Pardew’s excuses don’t make any sense.

Posted on January 9th, 2011 | 73 Comments |

Pardew: Poor excuses.
Pardew: Poor excuses.
Speaking in his post match interview after Newcastle United’s Stevenage Borough F.A. Cup fiasco, Newcastle manager, Alan Pardew, bemoaned the lack of energy levels in his team, saying:

“The physical side of Stevenage’s game was a problem for us all night.

“I can only say we are sorry for the result and for the performance because it was the performance level which was the problem tonight.

“We were running on empty.

“It’s been such a tough sequence of games.

“The team was a shadow of the team which played at Wigan and West Ham.

“Our energy level just couldn’t match theirs.

“In both boxes we got dominated. The team looked tired.

“We had some key players missing through injury but I played the strongest team I could.”

However, Pardew seemed to engage his mouth without thinking in his excuses for such a poor performance. For a start, several of the players involved in the game, such as Leon Best, James Perch, Nile Ranger, Alan Smith, Peter Lovenkrands etc have been largely peripheral figures this season, either through injury, being second choices to more illustrious rivals within the squad and other reasons. If he had said that they had been somewhat out of practice and “ring rusty”, this would have been more valid.

Secondly, as we all know from our year long spell in The Championship, teams play more games in the lower leagues, unless, perhaps, a team is involved in European competition, which isn’t an issue for Newcastle at the moment.

Admittedly, a few of Stevenage’s recent games may have been cancelled due to the seasonal bad weather, though I’m not at all sure about this. However, Newcastle also had a recent game against Birmingham cancelled too, a game which is still to be played. So bearing in mind the reasons mentioned above, Pardew’s reasons for the shock defeat are still no excuse against a hardworking, part time squad of League Two battlers.

If anyone was going to be “running on empty”, it should have been Stevenage.

* I suggested that a few of the Stevenage squad were part time players. Though the team have recently been referred to in several quarters in the media as the “part timers”, it is, nonetheless, innaccurate and I have removed this part of the piece. My apologies to all the Stevenage fans who were offended by this.

NUFCBlog Author: workyticket workyticket has written 1096 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

73 Responses

  1. spot on..just say they were shit..he said last night the young players didnt step up..what young players..only ranger played secound half and got no support..what could he do..blame yourself for picking that shit side..

  2. Pardew is full of it! Most of the side he put out have not been regular first team starters so tiredness cannot be used as an excuse.
    Playing players out of position was his own decision, and the ridiculous long ball tactics were never going to work with Best and Lovenkrands up front. Also the same applies to the fact that both their central defenders were big lads so like I say, pointless tactic!

  3. Only Barton and Collocini can honestly say that they put a shift in, the rest should send their wages to the childrens unit at the RVI

  4. anyway b4 this match..he said nobody was going..and today he has said in papers he might let people go..f***ing hell did it take him..that game to relize smith and co are crap..he has been talking about smith as if he is a good player..we might put him up front..he has got a spark in traing when i told him that..when he said that..he wont last long as manager..

  5. I hate it so much when Managers make excuses for a shit performance. Pardew made the decision to change to long ball tactics and move people out of position. Best and Lovenkrands were excellent against West Ham, so why would you change the gameplan on how to get the ball to them? Ridiculous. You could see by the way they were playing that they (NUFC) didn’t even believe in the plan. Hats off to Stevenage they made our boys look absolutely foolish. They should send a “thank you” card to Pardew for the assist, though.

  7. At the least the guy has a big enough sack to apologise, which CH very rarely (if not never) did following a poor performance. Pardew has basically just offered some reasons as to why we were so poor, but also acknowledged that, notwithstanding those factors, the performance and result weren’t good enough – hence the apology. What is wrong with that?

  8. Well from his latest comment that they need to sign somebody up top to hold the ball up. Goodbye Best and loken.
    Seems Campbell, Guthrie and Xisco are on their way out and we only are looking at bringing two in! Pardew you do talk a load of shite which is translated onto the field. Better keep your mouth shut than show yourself up for what you really are a second rate manager who has never achieved anything of any consequence.

  9. It was a poor performance by manager and players but bigger and better managers than him have blamed tiredness and imo it’s very rarely if ever a valid excuse….anyhow I’d rather play crap this weekend than next so hopefully it’s out their system now.

