Pardew plans to “educate” unrealistic Toon fans and eventually replace Hodgson

Posted on May 23rd, 2012 | 64 Comments |

Alan Pardew clapping.
Pardew: Will "educate" fans in realism.
In yesterday’s London Evening Standard, Newcastle United’s Silver Supremo gave a fairly lengthy and candid interview to the Standard’s Mihir Bose.

In it, he spoke of his ambition to replace Roy Hodgson as the next England manager, and also how he intends to “educate” Newcastle United fans that we cannot expect to compete in Europe AND finish fifth again next season with our current finances. He also commented on several other things, both Newcastle and non Newcastle related, including raking over the circumstances leading to the departure of Joey Barton once again, and how he convinced Mike Ashley that Papiss Cisse would be good value for the club.

Firstly though, he gave his thoughts on recently winning the League Manager’s Association “Manager of the Year” award, saying:

“To be recognised by people who do the job and understand football is fantastic”

Then, revealing his England ambitions, he felt that his CV was not quite complete enough yet, remarking:

“I will not have proven myself good enough until I’ve been in the Premier League for four or five years, won a trophy and competed in Europe,”

Despite Newcastle United recording a whopping Andy Carroll sized pre tax profit of £32.8 million in their last set of accounts, and the club currently having the eighth most valuable squad in the Premiership according to football site, Transfermarkt; our Silver Supremo then sounded a warning note about our ability to be as competitive now that a new European front has been opened in the war for trophies. After Bose wrote that we Geordies were in need of “a dose of realism” after the season just passed, Pardew continued on his mission to educate unrealistic Geordies:

“I’m hoping that I will educate our fans for next season. If they think we can finish fifth with a European campaign and the finances we’ve got, it’s impossible. I honestly believe that you need to be a bit more open with the fans. The problem some managers have is they’re not open enough.”

He then told us what we could expect, adding:

“This year, I’m sure we’ll say something like, ‘We’re looking for a top-eight finish, hopefully attack one of the cups and have a great run in Europe. I wouldn’t say we couldn’t challenge for the top six if we got knocked out of Europe. Then we wouldn’t have those extra 13 games.”

Pardew then moved on to how he used his “aggression” to win over the dressing room at SJP, and ultimately, the fans, contrasting himself to his more restrained and thoughtful predecessor, Chris Hughton. After Bose referred to an alleged poll which supposedly stated that only 5.5% of fans wanted Pardew at the club when he arrived, the Silver Supremo gave his stock humorous response to a question he has been asked several times before, quipping:

“Probably less than that!” continuing:

“I knew that the first few months were going to be difficult but, if you’re going to walk into a manager’s job, you’ve got to take away the fan element of it. You have to say, ‘Are you going to be able to win the dressing room?’ Chris is a great guy, he had coached me [Pardew spent a brief spell as a fringe player at Tottenham] but is different to me. I’m probably more aggressive than Chris and I had the confidence that I could get the dressing room. And if you get the players on side, then you’ve got a chance of getting the fans because ultimately one leads to the other.”

Continuing on how he started by winning the trust of then captain, Kevin Nolan, and ultimately, we fans, he then added:

“Kevin was a powerful captain and I made sure of his loyalty. Before I even met him at training, I went to his house and said, ‘Look, I know there’s probably a lot of disappointment that I’m the manager but I am. I want to work with you and I need your help.’ Being the great guy that he is, he offered me that.”

Pardew then went on to wax lyrical about Nolan’s successor as captain at St James’ Park, Fabricio Coloccini, saying of the permed one who is currently leading our latest “Player of the Season” poll:

“He is our most influential player. A classy footballer, he brings calmness, a winning mentality and a sense of order to all proceedings. He reads the game well.

“You can’t coach it. He might see that my left-back is in big trouble with a wide player and he’ll move closer to that area. He’ll look to read situations before they evolve. Bobby Moore was probably the greatest at it but Coloccini does that for us brilliantly. Before it happens he’s extinguished it.”

Quite.

He then moved on to another player who has become a huge hit with fans in a very short space of time, Papiss Cisse. He began by revealing that Ashley had some doubts about signing the player from Freiburg worrying that he would not be getting “value,” for the player whose fee could rise as high as £9 million:

“Mike had some initial worries: were we getting value?” Pardew told Bose, adding:

“He’d had two years in a poor Freiburg team, scoring loads of goals.”

