Inference Gandalf, inference. One does not have to be explicit in one's words to imply their true intentions
You've changed from one's to their, and that for me is the essence of this discussion. You and the Gazette have implied an accusation from what Pardew hasn't actually said himself. He may, or may not have meant what you have taken it to mean.
The reason I'm inclined to not believe the Gazette's version, apart from the fact they have the readership of a few goats (considering how illiterate that area probably is), is that he hasn't mentioned our other options in reference to them being at whatever hypothetical level he's talking about. If he had said "Shola and Sammy are at that level", then we'd have some point of reference. Simply saying Remy is at another level to Graham doesn't mean Graham is worse than what we have, and such can't be inferred from what he's said.
I'd agree with you if you think he's saying Graham in't at the level we'd want a new striker to be at though, because we're obviously looking to push on and Graham probably would end up behind Cisse in the pecking order and probably wouldn't get too many games in whatever system Pardew is trying to make us play. I suppose we were looking for someone to bring extra quality to the first-team, rather than the back-up ranks. In that sense, he wasn't at the required level, rather than not at our level.
Personally, I'd have taken Graham as a second striker in the first team, and as a back-up because he's better than Shola. However, I think we want a striker who'll be first-team for longer than a few months, so as much as he's hands down better than Shola etc, he would end up out of the picture if we signed someone in the summer who could contribute to the first team in the way Pardew wants. He's good enough for our level right now and would have made a decent signing, but the board look into the future (so they can flog 'em), and if we're going to bring in a Siem De Jong or a Augbewhatsawhosit at some point, he probably won't get many games.
I wish Graham well at Sunderland though. Like I say, I think he's a good player. I think he's quite similar to Fletcher (I'm going to surprise you and say I think he's actually better) but at a much better price.
Ditto sir 
