Jump to content
Newcastle-Online

Alan Pardew

JH

by JH
in Football

 Share

Recommended Posts

MW

MW

Posted
Posted

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini picked up the Barclays Manager of the Month prize for October after leading the club to four straight wins with his team averaging more than four goals a game

Link to post
Share on other sites
Ameritoon

Ameritoon

Posted
Posted

It's all relative. Mancini did that with endless funds and world class players, Pardew pulled out ten points with about a fourth of the resources.

 

A fourth?!?

 

<insert any fraction/percentage that shows Man City have a ridiculous amount of money to spend in comparison to NUFC>

Link to post
Share on other sites
JH

JH

Posted
Posted
"It's nice to hear your name mentioned with things like that, but in terms of the England job, it's not for me at this time. I'm just not interested in it. I don't think I have the experience to do that job.

 

"There's someone in hospital at the moment (Redknapp) who could definitely do the job though. I think he's at the right age and he's had the right experience in his career.

 

"When it comes to the England job, I think the most important thing about the position is that the general public need to buy in to whoever the manager is. I think they would willingly buy in to Harry Redknapp, and I think that's very important. He would definitely be my choice."

Link to post
Share on other sites
JH

JH

Posted
Posted

Not sure if already covered, but some refreshing/realistic comments:

 

"Are we contenders? No. We have had a great start and shown lots of sides to our team in the last 10 games. What we have done is put some pride back into the shirt.

 

"Could that create high expectations? That is not a problem. You are underestimating the knowledge of our fans.

 

"I didn't expect us to be going into this game unbeaten, that's for sure. So, in that respect, we've exceeded my expectations for the team. But I honestly felt in pre-season that, potentially, we had a good side.

 

"I haven't raised my targets yet. I did say that 10 games would be an indicator of what sort of team we would be, and I think that is a good barometer.

 

"But because of the next month in front of us, perhaps it gives me a little bit more breathing space to find out.

 

"We are obviously going into a run against the real quality sides in the division. After that, I think we'll know a little bit more, but we've certainly proven we are a decent side.

 

"I really don't sense that the supporters have unrealistic expectations.

 

"When I've been in and around fans and in and around the city, most of the people are just really pleased with the way things are going.

 

"There's a pride, and maybe this team has gone a long way towards putting a spring back in everyone's step in the city.

 

"But I don't see people thinking we are going to be Champions League material or a top-four team. I don't see that pressure building.

 

"Maybe it will if we are still in this position with two months of the season to go, but not at the moment, no."

Link to post
Share on other sites
Sifu

Sifu

Posted
Posted

Not sure if already covered, but some refreshing/realistic comments:

 

"Are we contenders? No. We have had a great start and shown lots of sides to our team in the last 10 games. What we have done is put some pride back into the shirt.

 

"Could that create high expectations? That is not a problem. You are underestimating the knowledge of our fans.

 

"I didn't expect us to be going into this game unbeaten, that's for sure. So, in that respect, we've exceeded my expectations for the team. But I honestly felt in pre-season that, potentially, we had a good side.

 

"I haven't raised my targets yet. I did say that 10 games would be an indicator of what sort of team we would be, and I think that is a good barometer.

 

"But because of the next month in front of us, perhaps it gives me a little bit more breathing space to find out.

 

"We are obviously going into a run against the real quality sides in the division. After that, I think we'll know a little bit more, but we've certainly proven we are a decent side.

 

"I really don't sense that the supporters have unrealistic expectations.

 

"When I've been in and around fans and in and around the city, most of the people are just really pleased with the way things are going.

 

"There's a pride, and maybe this team has gone a long way towards putting a spring back in everyone's step in the city.

 

"But I don't see people thinking we are going to be Champions League material or a top-four team. I don't see that pressure building.

 

"Maybe it will if we are still in this position with two months of the season to go, but not at the moment, no."

 

:thup:

Link to post
Share on other sites
Fenham Mag

Fenham Mag

Posted
Posted

http://www.tv2.no/sport/fotball/england/premierleague/her-pusser-premier-leaguestjernen-skoene-til-claus-lundekvam-3629888.html

 

Claus Lundekvam at Benton talking to Pardew, Pedro, Best and Ba.

 

Best's outfit :lol:

 

This video is not available in your territory  :fuuu:

 

Internet still ropey in Fenham?

 

:D

 

:lol: How can i get it to work like?

 

Fenham is resembling Baghdad tonight like, they love fireworks here.

Link to post
Share on other sites
OzzieMandias

OzzieMandias

Posted
Posted

http://www.tv2.no/sport/fotball/england/premierleague/her-pusser-premier-leaguestjernen-skoene-til-claus-lundekvam-3629888.html

 

Claus Lundekvam at Benton talking to Pardew, Pedro, Best and Ba.

 

Best's outfit :lol:

 

This video is not available in your territory  :fuuu:

 

Internet still ropey in Fenham?

 

:D

 

:lol: How can i get it to work like?

 

Fenham is resembling Baghdad tonight like, they love fireworks here.

 

Fuck all else to do.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest je85

Guest je85

Posted
Posted

http://leftbackinthechangingroom.blogspot.com/2011/11/rehabilitation-of-pardew.html

 

The rehabilitation of Pardew

Over the summer, many Newcastle fans were not particularly happy little rabbits. This was a combination of transfer policy, a disastrous pre-season, years of mismanagement, a bungled sacking of a popular management and, well, because of Mike Ashley. Few held out hope for the season.

 

We had the Joe Kinnear rant, the messiah moments with Keegan and the bizarre way he left the club, we had the signings of the likes of Xisco, we had the Hughton imbroglio. Newcastle fans must have wondered what on Earth next.

