Toon look to have made correct Kal
FA Cup by Brighton, hopes of silverware on the domestic front were now over. The head coach was the target of angry fans after he named a weakened team at Brighton, Pardew commenting afterwards: “The most important thing for us is our Premier League status now because we’ve put ourselves at risk with all the injuries and the run we’re on.”
Having been denied funds in the summer, it became apparent that failure to invest would see Newcastle relegated if they weren’t careful. And so Pardew was handed four recommendations of then chief scout Graham Carr as Massadio Haidara, Yoan Gouffran, Mapou Yangambiwa and Moussa Sissoko were all signed up.
There was an instant impact as Newcastle beat Aston Villa away 2-1 in early January, then saw off Chelsea 3-2 at home as Sissoko scored twice in his St James’ Park bow.
The wheels soon started to come off again though.
And it coincided with the return of European football in springtime, Newcastle first failed to beat Metalist Kharkiv from Ukraine in a 0-0 draw in front of 30,157 fans on Tyneside.
A second leg triumph in eastern Europe secured a passage into the last 16 but only at a cost as Tim Krul left the ground on crutches.
Anji Makhachkala came next in Europe with the new French recruits helping knock the Russian side out over two legs thanks to a 94th minute winner from Papiss Cisse.
But success in Europe was papering over cracks in the league as defeats to Swansea, Wigan and Man City left Newcastle just above the relegation zone.
As Newcastle’s season entered its defining period in spring 2013, Alan Pardew managed to irk Jorge Jesus when suggesting that Benfica would only finish between 8th and 10th if they played week in, week out in England.
A furious Jesus hit back in his press conference and said that Newcastle were “burnt steak” and past their best. After a 3-1 win at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon, it was hard to make a case for United. The 2012/13 season would boil down to the second leg against Benfica.
Pardew had prepared a solid game plan and managed to stay in the game before Cisse scored with 18 minutes left. That made it 2-3 on aggregate and Newcastle were able to throw everything at it.
But a breakaway goal in stoppage time from Salvio ended the European run. That night the fans appreciated the efforts of the team with a chant of: “We love you Newcastle”.
With Europe now over, all Newcastle had to play for was survival in the Premier League - and it was about to get ugly.
Going out of Europe was one thing and even losing in the FA Cup after fielding a weakened team was something that fans could live with. But losing to Sunderland heavily at home is a cardinal sin.
In Pardew’s defence he’d had two days to set his team up for a Tynewear derby against newly appointed Paolo Di Canio’s side.
As Newcastle became consumed by Europe in a bid to keep the season alive, Sunderland could focus on one thing: local pride.
Di Canio’s side strolled to a 3-0 win and Newcastle players looked l i k e they’d ran a marathon. Pardew emerged afterwards to say: “This won’t leave me because it’s our home and we don’t want to get beaten by our rivals.”
But also countered: “They looked like a team who had worked all week on us and we looked like a team that had a really tough game on Thursday night.”
For many, this was the turning point and patience had ran out.
He would go on to lose three more derbies before leaving the club.
Lee Ryder:
Former United manager Alan Pardew did an overall decent job, but he was never going to succeed with supporters
The season saw Newcastle go into their penultimate game of the season threatened by the drop still. And so on to Loftus Road as the Magpies face a Queens Park Rangers side who were already down.
Only, the game was something of a struggle. Newcastle came back from behind after Loic Remy put Rangers ahead, and Hatem Ben Arfa and Yoan Gouffran goals were enough. Wigan would be relegated as the third bottom club.
It was Europe and ill preparation that put Newcastle in the position they were in.
Pardew kept his job and then led Newcastle to 10th place in the 2013/14 season. But after a fall out with the media, more cup exits and derby defeats, he would eventually leave just after Christmas in 2014. In fairness, he left Newcastle in ninth place but too much water had flowed down the Tyne by then. Relationships were strained and his move to Crystal Palace came at a good time.
The Englishman did a decent job overall, but the political climate and the fact he was deemed as one of Ashley’s men made it impossible for him to always succeed with the fans.
GARETH Southgate has admitted that he could not be ‘confident’ that Kalvin Phillips would deliver for England because of the former Newcastle United target’s form.
Phillips has endured a difficult loan spell at West Ham and all three of the midfielder’s starts to date have not gone to plan. Phillips made a costly error on his debut against Bournemouth last month; was sent off on his next start away at Nottingham Forest a couple of weeks later; and was hooked at half-time against Burnley with his side 2-0 down at the break.
Newcastle’s decision to step away from a mid-season move for Phillips for financial reasons perhaps proved a blessing in hindsight after the 28-year-old previously mentioned the Magpies as a ‘possibility’ when he talked to Southgate about his future at Manchester City.
West Ham boss David Moyes has since spoken of his ‘hope’ of ‘cracking the code before our time runs out’, but Southgate said Phillips’ form had ‘just not been good enough’ to merit a call-up for the upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.
“We couldn’t be confident on the performances he’s had in the last few weeks that he could go on to the field and do the job we know that he’s capable of,” the England manager told reporters. “Maybe it’s a moment where you think that’s perhaps the lowest it can get for him...now he can just go for it and be himself.”
Phillips will hope to get the chance to impress when West Ham face Newcastle, his former suitors, at St James’ Park in the first Premier League game after the international break.