  10. If our so called young stars are not up to it at the moment we need at least four players in
    Charlie Adam (Blackpool)
    Gabby Agbonlahar (Villa)
    Andy King (Leicester)
    Seb Larsson (Brum)
    Out
    Campbell
    Best
    Guthrie
    Routledge
    You should be able to afford this Fatman

  11. More anti Pardew rhetoric from Worky, I see.

    The fact is he’s probably ripped strips off them in the dressing room, but come out in the media and protected his players. When Fergie does it or Mourinho their great managers, but when its Pardew its rubbish!

    Need to get a grip and see what Pardew has actually done. What any decent manager should do, protect his players.

  12. How can he rip strips off them when he has chosen such a lop sided team and employed tactics which reflect where he has come from the lower divisions.
    Don`t talk about Fergie or Mourinho in the same breath as Pardew there is no comparison.
    Protection it`s about time some of these clowns faced up to their responsibilities.

  13. are yous seriously expecting good tactics from pardue?? hes a terrible manager man , hes clueless!! him and fatty r gna destroy our team!!

  14. Stuart79 says:

    “Need to get a grip and see what Pardew has actually done. What any decent manager should do, protect his players”

    Pardwho could actually protect his players completely by admitting HE got it wrong. Both the formation and the gameplan.

  15. The next game cannot come soon enough, get this debacle out of our system…players and fans alike..

    It just goes to show that if the application and effort is not there you can have all the supposed superior skills in the world and it aint gonna get you far.

    We weren’t only beaten, we were WELL beaten by a fitter, stronger and more committed side.

  16. It’s all madness, we’ve got to give Pardew a chance to get the team playing well and winning games. The bloke is on a hiding to nothing at the end of the day.
    But 100% honest commitment is the least one can expect from NUFC, that was missing completely yesterday.

  17. When i first heard Pardew was replacing CH,I thought it a bit incredible.
    I could have accepted another young manager who in wise guy terminology “Had Made His Bones” say a Steve Clark or for that matter just about any of a bunch of Dutch masters, but a re-tread and a loser to boot, Pardew ?
    Yeah ! he said all the right things and lucked out in a couple of games, but this guy is not and never will be the manager this club needs.
    Obviously he had little or no positive impact on yesterdays cup humiliation, other than to spout rubbish about injuries and the players being tired, they are tired ? really ?
    Personally they looked unconcerned and put little or no effort into beating a team three divisions below them and that`s unforgivable.
    One lesson to be learned is that we lack quality, other than our starters, our bench consists of the cheap second tier players CH was forced to purchase because of a combination of having a small squad and no dosh to spend.
    Hey we are in the EPL, where there are clubs who`s benches are in general better than our starters and if we are to stay in this league, then it`s time we brought in some quality player.
    There have been frequent call on this and other blogs about starting our youngsters, look most are just not ready, sure bring em on when we are ahead and during the last twenty minutes, but second tier players and kids are not the answer.
    As for Pardew, nuff said !

  18. Calm down.

    It’s a cup game and it means nowt, the more disappointing thing was Tiotes red card. Without him we look static and basically, fapping hopeless in the middle. Smith should go to Leeds and we should find a young defensive midfielder to cover Tiote.

    Seriously, chill out about this game, I’m glad were out. Games we could very well do without later in the season, be it fighting relegation or to secure mid table status, whatever, it’s FAR more important.

  19. At this stage of the season and Pardew has admitted it the players are playing games and doing very little training. I suggest they get down to Whitley Bay beach and do a couple of hours beach work. It would certainly make them fitter and stronger and more used to the elements ie wind. Put them all in shorts and ban gloves and snoods!

  21. Sounds like a cop out to me Daversim …I’m glad we’re out..? howay man…

    Why do we need to calm down, 1400 toon supporters paid a lot of money to watch that pile of shite …

    Tiote shouldn’t even have been on there in the first place !

  22. Army96…aye Daversim @18 is trying his best ! We don’t need to worry about getting to Wembley anymore thank god…!

  23. I Munich mag
    I`m one of the 1400 who made that trip. I did`nt get the impression at the end of the game that it bothered the majority of the players too much. I must qualify that by saying if everybody had shown the same attitude and commitment of Joey Barton we would be in the next round

  24. true , we are a long way winin the fa cup like! do yous think we are close to a signing? larsson? ziani?

