Pardew’s lose-lose situation

Posted on August 12th, 2011 | 39 Comments |

Should we cut Pardew some slack?
Shoule we cut Pardew some slack?
So a few weeks ago i decided that I was going to try and be as positive as possible about Newcastle United and to try and look on the bright side of life with regards to the current manager.

Reading this blog daily, and like most Toon fans, not in the North East, I crave even more than usual my daily fix of NUFC news. What I am noticing is that Alan Pardew is not only disliked, but he is hated by the majority of fans and has some very unrealistic expectations on his shoulders given the current regime hes working under. Every comment Pardew seems to make is scrutinised and analysed by the fans who are coming to the conclusions that he ‘talks far to much’, hes ‘patronising’, that he is an ‘Ashley propaganda machine’ and have already written him off as one of the Southern shandy drinkers ruining the club!

I cant agree, and in my positive frame of mind, as far as I can see he has not done much wrong in his relatively short term here, he was not my first or even fifth choice, but he is here now and I have a theory on why the fans should try to not be so negative about him and maybe lower expectations this season as its the clubs hierarchy, not Pardew, that clearly have the lack of ambition to move NUFC to the next level.

Jog your mind back to the February 2006, the great Souness years, and the predictable news that big Freddy had reacted again to another disastrous managerial appointment, so as not to feel the direct wrath of the fans he axed the man immediately and appointed the then clubs youth academy director, Glenn Roeder, as caretaker manager. Roeder it was until the end of that season and he got what most mangers don’t get at nufc, which was a total lack of expectation as he was only the caretaker manager, Roeder couldn’t fail no matter what happened that season as he was in a win win situation. The fans couldn’t call him as he was only a temporary fix and was picking up the pieces of the last manager so not much was expected. Much to Shepherd’s delight, Roader became a success in the final games of the season thriving in the low expectation, less pressure environment. He managed to dig Shepherd out of a seriously big hole as big name managers and the like were becoming harder to attract to the club.

Now this is where my theory comes into play as the fans no longer afforded Roeder the caretakers grace, after he was made the permanent manager he was expected to improve the team and league position dramatically by certain fans. The pressure was now on with the honeymoon period long gone it didn’t take the brains of an Archbishop to predict what would happen and he left the club roughly a year later after serious fan pressure and some bad results had exposed him as not being worthy of managing NUFC apparently.

The same situation happened again to Hughton when we got relegated. With all the talk of Shearer and the fans chucking all sorts of names around in the end who stepped up to save the now chairman? but it was the likeable no frills Chris Hughton, and what did the fans do? they give him the same grace that Roeder got as the pressure was off and again not much was expected (of him). Without the normal expectations that come with managing at nufc and Hughton guided us back into the top flight.

The point of my little story is that expectations sometimes get the better of us and we are not always helpful in pushing the club forward. With lower more realistic expectations the manager and new players (Tiote last season was given time to settle without much pressure to perform immediately) seem to perform much better.

I have witnessed first hand the daily abuse from fans who like to shout at Pardew, about the Carroll money, and where the new striker is they were promised. Pardew didn’t sell Carroll and he only relayed what Ashley had told him was going to happen in the press conferences that followed about the mystical 35 million. The Nolan deal makes sense in the long run and he has handled the Barton / Enrique sagas in the correct way, if the fans can remove the Ashley factor from him he might turn out to be decent.

Yes he seems to like a press conference but he has to react to the fan’s / media’s questions and demands for news and updates (its not like its been a quiet summer). If he stayed silent or kept repeating himself like Hughton tended to do, he would be called for not communicating with the fans and some of what he says is taken out of context as people don’t see the whole interview the quotes came from. I believe he doesn’t have a say in the bigger picture at NUFC and has to react to Ashley and Llambias much in the same way we do with the ‘place ya bets and spin the wheel’ attitude they have towards clubs dealings.

We would all have taken the job in Pardew’s shoes if we are honest as you couldn’t pass up on the chance to manage one of the biggest clubs in England even with the restrictions imposed on him from the current regime. I would just like to see him given a chance! At least until the dust has settled on the first five to ten games and the transfer window has closed, we will then have some sort of an informed opinion of his management style and the players he has been able to bring in on a limited budget.

I may be wrong and it all goes ‘tits up’ like it normally does at NUFC, but I am really looking forward to the season and really want to be positive!

Lets fill the ground and sing your hearts out for the lads and cut Pardew a bit of slack as we seem to perform better with less self imposed pressure on managers who have an unreasonable chairman hiding behind them.

NUFCBlog Author: geordiedug geordiedug has written 8 articles on this blog.

