Source: PA
Pardew ready for Newcastle challenge
Alan Pardew insists he fully understood the responsibility he took on when he accepted the Newcastle job.
The 49-year-old will send out his team for the first time in the Barclays Premier League clash with Liverpool at St James' Park, with the Toon Army once again in rebellious mood.
Chris Hughton's sacking on Monday has re-opened the wounds for fans who have spent much of Mike Ashley's three-and-a-half-year reign railing against the way he has run the club.
But the reaction to Hughton's dismissal after leading the club through straitened times back into the top flight and, most notably, to a 5-1 thrashing of derby rivals Sunderland, has been as ferocious as anything the sportswear magnate has experienced to date.
It may have little effect on the famously thick-skinned Ashley but Pardew finds himself in the unenviable position of having to placate players and supporters alike while at the same time dealing in the hard currency of Premier League points.
However, Pardew said: "The attraction of a club like this is the love the fans have for the club. At West Ham, it was a similar kind of love. It is passionate, almost bordering on religious, and you have to understand that. We carry a huge responsibility, the management team and the playing staff, to try to fulfil that criterion. It's a pressure and you have to perform every week, so I am hoping we can play a brand of football and in a style that the fans enjoy and love, and get them behind the team."
