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Alan Pardew - Poltroon sacked by a forrin team


Kid Dynamite
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What does Pardew Deserve?  

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It came across to me that he's just totally not bothered about being dropped to reserves and being replaced by a rookie keeper there's just no indication that that he's bothered about being out of the first team picture and seems happy to be third fiddle

 

lot of people call Given worse than muck for complaining and manufacturing a move. Maybe Haper is being professional.

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It came across to me that he's just totally not bothered about being dropped to reserves and being replaced by a rookie keeper there's just no indication that that he's bothered about being out of the first team picture and seems happy to be third fiddle

 

lot of people call Given worse than muck for complaining and manufacturing a move. Maybe Haper is being professional.

 

He refused to travel to Wolves

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Ten months down the line, it is time to meet the manager of Newcastle United. If that appears a contrary statement, then much of Alan Pardew’s tenure at St James’ Park has been spent in a maelstrom, being buffeted by turbulence. Finally, the wind has dropped, breath has been taken and a reappraisal is due. Pardew knows his stuff.

When Tottenham Hotspur come to Tyneside tomorrow, they will encounter a team fourth in the Barclays Premier League and still unbeaten. It is only 71 days since Pardew was being asked whether Newcastle had again been swamped by crisis (Joey Barton, legal letters to players about Twitter), but the football has been bright, the tactics inventive, the defence solid and a new spirit has crystallised. It carries Pardew’s imprint.

This week, in an Italian restaurant above a Sainsbury’s in Ponteland, a couple of miles west of Newcastle airport, it felt heartening to chat outside that weary prism of controversy. Interview over and photographs taken, Pardew strolled downstairs to do his shopping, a man content in his surroundings, emerging from the suspicion and stereotype that accompanied his arrival.

“All fans say they live and breathe their club, but here they mean it,” he said. “The way the stadium is mounted on a hill in the middle of the city, it’s almost like a cathedral perched there. And they come to worship. Because of that, it’s very important that we carry ourselves correctly, set the right example, on and off the pitch.” Close your eyes and it could be Sir Bobby Robson.

It has not been easy for Pardew. When he replaced Chris Hughton last December he stepped into a dressing room crammed with spiky characters, some pushing for new contracts, others agitating to leave and all engaged in a bonus dispute with directors. “Chaos,” he said.

Shaping the agenda was impossible; to some supporters, he was Mike Ashley’s man, another Londoner, fronting a discredited regime. Except that Ashley’s blueprint for financial selfsufficiency — formulated in the aftermath of relegation and a second failure to sell the club — does not look so daft in the context of the economic downturn and the panache shown by the youthful players (mainly French) identified by Graham Carr, Newcastle’s influential chief scout. For his part, Pardew has shown a deft touch with the likes of Barton and impressed on the training ground.

Unpredictability will always feature at a club run by Ashley, the billionaire founder of Sports Direct, and Derek Llambias, his managing director. The inability to sign a marquee striker before the transfer deadline prompted anguish, but Pardew’s openness has been appreciated as much as his ability to set up a team. And nobody can argue that he has not been obliged to break sweat for his role.

He had heard all the outlandish rumours, implying cronyism or worse. “Yeah, that I’m only here because of casino debts and stuff like that . . . That still hurts me, the casino tag,” he said. “I’ve never bet in a casino — it’s just something I don’t do.

“But my directors are from that world, they want to socialise in that world and there have been occasions — and will be in the future — when I go in there with them.

“The most important relationship at any football club is between the manager and the owner or chairman and that’s where Mike feels comfortable. But I don’t gamble for money and I don’t gamble with players’ careers. The only gambling I do is on a Saturday afternoon, making changes on the pitch.

“But that relationship is important, because my history with boards isn’t great. It’s not like I’m an easy person who just comes in and becomes a lap-dog. Anyone who knows my personality knows that’s 100 per cent not me. I think the reason Mike wanted me was when he interviewed me I gave him a strong vision of how I wanted the team to play and that I would do it within their financial structure. And that we could be successful.”

