The Pardew predicament

It was only a few weeks ago that Newcastle United supporters were begging Mike Ashley for Alan Pardew’s head.

To the average football fan that doesn’t follow Newcastle United the standard reaction was, ‘It’s only five games into the season’.

Or, ‘It’s a marathon, not a sprint’.

What the football world was aware of though was that disgust for the Ashley Regime had reached an all-time high, only enhanced by our deadline day decision to loan out Hatem Ben Arfa, a fan favourite, and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, despite our lack of defensive cover.

To put into perspective the level of dissatisfaction with Pardew, one must simply look at the results up until Newcastle’s recent streak of victories.

From January 1 up until their first win of the season against Leicester, Newcastle had played 26 games, producing five wins and five draws in conjunction with 16 defeats.

To put that into greater perspective, the Premier League season lasts 38 games and the average mark of survival for most teams is considered 40 points. With two-thirds of a season gone Newcastle would have effectively only been sitting on 20 points. Relegation would be considered a dead certainty bar a miracle.

This negative attitude towards Pardew was only compounded by his insistence on playing direct football, hoofing the ball up to his forwards and expecting Newcastle to battle with their opponents in the air, despite the side’s players largely coming from a French background which emphasises the focus on technique and skill on the ball.

In essence, Newcastle fans, those who had grown up on the attacking focus of Kevin Keegan and the silky football introduced by Bobby Robson, were watching a side built for fluid passing booting the ball up-field in the vain hope of a goal. It was ugly to watch, not just results wise but aesthetically as well.

So what has changed? Quite simply Newcastle have started winning. And not just results wise, the quality of play has been spectacular to watch over recent weeks.

Moussa Sissoko being utilised in the middle of the field has seen him transform into a monstrous presence who has dominated the centre of the park. Ayoze Perez is a young striker with an instinctive eye for goal and a quickness which allows him to sneak in behind his opponents and find his way to the net, a true poacher.

It can also be noted that the removal of Mike Williamson in place of Steven Taylor has also seen a boost to Newcastle’s defensive capabilities, and while Williamson is certainly not a bad player many a fan has long claimed he is at best a highly capable defender for Championship level sides and perhaps a back-up for lower Premier League teams. A claim which seems to have been proven time and time again due to his general awkwardness on the ball and his poor positioning, which often forces the defensive line into shambles.

Yet where does this leave Pardew? The Pardew predicament is this.

Good results invariably lead to bad ones, and just as it seems that the final straw has been reached Pardew will find a way to win again.

2011-12, where the club finished fifth, led to a season where the club battled relegation, yet Pardew’s achievements the season before saved him from the ignominy of being sacked.

In 2013-14 the two seasons before combined to the point where Newcastle was flying high in eighth place, playing spectacular football before petering out without a whimper over the remaining six months.

And as of right now results have been exceptional, consecutive wins over Leicester, Manchester City, Tottenham, Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion has led to Newcastle entering the international break with a renewed sense of optimism despite over half a year of disappointment.

Pardew’s place is assured because the simple fact of football is that victory leads to security. Yet when this form inevitably ends, what is to be done with Pardew?