  25. MOSSA,well done pity the players didnt try for yous down there,they can move on (mind wise)we will have this shoved up our nose every time f.a. cup comes round :(

  26. mossa I feel sorry for you mate. The Stevenage supporters were giving large throughout the game, and rightly so to be honest.

    Too many of our players bottled it, they’re just not up to it, we needed leaders in the team and Smith and Nolan as senior pros disappeared..

    Bad day all round…

  28. I was at the Hereford game Icedog and I can tell you it gets no better going out to the underdog. I can say that Stevenage battled and deserved the win I have no complaints about that.
    I just hope that we reproduce the performance we produced in the 5-1 game against Sunderland because I slept with my shirt on that night.

  30. Just heard that Pardew may be out the door tomorrow, saw it on the other blog.

    “I have heard though, not just from toon forums but from an actual insider, pardew could be off tomorrow, something is happening. On a fairly large scale, but I have not been told in detail what it is. All I have heard is that moat and KIA jobrachian are heading a consortium of Indians.”

    The last thing our group of players need now is uncertainy and another mid-season shake-up….

  31. Munich…aye me too possibly even sneak a win but I’d be owa the moon with a pint.

  33. Matty – That’s about as likely as us winning the FA Cup this season.

    However I have seen in the People that Kia is heading to NUFC as an advisor due to his links.

    Also we’ll never win anything until we have a stringer squad and we’ve not had one of them for a while, so don’t hold ya breath under this regime.

  37. Army69…nae idea mate, it’s like all of them believe nowt ’til it’s official.

  38. we’re all reading too much into this. I didn’t like AP’s excuses either. Ut after CH anyone is going to sound a bit of a git.
    I noticed that we’re being a lot harder on our team than most of the media who, to their rare credit, focsed on how good Stevenage were.
    Yes it was a shite day with some dire performances but for once the press have it right: so what’s so unusual about that in the FA cup?

  42. the best way for pardwho to say sorry 2 newc fans is 2 get great signings this week , OR LEAVE

  43. MattyBarlow says:

    Just heard that Pardew may be out the door tomorrow, saw it on the other blog.

    “I have heard though, not just from toon forums but from an actual insider, pardew could be off tomorrow, something is happening. On a fairly large scale, but I have not been told in detail what it is. All I have heard is that moat and KIA jobrachian are heading a consortium of Indians.”

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kia_Joorabchian

  44. Army69 says:
    January 9, 2011 at 9:58 pm
    dont mean 2 sound thick but whos kia?<<<< hes head of the juice firm kiaora m8

  47. Agree in general but just one point – Stevenage are a Football League club, pretty sure that means their players are all full-time professionals…

  48. Matty, PLEASE BE RIGHT!

    I am so desperate to be rid of Ashley and Pardwho(don’t mean to be harsh on him, but he’s a failure of a manager), so desperate that I will probably even believe the wildest rumor!

    I PRAY TO GOD THAT WE GET TAKEN OVER BY ANYONE AS LONG AS MIKE ASHLEY IS NOT IN CHARGE!

    btw did anyone hear rumours of Jose Enrique being a target of Man Utd?

  49. i did , doubt its true tho , ferguson said he wasnt gna buy in jan ! whats this crap bwt pardwho leavin 2moro? wishful thinkin eh

  50. well some piece of good news out of all this doom and gloom Newcastle are appealing Tiotes red card before this weeks match, hoping it goes through and can play

  51. Here we gan, the players let us down, everybody blames Pardew. I could tell certain people have been waiting for a poor performance like this for 6 game to rip into him. The same people who would excuse C.H; say it was another thing that he will improve with more time, experience bullsh## like that. I believe that the side Pardew put out were all at least championship, some premiership players. They should have beaten a league 2 side quite easily regardless of who was at LB ect. Pardew is probably wondering what the hell is going on like the rest of us yet he tries to protect them and make excuses for them and he is the one who gets blamed, typically really. I wonder how much blame Hughton would have got for this considering he could do no wrong in the eyes of some.

