Alan Pardew delivered his verdict on Newcastle United’s squad and claimed it was good enough to see them stay in the Premier League.
The former Magpies boss shared that he thought Rafa Benitez’s side currently contained a few players that were struggling for confidence and that they needed to experience a win quickly.
Pardew also remarked on the atmosphere at St James Park and believed that positivity will flow around the stadium once again as soon as a good result is delivered.
“The squad looks to me, and you know Chris (Kamara), when you come up to the Premier League, you’ve got momentum and have a decent season which they had last year, it doesn’t always reflect it’s gonna happen in year two,” said Pardew, when analysing the Seagulls 1-0 defeat of the Magpies on Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday (Sky Sports Premier League, Sunday October 21, 11:33am).
“I think some of those guys are struggling for confidence a little bit, they need a result quickly and that stadium can change.
“I’ve seen that stadium change, I can just think of one game when we were 4-0 down to Arsenal and the place was going to be rebellious, then suddenly at 4-3 the place is jumping and it’s alive.
“When it’s alive then it’s very difficult for the opposition, that’s what they need to get back, if they could get the first goal or a two goal lead then that will come back very quickly.
“The guy who tweeted in there doesn’t need to worry about the atmosphere at St James as that will return but the confidence needs to come back and Rafa has a job on his hands.”
Pardew then discussed the club’s transfer policy before predicting the squad to stay in the Premier League.
“The bottom line is at that football club is that it has been like that for a long long time, but they’re still good enough in my opinion to stay in the Premier League,” added the former Magpies boss, while on Goals on Sunday.
OPINION
Pardew isn’t the most popular figure among Magpies supporters for obvious reasons but he does provide insight on what life is like working for Mike Ashley. While the experienced manager avoids panning Benitez or slamming Ashley, his reference to the club’s transfer policy shows how hard it will be for the Magpies to achieve success in the near future. However it seems Pardew is confident that the Magpies’ squad is good enough as it stands and that with a bit more confidence, positive results can start rolling in. It’s understandable that a lot of the current Magpies players aren’t at their best due to a confidence issue as who can blame them. The Magpies are yet to register a win across any competition and it seems that even luck isn’t on their side. Brighton’s winning goal on Saturday was a result of a corner that should never have been awarded and that’s got to make some players think, that they destined to lose no matter what they do as the odds are stacked against them.
