Source: FOOTYMAD
Pardew: 'We Have A Decent Side'
The hopes of spending £35m on transforming his side had Alan Pardew saying "I cannot wait for the transfer market tom open". But things haven't gone to plan. Pardew drew up a list of players he wanted, and in the end he hasn't really spent a penny - the one deal that was made for hard cash was offloaded by selling Kevin Nolan. Now, having lost his insprational skipper (Nolan), he tries to hang onto his two top players - Joey Barton and Jose Enrique. Alan Pardew: "The situation is simple: if players don't want to commit to contracts or this is not the contract offer that they wish, there's not much you can do about it. "But we have a good feeling in the dressing room, we are looking forward to the season and I think we have got a decent side this year. "We are at a situation where we will play this season as it comes and we will all sit down at the end of the year, and who knows? We might do a deal then with Joey. "You never know in this game. It's a strange business we are in. "He's a good player, he's playing well for us and that's all I care about. "He's a very important player for us and the example he sets with that group will be first-class. "I am looking forward to seeing him when I come back and getting him ingrained in the team."