In retrospect, Pardew’s managerial career has the tone of a musicaloeuvre before this crescendo. He secured promotion for Reading but had “fights” with his employers and was embroiled in a court case when he left. He took West Ham United to ninth in the table and an FA Cup Final, but had Carlos Tévez and Javier Mascherano imposed upon him and found himself locked between two takeovers. He inherited a forlorn position with a Charlton Athletic side flailing against relegation. He rebuilt a team and won a trophy at Southampton, but was sacked after a 4-0 win.

At the age of 50, all of those episodes have hardened him, preparing him for a club that flirts with mayhem routinely. “I couldn’t do this job if I hadn’t had those experiences,” he said.

And there is more. His entry into the professional game came late, having combined non-League football with life as a glazier. It has grounded him, pushed him and given him empathy for a region with a tradition of heavy industry, where the rhythm of the week still revolves around the match.

“I have good memories,” he said. “I’d be up at 6.30am, doing a day’s work, and then training with Yeovil. I was doing curtain-walling on the exterior of big office blocks. The Sea Containers building in London Bridge is one of mine. I drive past it sometimes and remember putting the windows in.

“I never lose sight of that, partly because my brother is still in the business and none of my friends are involved in football. In the past I might have shied away from this conversation, because I wanted to be seen purely as this professional football man. But what I realise now is that it’s part of who I am. And I think it gives me an advantage, in understanding players, understanding the people who pay to come and watch us.”

Engaging, articulate and forthright, he heaps credit on a staff who, before the Spurs game, will participate in a charity run around Newcastle racecourse. He is back in construction, building bridges; he intervened to solve the skirmish over bonuses, there have been paintballing sessions, a search for “calm and competitiveness”. The evening before, he and Llambias hosted a question-and-answer session with corporate supporters.

Newcastle are a long-term project — he joined on a 5½-year contract — and there is a fixed structure to Ashley’s model, buying young and selling high, maintaining reasonable costs. This season has been a “fast path”, propelled by victory over Sunderland, but Pardew is not here to mark time.

“If I got sacked tomorrow, I wouldn’t let it hurt me,” he said. “I’d take the experience and move on. I’m always thinking, ‘How can I do it better?’

“I remember Simon Barnes did a piece in The Times — I’ve still got it — about county cricket and how it was a recipe for mediocrity. And you can exist very nicely in the middle of the Premier League. I’m not prepared to settle for that. I want more. The challenge is coming up with a way of achieving it.”

Newcastle have chewed up managers: Kevin Keegan (part two), Kenny Dalglish, Ruud Gullit and Sam Allardyce among them. “When the job was suggested to me by my agent, I thought, ‘Wow,’ ” he said. “Some places have an aura about them and this club has that. Even if they haven’t won a trophy for ages, those Newcastle stripes are vivid in my memory. They’re just one of those clubs. If you can actually create something special here . . . if you don’t think you can win something, then you shouldn’t do the job.”

Plenty of his predecessors have talked a good game. Pardew plays one, too.

From Palace to cathedral

• After a non-League career, Pardew joined Crystal Palace in 1987. Went on to play for Charlton Athletic, Tottenham Hotspur, Barnet and Reading.

• Pardew became permanent manager of Reading in 1999.

• He moved to West Ham United in 2003, lifting them into the Premier League and ninth in the table, and taking them to an FA Cup Final.

• Pardew was dismissed by West Ham in December 2006. He was quickly appointed by Charlton, but was unable to preserve their Premier League status.

• In July 2009, he became manager of Southampton. In spite of a ten-point deduction, he kept the club’s play-off ambitions alive until the end of the season and led them to the Football League Trophy.

Tyne-line of Pardew reign

December 9, 2010 Amid public scepticism, Pardew signs a 5½-year contract at Newcastle, replacing Chris Hughton.

December 11 Newcastle beat Liverpool 3-1 in his first game in charge. “That was my biggest victory,” he said.

January 31, 2011 After repeated denials from Pardew, Andy Carroll, the striker, joins Liverpool for £35 million, throwing Newcastle back under pressure.

February 5 Newcastle recover from 4-0 down to draw 4-4 with Arsenal at St James’ Park.