  52. Good morning… hear that we have made an approach for Jay Bothroyd. Thoughts?

    Personally I’d like to see it, he’s on fire at the moment and hopefully won’t break the bank. Doesn’t fit with the under-25 policy but could be a good short-term signing.

  56. What the … ? I’ve just spent 4 weeks on a frozen island down Anarctica way – no telly, no internet (except for work), just me and a few blokes doing climate experiments. I come back and find Toonsy’s gone.

    Does he have his new website up and running?

    God it’s hard to get back into the ‘real’ world. Sick of penguins and seals but they are more interesting than a lot of people.

  57. Just out of interest…

    Can someone tell me what the results have been this season in games that Alan Smith has started in midfield???

    I’m quite sure we’ve nearly lost every game. The man is useless and has to go.

    If we play him agsinst Sunderland, I’ll put money on us losing by at least 2 goals.

  58. “he also seems to forget that at least some of the Stevenage squad who beat us so comprehensively aren’t full time professionals”

    Are you taking the Michael Owen? Stevenage are a fully-professional team and have been for some years now. The days of painters and decorators from the Vauxhall Conference are long behind us. If you did some research, you’d know this.

  60. “aren’t full time professionals”

    What are you on?!!? All teams in League 2 and above are full time professional teams. As are most of the conference.

  61. @59 well done mate, completely outplayed us.Good luck v Reading.
    Have they caught that idiot who punched the player yet?

  62. DJG says:

    “Pardew is probably wondering what the hell is going on”

    Now that part I totally agree with :) And no I wouldnt have excused CH for a performance like that either as both of them seem to suffer from “I can see we’re getting beaten but dont know how to change it” syndrome !

    IMO all that Saturday did was confirm to most of us what we already knew. Pardew is not fit to manage this club just as Fatman is not fit to run it. The fact we’re stuck with both of them doesnt mean I have to like it.

  63. ‘Secondly, he also seems to forget that at least some of the Stevenage squad who beat us so comprehensively aren’t full time professionals, living the relatively pampered lives of Premiership footballers who have the luxury of dedicating all of their time to football. On the contrary, they are part timers who also have to hold down day jobs as well as dealing with rigours of training and playing matches.’

    You really are ignorant aren’t you? ALL teams in League 2 are full time professionals (it is called professional football for a reason). The vast majority (around 75% of teams in the league below are also full time professionals as well, in case you ever get beat by a team in the conference and decide to make the same mistake again).

    Knowing the club, and the football industry in general, I would feel confident making a wager that the Stevenage players train harder and longer than Newcastle.

    Paul

  64. Paul – I dont think anyone in their right mind believed Pardwho’s assessment of tiredness. He was merely clutching at straws trying to find a way out of saying “I f@@ked up”.
    Ironically if he had come out and apologised for his own poor performance then we wouldnt be having this conversation now.

    Also let’s understand this isnt sour grapes so good luck to Stevenage in the next round :)

  65. Paul says:
    January 10, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    “You really are ignorant aren’t you?”

    Yes, I am, Paul. I admit that I wasn’t quite sure about that and thought about omitting it. However the media still persist in referring to Stevenage as “part timers” and like an idiot, I went with it and published before realising for certain that I was wrong. I’m sorry.

  67. Dont beat yourself up Worky as it probably didnt make a whole heap of difference in the end whether Stevenage were part timers or not :(

  68. AndyMac says:
    January 10, 2011 at 12:27 pm

    “Dont beat yourself up Worky”

    No, I was wrong, Andy. I wasn’t sure about that bit at the time and thought about deleting it. However some quarters of the media are still referring to them as “part timers”, and, like an idiot in a big rush, I went with that and didn’t remove it. I was wrong though.

  69. “fckin hell worky apoligising”

    We should a have a blog page just to make people of aware of this Batty! ;)

  73. To Worky:

    No problem, actually what i said was probably a bit strong and I also apologise.

    I think the problem was that Newcastle just didn’t want it. Stevenage have got some players that will probably make Championship football (Bostwick for one), but the difference is the stevenage manager is probably one of the greatest motivators in lower league football. He turns players into machines and gets them to run through brick walls.

    Newcastle have some great talent, but desire and attitude make a huge difference.

    Paul