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Posted on by geordiedug in category: Alan Pardew and Alan Shearer and Andy Carroll and Chris Hughton and Freddy Shepherd and Geordiedug and Glenn Roeder and Kevin Nolan and Mike Ashley and Thoughts and reflections , with tags: , ,
Comment on this post

39 Responses

  1. Pardew work decent job if you mention he’s under Ashley helm because no manager in the world can work with Ashley.

    I don’t blame Pardew for that because I know he has no power to do anything he want here. He’s just honest and optimistic guy but at first he admit to do this before he signed.

    The football club is business based on result and performance on the pitch but our board are lack of knowledge. With their business experience, They manage our club the same as Sportdirect.com, Buy cheap sell profit, That’s fact. Yes we’re player farmer club not football club under Ashley.

    I will admit my opinion is wrong after we can finish this transfer windows with 2-3 proper signing (hopefully). However Jose sold 2 days before Arsenal game is not good idea.

  2. As I have said before, I believe Pardew is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rock is Ashley’s tight-fisted grip on the cash supply and the hard place is the expectation of the fans given the size of the club and its history. With such immovable objects to deal with, I think he has done – and is doing – a good job overall. I agree that we should give him more support because I believe he is the kind of character who responds to positivity, and if he is feeling unthreatened – by Ashley or the fans – that will spill over to the dressing room and the players.

  3. enrique wasn’t sold, so much as he left.

    There was absolutely no point keeping a whining, miserable get around the place.

  4. Good thread Geordie and easily understandable.
    I have to say that now the season is starting it will be good to get back to moaning about the football (or lack of it) instead of this perpetual bitching about Statler and Waldorf upstairs.
    Living in Cyprus, you are detatched from the closeness of the atmosphere through the press and the match days although there is always the Daily Mirror. Even at 2 euro’s it’s a piece of home.
    Our local pub has devoted one end of the place to NUFC on matchdays and has now installed an 80 inch screen which is great. The Toon is alive and well in Cyprus. KO is 7-30 over here so may be a bit late getting back on the thread tomorrow night .
    Heres to a win of any kind . I reckon on a tough 90 mins and we edge it 2-1. HWTL.

  5. I disagree that Pardew talks too much. For starters I think the previous management didn’t say enough to the fans and left us in the dark. I also agree that what Pardew says is very rosey view of things and trying to appease the fans, but what do you expect for any football manager? I also think he is left in bat infront of the media totally by himself which is something that deserves at least some respect. When he first arrived I think he looked like he thought he could handle any PR and that was a huge selling point on his CV that he sold to Ashley probably but now he is struggling to hide the cracks and the pressure is written all over his face if you look at recent photographs. I have respect for Pardew, he is doing a very difficult job at the moment if he gets through it okay he is doing very well. I just hope that Ashley will back him up on the LB and striker promise and not leave his manager to look a puppet again.

  6. Couldn’t agree more with the article, but also with pauls comment, and clints as well. Top work.

  7. DJG (5)
    I don’t think that any sensible supporter couldn dissagree with your comments re the manager, but i have serious doubts about any back-up from upstairs. Its sad but to be expected. Makes you wonder what we may be able to achieve if we had some classy directors and all pulling in the same direction. Never mind eh.
    Ive had 1st day excitement for the last 55 years and I dont see it changing now no matter which to55ers are in charge. Ho Hum. HWTL.

  8. I hate to be controversial, but pardew has made his bed and needs to lie in it. I don’t have a problem with him keeping us up to date with what’s happening, the problem is he has a tendancy to end up contradicting himself (sometimes in the same interview). As for the Carroll sale, you say pardew didn’t sell carroll, but as far as i knew it was a managers perogative to say “no i don’t want to sell this player” he could have put his foot down but no, he went along with Ashley and llambias decision to sell. And the fee seems to have disappeared into the ether. Agree pardew is doing a difficult job, and is being used as a fall guy. That much was apparent from the day he took the job when he faced the press alone, then again after the carroll sale. He is a mouth piece for the hierarchy (hence the recent comments saying how the fans need to buy into what the club is doing i.e please stop slating us, derek and mike don’t like it) and their scape goat for when their current strategy of selling the spirit of the team and replacing it with talented but ultimately unproven players

  9. Excellent write up Geordiedug. Maybe Pardew isn’t in complete cahoots with the fat controller… the bloke is trying his best at the end of the day. He also seems to have the ear of SA Ferguson…and he doesn’t tolerate fools…

    But this is the Anti Pardew blog…expect a backlash…. !

  10. Excellent article. Totally agree with Pauls and Clints comment.

    With regard to comments from Pardew, he is dammed if he does and dammed if he doesn’t.