May 22 Newcastle finish twelfth in their first season after promotion, but Mike Ashley is unhappy that they let a three-goal lead slip against West Bromwich Albion.

August 26 With Kevin Nolan, right, and José Enrique already gone, Joey Barton leaves.

August 31 Pardew downcast as transfer window closes without a Carroll replacement.

October 1 Newcastle reach the international break having conceded four league goals, being unbeaten in all competitions and playing fluent football.

Words by George Caulkin

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"But my directors are from that world, they want to socialise in that world and there have been occasions — and will be in the future — when I go in there with them."

 

The photo is just of him in the casino at the table. The chips were meant to be 5k chips, Ashley had them but you couldnt make any of that out from the actual photo.

 

Its a shame you and many others think that way about him but thats life and thats the game he is in. I expect he is under no doubts about his popularity. Done a good job, no matter anyone's personal opinions about him.

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Can you provide sources next time please Chez?

 

Not trying to be pedantic or anything, just I've got a strong interest in the media/journalism so I like to know who is saying what.

Words by George Caulkin

 

A good skill to have is to carefully read whats in front of you then ;)

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"But my directors are from that world, they want to socialise in that world and there have been occasions — and will be in the future — when I go in there with them."

The photo is just of him in the casino at the table. The chips were meant to be 5k chips, Ashley had them but you couldnt make any of that out from the actual photo.

Its a shame you and many others think that way about him but thats life and thats the game he is in. I expect he is under no doubts about his popularity. Done a good job, no matter anyone's personal opinions about him.

 

I thought it was someone who was there who said what chips he had(as well as one of the coaches) rather than what we gathered from the photo? either way not really my point we can pretend that never happened if you like.

 

With that aside, are you saying he wasn't lined up for the job long before he houghton was sacked?

Was his past indiscretions along with the "cloud" of rumour he arrived under not a pretty decent summary of the mans integrity, never mind his professional history for the calibre of manager he is (a poor one).

 

As for his "Job" and how he's done here, let's not jump on the "WERE DOING BRILL!" bandwagan yet eh, let's wait till christmas (jan 1st anyway) and we'll see where we are, like it's been pointed out before we've had the run of the green with the fixtures so far, catching Arsenal and probably Fulham on two of their off days.

 

People cooing over us being 4th 7 games in while the likes of arsenal are 15th is just silly, we all know there are plenty of teams below us that will no doubt watch us go past them on the way down the table.

 

What Pardew does is come across well in interviews it's brilliant for him and the people (not aimed at you) who lap up things like that, and many many people are great at that even though they're scumbags (otherwise politics wouldn't be quite so successful for some people),the man is a noted underhand liar and a cheater, why on earth should I ever change my opinion on him? because he's got us to 4th in 7games, not a chance in hell.

 

Can't buy me with a league position :D

I accept and respect your opinion on this but me saying he, in his role as manager has done a good job, does not translate into 'we're doing brill' or a view on the table being reflective of anything other than a good start.

 

I dont have a problem with him being lined up for the job, its better than sacking a manager then looking for one.

 

Whats the evidence that he is a liar? Carroll?

Edited by ChezGiven
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Got fuck all to do with us if he was betting with £20k chips tbf.

 

it is if he says he wasn't and never has bet in a casino considering the amount of reports to the contrary, that makes it yet another lie rather than saying "fuck all to do with you" or nothing.

 

He doesnt say that though.

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*Hughton.

 

I'm lucky I guess because for 90 minutes I can seperate negative off the field matters from whatever is going on on the field. Nothing else really matters during the match, unless we're getting battered or we're in a really, really bad place (I felt awful during the Kinnear 'era' regardless of whether we were playing or not).

 

To be honest things seem relatively peaceful off the pitch at the moment. The lack of a big money striker isn't a major concern when others are scoring and the SD signage all over SJP is also less of a concern when the boys are playing well. There's a good vibe it seems.

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And comparing Hughton's career to Pardew's like that is nonsensical given how much longer Pardew has been a manager for over the years.

 

It's also factually incorrect as Pardew won the League One trophy with Reading and the Football League trophy with Southampton (also won a play-off final with West Ham).

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