please log in to view this image http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-seem-happy-just-2996025 Newcastle United seem happy just to exist in the Premier League 23 Apr 2013 11:19 As Newcastle continue to limp towards this seasonâs finishing line, it is understood that there will be a radical review of Unitedâs direction at the end of the campaign. Chief sports writer Lee Ryder ponders just what will be enough to get the fans' juices flowing again Share on print Share on email Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias When Alan Pardew revealed after Newcastle Unitedâs 1-1 draw with West Brom that he would accept finishing âfourth bottomâ, it confirmed just how much standards have slipped in a short space of time. Weâre told that when it comes to following United the aim of the game is focusing on a long-term future, with patience very much the watchword as far as the Mike Ashley regime is concerned. But where does that sit in the conversation of the fan trying to justify to his family â during hard financial times â whether they renew their season ticket or not? Building a team for the future is one thing and laying the foundations of the structure below first-team level is another â both admirable in many ways too. Given the plight of clubs like Portsmouth and Glasgow Rangers, seeing United in a solid financial position is also laudable in an unforgiving economic world. But if Newcastle United really do consider themselves a big club, is simply maintaining a Premier League place and taking the money ambitious enough, in a city with a fanbase and passion for the game most sides could only dream of? Is finishing mid-table or in and around the top 10 enough to get the juices flowing for the passionate fans on Tyneside? And when can we expect any type of tilt at a trophy again? After all, even Wigan and Swansea do cup finals these days â so where does that leave Newcastle? Yes, the only thing that will get football fans excited is progress on the pitch. Not finances. Not sponsor deals. And certainly not making sure that Newcastle are simply Premier League members. The Magpies are not eighth in the all-time Premier League table because they have been prepared to tread water. They are there because theyâve been brave enough to challenge and dream about life at the top. This season we havenât seen it at St Jamesâ Park. In fact the Magpies have gone backwards. Fans want to see a good team who are challenging at the right end of the table, if not at least a team producing entertaining stuff and giving it a crack. Too many times this season that has been sadly lacking. Positive balance sheets are nice but canât be paraded on an open top bus. And so if Ashleyâs board want to really capture the imagination of their fanbase, they have to start delivering a team capable of more than what has been served up this term. They have to get their fans excited again. A marquee signing wouldnât go amiss, thatâs for sure. And so much will depend on transfer business this summer. It was something Unitedâs top brass admitted they got wrong in the build-up to what has been a torrid season. And it is a strategy that Newcastle must get right this summer because fans are on the brink of making their discontent public. Sorting out the development pool is one task. Bbut plugging the gaps that are so blatantly costing them so dearly this season â and galvanising the quality in the squad they currently have at their disposal â is arguably more important. You canât stand still in the Premier League or you will be overtaken â not least with sides with fire in their belly like Swansea City and Cardiff. This season has been a tough one to take for United supporters, but there will be even tougher times ahead if United donât get things right before next season starts. Of course, thereâs still work to be done this term such as getting out of this season alive and in one piece in the Premier League. Ashleyâs reign on Tyneside has been a rocky one with just one top-half finish in his six years at the helm. It is clear that simply participating in the Premier League is the objective. Newcastle canât or wonât spend big when it comes to making a serious tilt for the top four. Why? Because Ashley still has scars from his early days at Newcastle when the likes of Alan Smith, Geremi and picked up huge salaries and were part of an average Toon team that ended up being relegated. Yes, next season is different with a £60m TV cash pot on offer for Premier League teams. And Ashley also has the excellent judgement of chief scout Graham Carr in his corner to ensure that Newcastle get both quality and future sell-on value. This summer more than any, they need to use that skill and judgement. As for the here and now? The truth is Newcastle fans will probably be relieved to see their side stumble over the finishing line this season and retain their Premier League place. But that merely underlines how much those expectations have tumbled in the last 12 months. We were dreaming about the Champions League this time last year and even with 90 minutes of the campaign left to play, there was a genuine chance of qualification. Hopes of another top-six push from fans followed last summer, with Pardew attempting to manage expectations by suggesting that eighth place would be a good finish. The reality has been very different â you would have to flick the calendar back to September to find the last time United occupied a top-10 position. At West Brom, Pardew stated that his team was good enough to finish in the top 10 NEXT season. Of course thatâs better than another flirtation with relegation, but itâs hardly the appetising feast of yesteryear and a million miles away from Kevin Keegan once famously uttering: âWatch out Alex Ferguson, weâre after your title.