Newsletter

Get your daily update and weekly newsletter by signing up today!

News

Alan Pardew Excuse No.984 For Last Season ‘We Were Affected By The World Cup’

10 years ago
Share

Alan Pardew has identified ‘optimism’ as the key ingredient he intends to give back to Newcastle fans….we will see.

However, whilst the Newcastle manager insists his team will be stronger for the coming season, he has found yet another bizarre reason to blame for the shocking second half of last seaon.

Pardew has claimed that some of his players thinking forward to the World Cup, affected the team performances.

Speaking to the BBC he said;

“We were affected by the World Cup, there is no doubt about that in my mind.

“We were not as strong then (second half of season) as we were in the first half of the season when we lost Yohan Cabaye and did not replace him, but I am certainly expecting the team to be much stronger (next season).

“That will give our fans some encouragement and optimism, as it all got very negative towards the end.

“The key ingredient is optimism and that is something that we need to give back to our fans.”

Newcastle have only got five players at the World Cup; Debuchy, Sissoko, Krul, Tiote and Shola, while Remy is also in Brazil after spending last season at Newcastle.

While there were claims by Remy that Alan Pardew had agreed he could miss the Liverpool match despite being fit, I don’t see how the World Cup could be used by Pardew as any kind of an excuse for his and the team’s failings after December.

Selling the team’s best player and not buying anybody will surely have knocked the squad but why the World Cup?

I would argue that the World Cup was actually a help to Newcastle.

Cheick Tiote is the only Newcastle player who could have been sure of his place regardless of that second half of last season.

Players such as Debuchy, Remy, Krul, Sissoko and Shola were surely having to prove why they should be in the squad and/or team.

There was every incentive to those players to perform in the league, with for example Debcuhy’s form undoubtedly helping him to win his battle with Sagna for the right-back slot, while even Shola was energised enough to score a couple of goals in successive home matches – thus ensuring he got on the plane for Brazil.

Surely it is more the fact that most of our players aren’t good enough to be considered for the World Cup that is the biggest problem, not the ones who are!

If you follow Pardew’s logic then how on earth did clubs like Manchester City and Real Madrid cope when nearly every one of their players was assured of playing in Brazil?

All that is of course is history now and I can’t wait for Pardew to give me back my optimism and seeing our all new extra strong squad…

SPECIAL OFFER

If a penalty is scored at any time during the England v Uruguay match, BetVictor will refund all losing Correct Score, First/Last/Anytime Goalscorer, Half-Time/Full-Time, Scorecast and Spincast bets as a FREE BET up to £25.

For full terms & conditions click HERE

Share

If you would like to feature on The Mag, submit your article to contribute@themag.co.uk

Have your say

© 2024 The Mag. All Rights Reserved. Design & Build by Mediaworks