He then looked back to Cisse’s memorable second goal against Chelsea at the beginning of this month, recalling:

“It came out to him and he hit it on the side of his foot, For him to even attempt it was just audacious. We were winning 1-0. As the ball came out to him, I thought, ‘Take it to the corner.’ But, because of the way he did it, I turned to Didier Drogba on the pitch and said, ‘You’ve got to take your hat off to that!’ and he just laughed.”

He then contrasted the signing of Cisse with his signing of Dean Ashton when he was manager at West Ham. Pardew blamed Ashton’s serious injury before he started his second season at the club for his own eventual sacking as the club teetered on the brink of relegation. Despite being able to bring in Carlos Tevez as a replacement, it was not enough and the club eventually had to turn to Alan Curbishley to save them from the drop at the eleventh hour.

“If Cisse had played one game and got injured like Dean Ashton, I could have been out of a job. He came back injured after he went off to play for England at the start of the 2006 season. It absolutely killed us. He was flying. He was going to be England centre-forward for the next 10 years. I’ve not seen a player as good as him. He was better than Andy Carroll.”

Ashton went on to score 19 goals in 56 games for the Hammers before another serious injury ended his career for good at 26.

But anyway, getting back to Newcastle United, Pardew then outlined how we fans have now “warmed” to Mike Ashley, and now understand that all of Mike’s actions are for the benefit of the club and not Sports Direct:

“The fans have understood that Mike’s actions are for the club’s benefit. He’s put in the best part of £200m and there’s no return on that as yet. The berating of him in the stands has stopped. That’s been a massive battle in itself.”

Of course, the club even had to go as far as breaking up the popular “singing section” of St James’ Park to crush this vocal dissent against the owner.

This was a rather long interview and the Grey Gaffer also shared his thoughts on matters ranging from whether Roy Hodgson or Harry Redknapp would have been the best candidate to keep his England spot warm for him, whether Roberto di Matteo will get the job at Chelsea, whether Hodgson was right in selecting John Terry over Rio Ferdinand for the forthcoming European Championships and also his latest thoughts on the Joey Barton show as mentioned above.

You can read the full interview here.

NUFCBlog Author: workyticket workyticket has written 1091 articles on this blog.

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64 Responses

  1. See, then he inevitably goes and opens his mouth and proves how arrogant he is.

    AP: you’ve been interested in this club for precisely as long as you’ve drawn a check from it. You probably have a lot more to learn from us than we do from you.

    If we can’t compete in Europe and finish high, I’m going to ask: what was the point? Great ambition there, let me tell you. Oh wait, he’s reserved all his expressions of ambition for himself. Got it.

    Was the swipe at AC-who, you might note, Alan, will always be a geordie-really necessary?

    Finally, I have to wonder about a guy whose analysis is that losing Dean Ashton got him sacked but couldn’t figure out that Tevez was a more-than-adequate replacement.

  2. Oh, and I’m not sure exactly how he meant that “Newcastle supporters need a dose of realism” but Mihir Bose is officially, in my book, an asshat. I love this-we’re constantly branded as delusional but Liverpool and Chelsea are apparently so obviously entitled to finish above us that we need to get our minds around reality after finishing FIFTH! Asshat!

  3. Ah!
    Summer sun, cricket, left-arm off-spin, round the wicket, milk bottles for stumps!

    :lol:

  4. Says we are aiming for top ten at best last season, we finish 5th. I reckon this is a ploy to drive the players to proving they can do it to be fair. Few new signings, nurture existing players and we’ll do just as good if not better this season.

  5. I think he’s just covering his butt by saying 5th is unrealistic. Mind you, he does say he needs to win a cup if he is to become England manager. Let’s hope he means it. We should definitely aim for top six and have a good European run. If we don’t, it will be even harder to keep out top players. They will want out if they find themselves slipping down the league without any European success. Rubbed in all the harder for them by seeing Chelsea’s recent triumph.
    BTW Clint, I was left-arm off-spin over the wicket. Never used the milk bottles though.

  6. Guy’s such a shmuck, gonna be unbearable from now on, being he won those f>>>ing awards.
    And of course assumes the Engerland job is his any time he wants it.
    We should be so lucky.
    Covering his his ass of course, following a season he obviously is’nt confident of repeating, even with a new defensive unit, a possible striker and perhaps more, as i see it as the last chance of strengthening the side (quality in depth) before the Fair Play rules are enforced.
    And yes we do need to be able to put out two different squads, that much depth, if we are to compete for both cups and play in europe.
    Only time will tell !