â Finishing 10th would have been classed as a failure once upon the Tyne. True, the title fairytale didnât have a happy ending under KK â but there is nothing wrong with reaching for the stars. These days you have to get the balance right, as soon to be relegated QPR have proved there is no such thing as Fantasy Football. But long gone are the days of expecting to challenge the top four. It would appear that even pushing for the Europa League again will be classed as a bonus to Geordie fans. When Pardew talks about the top 10 again next season he is talking about a season without the congested schedule of juggling domestic competition with Europa League fixtures. The assumption is that with full weeks to prepare for Premier League contests that United can emulate David Moyesâ Everton. The Toffees have made a habit of making a top-10 place their own in seasons gone by. However, thatâs just an assumption. There can be no guarantees and, under the Ashley regime, United fans are more used to a bottom-half finish. Pardew is the only man to lead the club that Ashley owns to a top-half place when last seasonâs heroics resulted in European qualification. Yet the harsh reality is that in the six years of Ashleyâs tenure, Sunderland have finished ahead of the black- and-whites for the majority of that time, with only two seasons in which Newcastle fans could consider their team top dogs in the North East. The Magpies are on course for a similarly low finish, and the prospect of finishing below a Sunderland team that have struggled to fight sleep for big chunks of this season looms large. If that isnât a wake- up call for United players in the last four games then nothing will be. But whether you like it or not, that has became the norm under the Ashley regime. It is hardly box- office stuff, but fans have still signed up for the affordable season ticket packages put together by United. Next season is a big one for Pardew and an even bigger one for Ashley and his board. A repeat of last summerâs slow transfer progress canât afford to be repeated. The radical boardroom review canât come quick enough
Pards is on thin ice. It's not hard to tell he's feeling the pressure, and so he should be, but I want him to be given at least another season regardless of how poor this season has been. Chopping and changing managers has rarely brought us success. I think we've done unbelievably as a club the past few years and are now one of three (I believe) clubs in the EPL turning a profit. That sound footing will give us all we need to move forward but whether Pards is the right man or not I don't know. The Sunderland Europe comment was incredibly small time and pathetic frankly and constantly bleating on about injuries is getting on people's nerves also, we've got real quality over the entire pitch and on the bench for the first time in years.
One thing I will give him credit for is the players' togetherness and happiness even in ****e times. I don't see any reason why we won't improve our squad further in the summer like we have the last few windows and that, combined with all the January signings becoming more adapted to the EPL and having a pre season with the club, and us having no Europe next year should mean we'll have a good season no matter who we have in charge. If he does stay and we aren't in the European places by Christmas he'll be gone without a doubt
I've always been a realist, I just enjoy a wind up from time to time with some of the easier targets on here
Problem is, before PdC that article could say exactly the same thing about us. PdC is now coming out and saying it's not good enough that we haven't won a trophy since Adam were a lad and I for one am over the moon to hear it!
After PDC your club hasn't suddenly wanted a trophy more though and probably doesn't stand any more chance of winning one. Any manager in the league could come out and say their club not winning trophies isn't good enough, it's nout apart from gathering fans support after taking control. Find me a quote from a new manager which doesn't contain roughly the same spiel about lack of trophies. There are 17 clubs in the league who haven't won enough recently. Having PDC say generic tripe doesn't make you one of the elite.
To be fair though, I don't think europe impacted you all that much. For the majority of the games you seemed to have played your second team and just about rested all of your big players for the league. I stand to be corrected obivously.
touche, its true its far too long, before pdc we were saying things like we're doomed and we'll never see a cup in our lifetime (me and my mates that is) now look at us! its mint and I love it, when we are mathematically safe I will breathe the biggest sigh of relief and get hammered
It didn't make as much of a difference as Pardew would have you believe but it certainly didn't help matters. In the knockout stages we played a much stronger side.
Its not like you put in a good showing in the domestice cup comps. Not saying we did either mind haha.
What? Who was the last manager who said we should win a trophy?? They have never put their reputations on the line by saying they have everything they need to win one. So what's with the "generic crap" line? I am pleased PdC has made his ambition clear is all. If there's one thing he doesn't do it is spout platitudes, so I really don't see your point.
Is there a doctor in the house? I feel unwell as I have just read a reasonable and thought out post from old stinky digits?
I've heard so many times "Pardew can't go from manager of the year to total chump in the space of one year", errr newsflash everybody, yes he can, I know he can, you know how I know he can? Because he has. I'd put my last quid on it that Pardew won't get anything remotely good out of Newcastle next season. Newcastle have 3 THREE more points than Aston Villa who have had their £24m striker go sour, their captain got Leukaemia, they've had all kinds of injuries to key players and their manager is NEVER making excuses. The guy is the biggest joke in the Premier League, Fergie said exactly what it is 'Everbody has figured out Newcastle this season' and Pardew can do **** all about it because he's got nothing left in his stupid locker apart from pictures of himself that he can't stop ****ing over.
