If you are a Newcastle United supporter at the moment then you are forgiven for thinking the worst. Some abysmal performances on the pitch aren’t the only issue in a lot of people’s opinions. Pardew and co are looking at a tough season.
When Alan Pardew was first appointed as the manager, the situation was surrounded in a lot of controversy as the general consensus was that Chris Hughton had done a fantastic job in getting United to the Premier League. In January 2011 Andy Carroll was sold to Liverpool for a club record fee however Newcastle eventually finished 12th despite all the turbulence.
In the 2011-2012 season United has a superb season, qualifying for the Europa League missing out on the Champions League by a whisker. Pardew would receive the LMA Manager of the Year and Premier League Manager of the Season awards and was further rewarded with a massive 8 year contract.
Fast forward to the present day and Newcastle have slumped into a team, who at the moment, are looking already at this very early stage as a team who could be a relegation candidate. Is the influx of French players splitting the changing room? The sale of big players such as Demba Ba and Yohan Cabaye’s interest from Arsenal can’t be helping. Or is the new director of football Joe Kinnear to blame?
Some of Mr Kinnear’s claims that he signed Tim Krul and that he has won the LMA Managers award on three occasions have been proven to be false. He pronounced the names of several players wrong in a Talksport interview on 17th June 2013 and made a wild claim that he was the best director of football in the Premier League, which remains to be seen.
Surely the combination of all these aren’t helping in Tyneside but the most worrying thing is that they don’t seem to be playing as a team. Comfortably beaten by Manchester City and no shots on target in a 0-0 home draw against West Ham (who had one of the worst away records in the PL last season) in their first two games isn’t a good sign of things to come on.
Can Pardew revive Newcastle? Let’s hope so.
Source: DSG