    Is it any wonder why Ashley doesn’t speak to the fans and press, although having said that he never spoke to the press before he bought the club.

    And this criticism against Sports Direct by fans is ridiculous. Sports Direct are a sponsor. Sports Direct is a public company and is extremely profitable and well managed. Ashley may not be liked but which billionaire is loved? The next owner will almost certainly not be liked. Fans should get over this, its a fact of life that the club will be traded to a person or persons who are almost certainly not Newcastle United fans.

  11. What was it Pardew said recently? .. this job should have ‘tough’ as a middle name. Im sure I read that somewhere.

  12. Munich Mag says:
    August 12, 2011 at 8:44 pm

    “the bloke is trying his best at the end of the day.”

    Unfortunately for us though Munich, his best isn’t very good at the highest level, it never has been and it almost certainly never will be. Everyone will see that eventually.

  13. DJG that’s certainly true, the job is seen as a poisoned chalice by some, and certainly i can’t think of anyone who’s managed us in my lifetime who’s gone on to bigger and better things After managing us (hoping dalglish won’t buck the trend at liverpool) Kamar i hate to flag you up on sports direct, but they aren’t a sponsor, we are just a free advertising vehicle for them. An interview with Sir John hall revealed that Ashleys main reason for buying the club was to expand sports direct into the far east and felt he could use us to do that. Only the accounts will show the details but given the lack of investment in the team i’m guessing we aren’t getting a penny despite the cathedral on the hill being cheapened with tacky SD signs.

  14. worky…I would prefer to let Pardew have his best shot this season. If he fails miserably then I will join you in condemnation. Until then I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

  15. Chris@13…the way Dogleish is throwing money around at Liverpool the bloke HAS to succeed…. He’s a bit like the equivalent of the KK messiah at the toon…he cannot seem to do any wrong at Liverpool. Maybe due to the situation at Arsenal they have a chance to dislodge Arsenal from a top 4 spot…?

  17. I don’t have any problem with Pardew in the same way that I don’t have a problem with the person who sells me my burger at half time. They both have about the same influence on the running of the club.

    What would be the point of trying to get a Mourinho if you know from the start that any manager isn’t going to be allowed to choose how much sugar he has in his tea.

  18. Munich Mag says:
    August 12, 2011 at 9:20 pm

    “worky…who would you really like to see managing the toon ?”

    Munich, in my dreams, Johan Cruyff has always been the manager of Newcastle United. :-)

  19. Eh?

    This is the Alan Pardew, “analysed by the fans who are coming to the conclusions that he ‘talks far to much’”.

    Every other post asserts that he gives “rare interviews”.

    Give the man some slack, it’s either one or the other.

  20. When Pardew took over I was pretty annoyed and didn’t think much of him, saw him as a weak manager with little track record. But over time I’ve not only grown to like him, and respect him, but now I think that he is honestly exactly the manager we need at this moment in time. More than that he wants to play creative quick passing football and has earmarked people like Cabaye and Ben Arfa to take us forward. I cannot fault him at all. The players that have left ultimately preferred to leave. No manager in the world could have kept them except maybe Mourinho :p. Hughton I admired for various reasons but he was effectively managing a premier league club in an inferior division, and then carried that forward into the next season. But Pardew is someone who can truly galvanise the club. He has the winning mentality. He can calm stormy waters. I’m really looking forward to the new season. He’s the best manager Newcastle have had since Sir Bobby in my opinion and we’re lucky to have him. In many ways he is in an impossible position. Do the fans trust him, many don’t. I’m not so pessimistic. I can genuinely think of most other premier league managers and I feel grateful we don’t have any of them. But like most things in football results are what count. I’m pretty confident we’ll do well though.

  21. As far as I can see, Alan Pardew has so far proved himself as a manager who can achieve a lower half PL finish at Newcastle and who wields little influence with the board when it comes to making sure the team is not left exposed following transfers.

    It’s from that base that he starts out this season and, come next May, we’ll find out where he goes from there.

  24. Ah!
    Doth one need to be logged in then, cos the page won’t stop ‘loading’ as it were.
    ;)

  25. Yes, you need to be logged in. I’ve added a note for now, but I’ll try and make it so that it doesn’t display the form unless a user is logged in.

  28. I’ve done it mate, thanx.
    I always do that, try & change me password for different stuff, then forget.
    DER!

    :)

  29. It’s still not ‘stopping loading’ or finishing loading the page, but it seems to saved the numbers.
    Ta mate.

  30. Well,
    considering this is the ‘anti-Pardew blog’, there ain’t much anti gannen on.

    Which was nice!

  31. How porciestreet,
    are the ‘lights’ back on in Cyprus mate?

    I’ve a Cypriot friend who lost a cousin in that explosion.