 

Joey Barton's Twitter rants that he, Enrique, Nolan and Gutierrez would follow Andy Carroll out of the club seemed plausible and sparked worry. The fans had legitimate reason to worry. The clubs critics and detractors had legitimate reason to point and laugh.

 

Barton was almost correct - he, Nolan and Enrique did leave. The club's transfer policy had seen them lose what received wisdom had down as the best players. Carroll, the local hero, left earlier in the year and whilst this was a blow to Geordie pride it did, at least, come with a hefty cheque. Enrique, arguably the league's best left-back last season, followed Carroll to Anfield. Nolan went to the relegated West Ham - a man who had all but hauled Newcastle from the Championship to the Premier League on his Scouse shoulders. The boisterous Barton went to QPR.

Some tipped them for the relegation scrap, others tittered that the ongoing Toon soap opera was continuing. It has, over these past few years, been like watching Earls Park F.C. If it wasn't ludicrous signings, it was astonishing injury problems. If it wasn't sacking fine managers, it was police inquiries.

 

The Emperor Puts On Some Clothes

 

But we are living in the era of the rehabilitation of Pardew. Once upon a time he was in that murmuration of managers who were routinely tipped for the England managers job. He was part of a vanguard of managers who were going to change the game with new training regimes, scientific methods and a more cerebral approach. He, and others, were supposed to be the new brooms which would sweep away the likes of Redknapp.

 

Then Steven Gerrard met Alan Pardew.

 

There are few times in football when we can pinpoint the exact moment where their life, or footballing career, changed forever. Gazza's tackle on Gary Charles is one that springs to mind. David Beckham's astonishing goal against Wimbledon another. With Pardew, it is difficult not to feel that Gerrard's cartoonish goal in the 93rd minute in the 2006 Cup Final changed his career substantively. If that ball had drifted past the post, Pardew would have been a young, English manager who won the Cup - the first to do so in years. He'd have left West Ham and got a cushty job with Villa or, possibly, Spurs.

 

But the ball flew in and Liverpool, somehow, won the Cup. Pardew had every right to wonder what on Earth had happened to him.

 

It got worse. West Ham struggled in the early months of the next season and Pardew left. A series of disappointments followed as he dropped down the divisions. The idea that he had once been tipped for the England job was laughable. It seemed that Gerrard's goal had been the footballing equivalent of the Emperor's New Clothes. It was as if the footballing gods had spoken.

 

So it was unsurprising that Pardew jumped at the chance of managing Newcastle United - a massive club, with a massive support, and serial underachievers. He must have realised this was his last shot at the big-time and it is a chance he has grabbed with both hands. Whilst many of us still feel sorry for Chris Hughton, we cannot blame Pardew for exploiting an opportunity and building on Hughton's excellent work.

 

Many have made much of the importance of Graham Carr, the gifted scout, and his importance should not be overstated. Whilst Pardew's signing of Marveaux, Ba and Cabaye has proved extremely important, we should remember that Tiote and Ben Arfa joined last year. I am excited about Davide Santon and believe that, in the long-run, he could be an enormous talent for Newcastle.

 

All of a sudden Newcastle are not laden with highly-salaried, injury-prone man-children. As talented as Barton is, as monstrous a talent as Carroll may be, I would imagine Newcastle are better off without them.

 

The trend is three-fold. Firstly, Newcastle seemed to be adopting two, complementary, strategies. One, is a kind of moneyball approach - buying players from leagues where players are generally undervalued (not always, of course, as Hazard will prove in due course). Secondly, and related, a kind of Wenger strategy of finding young, French talent and bunching them together.

 

We see a shift from the yeoman to the technically excellent. Loathe as it may seem to the tabloid press, Tiote and Cabaye are far finer footballers than the likes of Nolan and Barton and are the embodiment of the technical difference between ''good players'' on the continent and ''good players'' in the UK. This shift allows better movement, better possession. It allows better football.

 

Finally, most obviously, and, perhaps least in keeping with this blog to notice, there are far fewer troublemakers in the squad. For years, Newcastle seems to have been the equivalent of the Mos Eisley Cantina - full of reprobates (Carroll, Barton), injury-prone players (Smith, Dyer, Owen), and egos (Nolan). Before anyone starts that Nolan is not an ego, let's not forget his previous BBC columns which were essentially a lobbying outlet for his thankfully non-existent England career.

 

This rebalanced squad - based around the work and technical excellence of Tiote and Cabaye - engenders team spirit and industry. It is equally shifted to the growing importance of Coloccini - one of the league's finest performers - who is now clearly the leader on the pitch.

 

These three players, in particular, epitomise what the new Newcastle are about. Solidity, but more importantly, possession. Pardew has not only changed the nature of the squad but the nature of the team on the pitch. The intelligent, but sometimes hopeful, passing of Barton and link-up play to Carroll has been replaced by patience and possession. Pardew - a man long obsessed with stats - has been frothing at the mouth about passing percentrages and, moreover, the number of passes completed in a game (often equalling City, United and Chelsea in how dominant they are with the ball). To do this, as we see with Barcelona, you need technically cute players but also a player who can start moves at the centre of defence. Coloccini is that man for Newcastle.

 

Questions remain: Will Ba stay fit? Even if he does (and it is an enormous 'if'), will he, Ameobi, Lovenkrands, Best and Ranger score enough over the season to stop them sliding down to a reassuringly average mid-table finish? Is there enough depth in the squad if a couple of stars get injured - if Cabaye and Tiote were both injured what would happen? Can they react to a run of bad games?

 

Still, these are hypotheticals. There may still be time for Pardew to sweep away Redknapp in that race for the England job.

 

RCM

Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...