Last season Newcastle United went though a terrible string of games at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, and in the 13 league games from November 11th and the 1-0 defeat by West Ham at home, to the 2-1 defeat at home by Reading on 19th January, Newcastle had only 7 points – two wins and a draw out of a possible 39 points.
Alan Pardew – under pressure
In the Premier League, and especially at Newcastle, that’s cause for concern, and remember Chris Hughton was fired in December, 2010 when he picked up only two points in five league games, but in the previous three league games before that we had beaten West Ham away, Sunderland at home and Arsenal away – and we had hammered Sunderland 5-1 – our biggest win in eons.
So in those last eight league games Chris and Newcastle had picked up 11 points – but he was still shockingly fired.
Mike Ashley came in after the Norwich defeat in January, and to his credit brought in five good French players, and we just survived relegation last season.
But Alan Pardew will now be under pressure to start winning games, and there’s at least four reasons for that:
- Newcastle now have a much better squad and we should be seeing improved performances in the league, especially when we haven’t got any European games
- Alan Pardew needs to prove he’s the right man for the job, after last season poor performance
- We’re 5th bottom of the league – not where we expected to be after six games – and two very poor performances in the last two league games when we’ve conceded six goals
- Injuries to top players were a problem last season, but we’ve had almost a full squad available so far this season
The conventional wisdom is that Chris Hughton was fired because the then Managing Director Derek LLambias wanted a manager who would be more involved in the transfers, and was just waiting for a poor run of form to get rid of Hughton, and had refused to give Chris a new contract after we were promoted.
And Llambias was a big backer of Alan Pardew during the bad times last season, but he is no longer with the club, and instead we have Joe Kinnear in that position – which may not be good for Alan Pardew, and why he may now be under extreme pressure.
The game at Cardiff City is now an important game for Newcastle, and we cannot have another horror show like the one we had in the first half last night, and there’s no doubt Alan Pardew is now under pressure to deliver some wins.
What do you think?
Comments welcome.
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89 comments so far
scitoon
Oct 1, 2013 at 10:32 AM
Comment #81@ arty
Douglas is at Dynamo Moscow now.Qwe never got Lukaku because JFK was on holiday / boozing on a boat in the Med with Ashley.
ArtyH
Oct 1, 2013 at 10:41 AM
Comment #82@ scitoon, bout sums it all up does it not?
What a shame we have become.
Thanks for the info re Douglas M8.
Joke Innear and Pardew need to go.
bob52
Oct 1, 2013 at 10:44 AM
Comment #83Funny how every time Pardew makes a change he gets blasted whether it works or not, so fickle on this site. Yesterday I thought he put out our best side and our back four were terrible to a man, two substitutions made a world of difference and whatever Pardew said at half time almost produced an astonishing comeback. Goofy had a blinder chased everything down all match, Anita was always positive and Cabaye showed his class once again.
dcdick
Oct 1, 2013 at 11:07 AM
Comment #84Pardew out !!!
nufc 11
Oct 1, 2013 at 11:13 AM
Comment #85People are saying its not AP fault that the defence didnt perform last nite. Hang on a second, he is the manager, he should know their state of mind and their capabilities, the whole world can see Santon is a winger being played at LB, Colo never had pace and goes missing, Yanga cant head, and Debuchy is a head the ball, they represent him AP and they have been awful for a long time without redress, the players dnt seem to fear the chop coz it never comes, and AP doesnt either how he has kept his job is behond me, who in the name of god coaches the bk4? The whole thing is a joke a good defensive coach needs bringing in a man that comands respect like Tony Adams or Steve Bould prober defenders that know what it is to defend…..Weve been a laughing stock for far to long, where does it all end god knows im sick and dejected to bits of the crap that follows this regime. Feel so sorry for that young lad last night crying if he has any sense he’ll never again atend a nufc match all that follows is a life time of misery.
scitoon
Oct 1, 2013 at 11:14 AM
Comment #86Bob
Football fans will always be so fickle, dude. Win or lose on a Mon night, it sets your mood for Tuesday. Im like a bear chewin on a wasp the day after the Toon lose. How many games do we get gubbed in the first 45 then pull out all the stops in the second 45? How can we continually be out smarted before a ball has been kicked? This is down to the tactics and where Pardew’s ineptitude is. Sure he is a good man manager and can rally a good response in the 2nd half but by then the game has generally, already escaped us.
nufc 11
Oct 1, 2013 at 12:09 PM
Comment #87Tony Adams, Pat Veria, Roy Keane, Ray Wilkins, Paul Lambert, Neil Lennon, Poyet, Zola, Olly Gunner, De Boer, Hiddink, Shearer it would prob need to be a number 2 or man from the lower leagues to fit into MA price plan but any of the above would suite me.
bob52
Oct 1, 2013 at 12:38 PM
Comment #88Skitoon
My point is he put out the best team possible yesterday, virtually everybody thought that, how was it his fault the back four didn’t perform. Yes he is a good man manager, he presents a good public face, the players respect him, yesterday he put out an attacking formation which people on here keep asking for but one big centre forward scared the crap out of our defenders and we had no answer. How could Pardew have foreseen that, he was powerless until half time, at least give the guy the credit for that.
Toonarmlee
Oct 1, 2013 at 2:09 PM
Comment #89Don’t know if it’s been mentioned yet but anyone see pardews interview after match. When asked about away fans singing they want there money back, the stupid fool came back with a cockey answer of they sang the same song when we where 4-0 down to arsenal. Am I the only one infuriated by this?