  7. Where does he state that he wants the ingerland job?
    He actually says he hasn’t got a good enough record & was straight in there when asked about it when it came up saying ‘count me out’.

    Very selective reading of the pressmongers, me thinks.

    Who wouldn’t cover their ass/take pressure off his team for next season?

    It’s like shooting fish in a coffee cup!

    :)

  8. cyprus says:
    May 23, 2012 at 4:12 pm

    “AP needs to read up on something called “Fear of Success””

    If there’s a self help book about it, Pardew will have probably read it, done the exercises, pinned bits of it up on the dressing room wall for the players etc…

  9. irish,

    aye there’ll be a new top by the end of summer, after they’ve selt off most of the old ones mate.

    ;)

  10. irishtoon says:
    May 23, 2012 at 4:49 pm

    “Does anyone know if nufc are bringing out a new home jersey?”

    I think it’s August 1st for the home one, Irish.

  11. Do all clubs still get their ‘cut’ when a top is sold in a licensed store & the store loses profit?

  12. I read a lot into the fact the NEWCASTLE United manager was pouring his heart out to a London Evening rag.

    WTF??

    Some West Spam fans reckoned his undoing was his arrogance.

    Is it coming to the fore again???

    Mr Angry
    Northumberland

  13. UTD111 says:
    May 23, 2012 at 7:22 pm

    “I read a lot into the fact the NEWCASTLE United manager was pouring his heart out to a London Evening rag.

    WTF??”

    :lol: I knew you’d have something to say about him doing a piece for the “London media”.

    Aren’t you more “angry” about him seeming to feel the need to “educate” we deluded Geordies?

  14. Worky @ 25

    Hell aye!

    United fans do not need educating in failure.

    I’ve been a United fan for so many years I don’t like to even think about it. I’m used to us not winning anything. I’m also used to us getting bigger crowds that Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and little Tottingham and not winning anything.

    What I can’t get away with at this very point in time is the manager of this amazing club banging his gums at a London rag of no significance about OUR CLUB and OUR FANS.

    “Boils my piss”? At the moment that phrase doesn’t come close to what I think.

    Arrogant Tw*t.

  15. Gotta give the guy Pardew some credit!
    He soon sussed out where his problems would come from, the influential two scousers.
    And lost no time in getting rid of both, having initially used Nolan, but could’nt con Joey.
    He as usual is quick to blame anyone but himself, Dean Ashton, for instance, when at the same time he had both Tevez and Marischano sitting watching from the bench.
    Would anyone on this blog buy a used car from this guy ?

  16. Dean Ashton was a very good player, but what has that got to to with him getting the sack at West Ham?

    He got the sack for being a big head. He got the sack from Southampton for destroying team morale, but I’m sure that wasn’t his fault either…

    Oh no we have to play extra games next season… Yeah we do, that’s what we should be doing. Hopefully the owner will invest more and not have a one in, one out scenario, because we need numbers.

    I hope we “attack” cups next season but doubt we will.

    The “educate” part of his interview is embarrassing.

  17. “Mike had initial worries… Were we getting value?”

    Er… £8-9million for a player who had a record like Cisse’s in a very good German league…

    Does Mike think because we got ba for free that every ’20 goal a season’ striker should also be free, or does Mike still not know anything about football.

    I am relieved we have Graham Carr, otherwise I’d fear what we would do (Dennis Wise)…

  18. Jimbob says:
    May 23, 2012 at 8:58 pm

    “He got the sack for being a big head.”

    Jimbob, big heed or not, he got the sack for a massive losing run and nearly getting ’em relegated, surely? Even if he did lose Ashton, he had Tevez but as with Ben Arfa, he faffed around and played him in the wrong way so he could have big lads like Marlon Harewood up front. Curbishley put things right after Pardew left.

  19. That was kind of my point Worky… His big head led to his overall downfall. His arrogance spread, and he lost the players.

  20. Jimbob says:
    May 23, 2012 at 9:09 pm

    “Er… £8-9million for a player who had a record like Cisse’s in a very good German league…”

    Jimbob, I watched him in several games for Freiburg, and I came to the conclusion that he still would have been “value” at £14 million!

    On the subject of Carr, Fat Freddy has said what I’ve been thinking for a while:

    “If I was another manager I wouldn’t be looking to pinch the manager, I’d be looking at the scout, Graham Carr.”

    I’ve said this several times before, but it was Hughton who brought Carr into the club, but if he was poached, swooped for or whatever, who would Ashley, Llambias or Pardew bring in to take his place?

