Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has not held back when it comes to his feelings in regards to Yohan Cabaye being charged by the FA with violent conduct. The incident in question relates to Newcastle’s 1-0 FA Cup defeat at the hands of Brighton at the Amex Stadium and a coming together of Cabaye and Adam El-Abd. The result at the time was that El-Adb ended up with a bloody lip and now Cabaye is set to be handed a three-game ban, much to Pardew’s displeasure.
In a press conference ahead of the Premier League match between Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle, which Cabaye is now set to miss as he serves the first game of his three-match ban, Pardew certainly said what he felt. He told BBC reporter Juliette Grace that “I am seething about it if I’m honest. It’s something that I am going to address.”
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Part of Pardew’s anger towards this decision seems to be around ESPN’s TV coverage and the way that the incident was repeated again and again, even the hysteria that anchor Ray Stubbs whipped up. Pardew further said: “(Cabaye) tried to stop the boy from falling on him.” This might be stretching the truth a little bit, but there certainly wasn’t much to the incident at all, at least as not as much as the match broadcaster would have you believe.
It seems that Brighton don’t feel there was much to it either, with Pardew continuing: “Yesterday we had a call from Brighton’s coaching team suggesting their player wants to support our player. We’ve sent a strong letter (to the FA), and we asked the Brighton player if they would forward a letter to us, which they kindly did.”
However, Newcastle only have until 6pm today (Tuesday) to appeal, and with no official word from the club as yet, it looks as though the Frenchman will have to serve his ban. That certainly won’t leave Pardew in a good mood, but maybe a last-minute signing will change that! Here’s the footage of the incident just in case you haven’t seen it so you can make up your own minds…
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