton may have kept that to himself. I loved Hughton for the fantastic job he did but I must admit that Alan Pardew is doing very well and he might even make us clinch a Europa Spot, although achieving our main goal of survival would not dampen my spirits. That was our main target this season after all. I have no doubt that if we invest wisely in the summer and keep hold of our best players we will be at least a top ten side for years to come. We might clinch Europa next year or who knows maybe even a Champions League spot as soon as next year. We have never had such a united group of lads on the pitch and off it and that will rub off on other incoming players ie.Cheick Tiote. It’s a mouth watering prospect just thinking of what we could achieve if we do well in the summer.
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yeah hes really done well bet southampton arre regretting sacking him now that he is manager of 9th place in the premier ship and they cant even catch up to brighton but what hasnt been mentioned in this arcticle is hw good a man manager he has been giving leon best confidence nd giving both taylor and willo fair chances which as much as i love hughton he didnt seem to do he just seemed to decide who was good and that was it but lets just hope he keeps doing well and soon enough the pardew chants will start
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Tom Jones Reply:
February 28th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
Thanks for the comments Dave. In regards to your points I think they’ve been forced upon him somewhat. Has simply had to play Best and give him extended run in team, while Taylor seemed to be his first choice CB until he got injured and so Willo has come back in.
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Odd though, that his excellent use of subs in the game on Saturday is what has finally tipped the balance with most on Pardew.
We aren’t used to subs being wisely used.
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I think pardew has done very well by getting wins and draws for points we need. Enrique had a shocker of a match against Bolton, he thinks if the plays crap he will get bought of a top club. Also man city want guttierez I thinks it’s a load of crap.
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I agree AP has done better than i and most others had thought possible. With Goossey and Ben Arfa to come back albeit more for next season the future does look brighter. Would be nice to see Steven Ireland have a run in the side any maybe find his spiritual home as i believe he could be great for us. With the right summer signings…well who knows?
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