  21. Problem he faces next season is what happens if we don’t mix around in the top eight. What if we drop off like Stoke City did due to playing in the Europa League.

    Will the fans settle for 14th (like Stoke) with the players we have, or will they get pissed off?

    Stoke City are Stoke City. We’re Newcastle United. We should be in the top half of the league. Nobody deserves anything in the Premier League but there are standards.

    I bet from now, until next season, he will draw comparisons with Stoke.

    He will also mention budgets and finances a lot. More than needed. Again and again.

  22. workyticket says:
    May 23, 2012 at 9:21 pm

    “I’ve said this several times before, but it was Hughton who brought Carr into the club, but if he was poached, swooped for or whatever, who would Ashley, Llambias or Pardew bring in to take his place?”

    I suppose Ashley will decide…

    Well, they tried Dennis Wise who knew nothing.

    Chris Mort got a job as chairman though he knew nothing and he was a lawyer.

    Llambias knows nothing, and he’s a Casino manager.

    So Probably a mortgage advisor, or somebody who knows nothing.

    Maybe a bakery assistant.

  23. I still get annoyed when we are told by the London Media that clubs with 36,000, 40,000, 46000 crowds are “bigger” than United.

    Total Bollox

  24. Sack him for the crime of talking to the Cockney media and saying nice things about the man who rescued him from the managerial scrap heap and pays his wages. Bring back Roy Kinnear.

    Sack him for the crime of faffing about at West Ham and not playing Tevez. Tevez has proved easy to manage since then, hasn’t he?

    Sack him for having a chip on his shoulder. Perhaps he needs it to deal with Mad Ashley.

    Sack him for not hiring Graham Carr. Kept him on though, didn’t he.

    What the hell did he say that was soooo bad in that article to get everybody up in arms. Maybe he used Ashton as an crutch, but they all do that sort of thing.

  25. Woah GS! Has anyone said “sack him”?

    I think he’s just communicated poorly in this interview.

    It doesn’t take away the great job he did last season.

  26. Clint @ 8: I was unplayable mate! (I’d put a smiley face here if I knew how to do that stuff…)

    Jimbob says:
    Stoke City are Stoke City. We’re Newcastle United. We should be in the top half of the league. Nobody deserves anything in the Premier League but there are standards.

    The great game changer was billionaires coming into the mix, starting with the tycoon Roman at Chelski and more recently Man City. We have heard over and over again, mainly from Pardew, that we don’t have the money to attract the top players. As such, no matter how big our attendance, no matter how loyal our fans, we are always going to struggle at the top end of the league, and almost certainly fail to get into the top four. The only way this can change is for a mega-billionaire to relieve Mike Ashley of the job.

  27. Pardew might have a dodgy past but what do we care, he’s doing OK for us. And anybody on here who can predict the future, e-mail me the lottery numbers please.

  28. Paul, it may have escaped your attention but Mike Ashley IS a mega billionaire who’s shareholding in Sports Direct has increased hugely in value since he started using Newcastle United as a free publicity vehicle. Despite this, the club’s commercial revenue is still very poor, and the club will still have to rely on being a selling club to keep up the kind of figures seen in the clubs last set of accounts.

  29. Jury’s out on Pardew after the “educating geordies” rant….

    Personally, I’m a proud educated Geordie who’s now got reservations about the cockney tw*t

  30. Worky, I had once thought that with billionaire Mike at the helm, our finances were taken care of. But evidently, this is not the case. It does beg the question “how much is enough?”. I guess what I meant is that you need to have a billion spare, or to blow, to finance a football club at the top end, such as Roman and the Man City bunch. Mike is a poor man by that standard. (Don’t get me started though Worky, but I see it as all part of a civilization in decline. Our priorities have become totally out of whack…)

  31. GS,

    if he says anything useful, he’s smug/arrogant.
    if he says the usual cliche manager stuff, he’s a tw@.

    Damned if ya’ do, damned if ya’ don’t, springs to mind.

    He’s gonna have to win something to get any slack by the looks of it.
    I’m sure there’ll be a reason why it ain’t good enough even then like.
    Oh well!

  32. GS says:
    May 23, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    “What the hell did he say that was soooo bad in that article to get everybody up in arms.”

    Er, the insufferably patronising stuff about having to “educate” we stereotypical, deluded Geordies for a start, though at least he didn’t mention whippets this time.

    He also tried to lie about Barton again and peddle the usual crap which generally insults our intelligence.

    Paul, you ain’t getting it yet.

