Mike Williamson gave an excellent interview to the Newcastle local press over the weekend, and it’s one we missed.
Mike Williamson – Pardew proved himself to the players quickly
But reading what Mike has said about how Alan Pardew came into a skeptical Newcastle squad last December, annoyed and disappointed about the way Chris Hughton had been fired, Mike shows that Alan has done almost everything right since he arrived on Tyneside.
We didn’t think Alan was the right choice at all, but in that first press conference, when he was all on his lonesome, he did extremely well in the way he handled all kinds of questions from a skeptical press.
And Alan was smart in that he didn’t make many changes at all, and was able to keep the momentum going and waited until the summer to bring in stricter rules for the players in terms of not being late for training, and new rules for what was needed when players had injuries.
And the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and most things seem to have worked very well although there is still a long way to go if Pardew is to make Newcastle into a truly great side again.
Mike, who is still around five weeks from coming back from his ankle injury, talked about Alan coming into the club:
“I think maybe last year more than this, there were big characters in the dressing room and as a new manager you have to win them over,”
“I think first and foremost you have to win over the lads. That is the most important thing – if you were to impose yourself, you might find it difficult.”
“He handled it very well and the given the position we are today, you can’t really knock him.” “He didn’t come across as nervous but I can imagine he felt the same as the rest of us – unsure about what to expect from us all.”
“First impressions count and it was a good one. I think the lads here were disappointed to see Chris Hughton go, but it happens in football, and you start with a clean slate – a blank piece of paper if you like.”
“He came in and he didn’t try and change anything, he just kept the momentum going. He didn’t try and make some big changes straight away”
“Over the summer there were more changes, he was implementing his own little things. Fair play, it’s worked very well.” “You earn respect. You earn that on and off the field – it’s everything I suppose,”
“As much as the players wanted to prove themselves to the manager, I’m sure the manager wanted to do that to the players too.”
“He’s done that – he won our respect, we’ve won his and it’s about pushing on now and trying to improve things.”
We were dead against Alan when he came in last December, but of course when it’s made official you have to give the man a chance and support him.
And certainly his first media interview showed he was down to earth, and seemed to know what he was talking about, and he had certainly done his homework on the history of Newcastle United too.
We don’t know how well Alan Pardew will do in the future at Newcastle, but we hope he will be fantastically successful and therefore be here a long time.
And there’s not too many managers who could have done much better than Alan has in his first 11 months on Tyneside.
That’s almost indisputable based on Alan’s great track record so far as manager of Newcastle.
Comments welcome.
18 comments so far
ToonDownSouth
Nov 14, 2011 at 12:58 PM
Comment #1To be fair I always liked Pards. He did absolutely brilliantly at Southampton (where my parents live).
Takes balls (and the job of a lifetime I guess) to take all the cr@p that got hurled his way though.
geoff777
Nov 14, 2011 at 1:05 PM
Comment #2Didn’t want him.
To be honest last season under him was dire bar a couple of good results.
Certainly he’s done well so far this season.
He seems to have worked out that his bosses are “horrible” and are not to be trusted. So perhaps he’ll cut out the “100% sure” comments he’s been caught out with more than once.
I wouldn’t want to see him go, so I guess that makes me a Pardew convert.
davybtoon
Nov 14, 2011 at 1:07 PM
Comment #3pardew record at the toon
games 37
wins 15
draws 13
lost 9
and 2 of those defeats were in the cup so weve only lost 7 league games since hes been here thats pretty impressive i think
Jail for Ashley
Nov 14, 2011 at 1:08 PM
Comment #4I remember him being sacked from West ham,and hoping that he kept Charlton up and wanting the hammers to go down,he didnt deserve to get the bullet.
jayphoto
Nov 14, 2011 at 1:10 PM
Comment #5never had a problem with Pardew, even at the start! My problem was, and always will be the way Chris Hughton was treated! Appointing Pardew has been shown to be a great desicion, but the way that brining him in was handled was shocking!
Jail for Ashley
Nov 14, 2011 at 1:10 PM
Comment #6I bet he becomes the first manager to leave before he gets sacked in a long long time.
ToonDownSouth
Nov 14, 2011 at 1:14 PM
Comment #7geoff
Agree, pretty dire lol. Hard to judge him on last season though. Squad was demoralised by Hughtons sacking and Carrolls sale.
If it wasn’t for the Arsenal result things could have very different right now..
AP's Black & White Army
Nov 14, 2011 at 1:15 PM
Comment #8Christ, I just want the football to restart….
Jail for Ashley
Nov 14, 2011 at 1:18 PM
Comment #9Spurs could come sniffing when auld bagpuss takes the England job
yorkshireToon
Nov 14, 2011 at 1:20 PM
Comment #10http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoIgHXQGRs4
absolutlely hilarious!
Jail for Ashley
Nov 14, 2011 at 1:27 PM
Comment #11Would be even funnier if it wasnt so true
boater
Nov 14, 2011 at 1:27 PM
Comment #12Since we’ve all switched over –
davybtoon – really? Santon marked Ronaldo out the game? I’m surprised no on mentioned it on here before (jessing mate). If Pardew had no qualms about bedding him in, why has he not played him before now? Or maybe he doesn’t want to change the back 4 – either way my point still stands.
TDS – I didn’t say he’s not helped out, I said he is playing the best I have seen him play, so helping out Raylor hasn’t held back his performances.
ToonDownSouth
Nov 14, 2011 at 1:31 PM
Comment #13boater
I’v got no problems with Gutierrez helping him out. At the end of the day, Bale got absolutely nothing down the right hand side all game, and ended up witching back to the left. So it’s clearly working.
Just worried about Jonas running out of steam. The guy barely misses a game all season, and after the shift he put in shutting out Pennant against Stoke, he looked absolutely knackered against Everton!
toonincheek
Nov 14, 2011 at 1:33 PM
Comment #14Like so many, I wasn’t impressed when he was appointed.
Well impressed now.
I reckoned he only took the job, and a very difficult one at that, to get back into football management and prove himself.
He’s done that, well and truly.
Question will soon be – how long will we able to keep him, especially with the remarks that DL has come out with.
Not that they aren’t largely true, well – completely true, but now that AP has proved himself, it can’t be long before other offers come in.
He won’t get a more satisfying job, but he’s putting one helluva lot into it, for (relatively) little reard.
jayphoto
Nov 14, 2011 at 2:12 PM
Comment #15just a thought…I hope to god this american company interested in our stadium naming rights isn’t disney! I couldn’t cope with us running out at Mickey Mouse Field….. joking aside, you can never put it past our owners
Nick
Nov 14, 2011 at 3:10 PM
Comment #16@ 3. That would have got us 6th place last year with Liverpool (58 points) with a game in hand so pretty good first 11 months. Keep it up Pards!
YankeeToon
Nov 14, 2011 at 6:56 PM
Comment #17I think his success has been because of the cumulation of his prior experiences both good and bad and has found the time and moment for it to work.
As for hime leaving, who knows. I have always held the view that he came on board knowing exactly what Ashley and Co. have had planned. I think he has had an agreement with and the OK by Ashley to make Ashley the scapegoat, who knows he is hated anyway, and play the role of the fan’s and player’s coach. In a way portraying hiself as being on our side in the People vs. the Board.
mikeashleyisamackem
Nov 14, 2011 at 8:40 PM
Comment #18yankee toon spot on i couldnt of said it better myself