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Let’s Get Behind Alan Pardew

11 years ago
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The news came out a few days ago that Alan Pardew’s job is safe at Newcastle United Football Club.

Now some fans have completely turned against Pardew and want him out, I keep reading the same old comments “Pardew will take us down next season” etc. and I’m fed up with it! We now all know that he’s been given one more chance to get us back into at least the top 10, so let’s get behind Alan and the team!

Being manager of Newcastle United, one of the greatest and most famous football clubs in the world, is a heavy burden. So much is expected from the fans, and rightly so.

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A lot of us get called “deluded”. Well maybe I agree with those people, if a fan says we should challenge the top 4 next season, simply because that expectation is just too high at the moment.

However, I disagree with them when a fan says we should be challenging top 10 or top 7. Alan Pardew, the players and the fans have simply been put through hell this past season and have massively under-performed. Bad managerial decisions, Europa league, a long list of injuries, no luck, the loss of Demba Ba, have all been key factors as to why we’ve had a bad season.

I recently read a stat saying that we’re top of the long ball league, fans saying that’s another reason why they think we should sack Pardew. Now I’m simply going to explain with my experience of tactical analysis and it’s not Pardew’s fault.

The players may have daily training sessions with the coaches etc. but it’s what the players choose to do on the field. With a list of injuries, youth players with no experience have come into a team with huge weights on their young shoulders to achieve last season’s expectations. With a lack of confidence, youth team/fringe players panic and hoof it. We don’t swarm the ball, we haven’t had the fitness to have massive workrate to attack and defend and make space for a pass. Why would Pardew say that we have a small team (as in height) and then play long ball if we work on possession in training mostly?

The fact that Pardew was not backed by Ashley last summer, was another weight put on his shoulders and Pardew came out and said that Mike didn’t realize that the squad needed strengthening from day 1. Our squad was too small before January, it couldn’t cope. Now that Swansea and Everton have got Europa league, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them struggle, especially Everton.

Now back to my main point, David Moyes and Sir Alex Ferguson both struggled at the start of their Everton and Manchester United careers. Fergie was one loss away from being sacked, while David finished 17th in his second season after a great first season, but both the club’s owners decided they needed stability, and you know what? It paid off.

Alan Pardew, Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias have all held their hands up and have learnt their lessons. Maybe now that we survived the relegation battle this season, we may come out a lot stronger next season. Alan Pardew has already proved that he is a good manager, can get us playing good football and can get us into the top 6, as he has also proved he can make some poor decisions, BUT he will learn from that and will be backed by the board and hopefully we can challenge the top 10, top 7.

You know what they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. You never know, maybe at the end of that 8 year contract, Pardew might have us in the Champions League.

So let’s get behind Pardew and the team and start planning for next season!

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