  33. Worky: Ashley owns NUFC, he can do what he likes with it. If he wants to beef up the earnings of Sports Direct by not paying the going rate for advertising at NUFC, he can do that. His other business becomes more valuable bacause of it, and the share price goes up.

    And Worky @33, I am not trying to be antagonistic, but when did you ever use quotes from Fat Freddy as justification for anything?

  34. workyticket says:
    May 23, 2012 at 10:19 pm
    GS says:
    May 23, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    “What the hell did he say that was soooo bad in that article to get everybody up in arms.”

    Er, the insufferably patronising stuff about having to “educate” we stereotypical, deluded Geordies for a start, though at least he didn’t mention whippets this time.

    He also tried to lie about Barton again and peddle the usual crap which generally insults our intelligence.

    ______________________________________________

    But especially the arrogant Twat thinking he can “educate” the thick geordies (remember talking to his cockney chums through a London Rag) – Personally, if he was here I’d thump the Twat

  35. UTD111: I’ve been away too long. It takes a lot more than that to insult me. I still don’t think what he said is that bad – he should hear some of the things Chuck and AndyMac say about him :)

  36. Sorry GS

    Didn’t mean to upset anyone

    I just take the arrogant bloke’s comments personally having been a United supporter for 49 years – and then this cockney – whose been here for 5 fookin minutes – reckons he will educate me about my fookin club??? Why of foook why would I be upset???? Moi??

    Never

  37. GS says:
    May 23, 2012 at 10:23 pm

    “And Worky @33, I am not trying to be antagonistic, but when did you ever use quotes from Fat Freddy as justification for anything?”

    Er, when they’re true, GS. I’m not fussy.

    Who once said of Kurds in Mesopatamia:

    “I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes.”

    was it

    a) Sadaam Hussein?
    b) Winston Churchill?

  38. Hang on a minute, I’ll just go and get my Joey Barton book of quotes so I can carry on with this conversation :)

  39. GS says:
    May 23, 2012 at 11:20 pm

    “Worky: I’ve actually got a book of Churchill quotes.”

    And I have a long playing gramophone record of Churchill’s most notable speeches, GS.

    On the subject of Barton, how come those two freak show grotesques, Tevez and Lescott, are getting away with it scot free? One of them punched Barton before he did anything, and the other obviously forced Barton’s head into Vincent Kompany, and yet they’re still saying that Barton headbutted him. It’s a joke.

  40. You know i kindda miss Joey !
    Not to say i did’nt think of him as something of a sociopath.
    What you can’t say about Joey is, he did’nt have a certain charisma, that appealed to fans for disparate reasons.
    We liked him when he played, tough, skillfully, scored the occasional goal, yeah! think most fans liked Joey.
    All that tweeting, or wasit twittering was kindda entertaining, with references to philosophers,musicians and quotes from both.
    Ah well, it’s not often we are so entertained both on and off the field, than when we had Joey.
    You see a lotta people dont get it, football is like the circus, of (bread and circuses) that takes peoples mind off their daily grind.
    But it’s not that often that we are lucky enough to have
    a sociopath to entertain us.
    Appears Joey just coul’nt control himself and it was just a matter of time before he exploded, which he did, more than once.
    But we liked that, a kinda, “dont mess with the Geordies” tude.
    We are a different team now, play a different game, but who among the present bunch, has Joeys Charisma ?

  41. “obviously forced Barton’s head into Vincent Kompany”

    I know!! And I can’t believe poor Joey got sent to jail after that stupid teenager kept ramming his face into Joeys poor fist :(

    Get real.

  42. Nah ! HBA is an entertainer ok and probably a bit off the wall, but he’s no psychopath.
    And he’s been both docile and remote, Joey jumped in with two feet.

  43. Derek L
    Whats up Derek, sure your not Joey, angry enough.
    I think you missed the point Derek.

  44. workyticket @46 says:

    “Paul, you ain’t getting it yet.”

    Evidently not, Worky. But the last I saw, Roman was good for about 12 billion, and I have no idea what the Man City bunch have in their back-pockets, but it has to be a lot more than Mike’s 1.3 billion, or whatever he has. When he’s already in the hole for, allegedly, 200,000,000 and looking around the table to see folk with way more chips than he has, it’s not surprising that he is sticking. Please elaborate if you care to.

  45. Here is a Churchill quote from my book on de Gaulle:

    “He looks like a female llama who has just been surprised in her bath”.

    I think I better get a better book of Churchill quotes.