    Didn’t make much copy ower here like.

  32. been having a chat with thomas bentner tonight and he said his son..nicklas..would be happy signing a contract with newcastle if his salary was matched somewhere in the region of what he’s currently being paid with arsenal.

    that’s £65k/week.

  33. Good well balanced arcticle. But what I think people are missing is yes we know he likes to talk but its the stuff he is promising. Fair enough if as more than likely ashley and climbuphisarse told lies to him about transfer funds and contracts negotiations its not his fault that he repeated them but in todays ‘chronic’ he basically promised that no more players would be leaving – really? so if chelsea come in with a 15-20 million pound bid for tiote ashley isnt going to snap there hands off? If Joey has a big club offer a four year contract and newcastle can save 3 million in wages he isnt going to leave? By now if he is what you say in the arcticle must know he gets lied to, so shouldnt repeat stuff or he has just made that up from his own views…and i think you will find alan – Mike and Dell dont like that.

  34. This article is well argued and I’d have to say very balanced in it’s delivery. It’s also wrong.  Pardews profile with the fans has took a battering because he has made (and makes) false promises. The argument about him being fed lies from the board and innocently repeating those lies will not wash either. Firstly it’s speculative (no one knows what is said behind closed doors), and secondly- more importantly, because a false statement has been made on more than one occasion by Mr Pardew & if the grape vine to the board was responsible, then any self respecting man in Pardews position would confront the board and resign. It leaves fans with some troubling options to go on regarding our manager.  Could it be that Pardew agrees with Ashley in that if star players are sold for exceptional fees, then he should use the opportunity to find free or out of contract players to replace them?  If your answer is yes, then he is not a football manager he is a business man looking to protect his salary regardless of the negative impact on his own (and the fans) ambition & aspirations.  This view should rightly condemn the man in the eyes of fans who cannot hold respect for a mercenary. If your answer is no, then what other option can you think of as to mitigating reasons for making false promises?  Building up the hopes of fans is what Pardew is good at, his whole approach depends upon tomorrow or next month or end of season. His actions and statements are never judged today. The questioning he receives in press conferences is laughably tame, he gets a very easy ride. 

    You can spin as much positivity from the club as you want, but the facts are the facts regarding his tenure and Ashleys lack of ambition for success. 

    President Lincoln said that to be a successful liar a man must have a good memory.

    Pardew is a stupendous liar with a remarkable memory.

  35. @ 6 chris

    i dont believe pardew wanted to sell carroll and its only the fact that they came up with 35 mil in the 11th hour ashley decided to sell and gamble that we had enough to stay up. i dont think pardew had a say in it as from his point of view it was bad for the team to loose his main man without a replacement.

    @ 19 Kilgore_D_Sprout says
    Every other post asserts that he gives “rare interviews”.
    i assumed they were being sarcastic?

    @ 33 kevin
    your spot on! thats part of the deal that pardew has, is that he wont go metal when the board accepts bids for players above his head as they dont care hes trying to reassure fans the board will quite happily undermine him as they see fit and if it helps ashley get more fast cash!

    and @ worky im loving your positive out look mate haha!

  36. @ 34 john hoy

    pardew wasn’t brought in to argue with the board about transfer policys and club dealings thats why he got the job! that much is clear and like i said we would all have taken the offer if we had been in his shoes as its to good an opportunity to turn down for a manager of his standing. hes putting up with the regime and still trying to do a jod at nufc

    pardew is the manager and still has a responsibility to the fans and the players that still want to be here! he has to try and be positive? where would moaning and predicting doom and gloom get him in the media and with the fans?

    i dont agree with everything he says or does either and he will make mistakes along the way but i dont think he sets out to deliberately lie and make false promises to the fans! why would he? he has nothing to gain from it!

    my point was not to spin positivity from the club but to try and highlight that, hey does this guy not deserve to be given a little bit of slack for the greater good of nufc on the pitch?

  38. I personally think that, Mike Ashley through Pardew have established an enviable reputation with regard to NUFC becoming the best feeder clubs in English Football. We all know that we are never going to win anything; a flook cup win as only a remote possibility. So why don’t we by proxy help other clubs to greater success i.e, Liverpool, that way we can share in the success of other clubs, whilst we take up an eternal positive stance in safe (financially) land at the lower reaches of the Premier league or even another successful season in the Championship. Winning titles/cups, anyway is such a dated concept in this part of the world.

  39. Geoff…good comments,hey we could maybe have a party each time we sell a player or buy new dug out seats,we could all become accountants and really start to love our clubs balance sheets….forget football I want to read the accounts in minute detail,compare dug out seats and heating with our rivals efforts and get myself excited.