Furthermore, as the Geordie club stuttered in this season’s early months, the regular absence of players integral to the previous year’s success, such as Fabricio Coloccini and Cheick Tiote was widely lamented. The Argentine defender, so outstanding on his return from injury in October during the Wear-Tyne derby at Sunderland that Pardew was moved to liken him to Bobby Moore, has since suffered a costly dip in form. Tiote has been a shadow of the forceful presence that twelve months ago was dominating Premier League midfields, and reportedly attracting interest from admirers of the stature of Manchester United and Chelsea.
After eleven games this term, Newcastle had collected a mere fourteen points, nine down on the same stage a year earlier. At this time they faced matches against; Swansea City, Stoke City, Southampton, Wigan Athletic, and Fulham. That run of fixtures presented an opportunity for the Magpies to place their imprint on the league, ahead of a tough festive schedule. Crucially, a facile triumph over ten-man Wigan at St James’ resulted in the only three points garnered from fifteen available.
Insult was added to injury subsequent to that deflating spell when the famous black and white jerseys were comprehensively brushed aside on their own patch by a hitherto incohesive Manchester City side, which 17 days later was vanquished by a mediocre Sunderland team.
As a consequence of their inability to reverse their early season fortunes, Newcastle must now be considered a club very much involved in a battle to avoid relegation. They lie 15th, only three points ahead of Wigan in 18th, and just a solitary place and point ahead of an Aston Villa side which has suffered its own horrendous sequence of results.
There can be no more pining for wounded stars who are occupying the treatment room. Every individual that Pardew selects has a duty to ensure that the remarkable progress made at St James’ since the club’s shocking relegation in 2009 doesn’t come to a shuddering halt. It is a concern that the manager remains pre-occupied with who he doesn’t have available to him. Speaking after Saturday’s lame surrender at the Amex, and accepting that his team have a serious fight on their hands Pardew said;
‘We need to sustain ourselves and make sure we’re a Premier League team next season. We want to stay there but we are in real danger and we need to get our best players out on the pitch. We’re not too big to go down and we accept that.
‘We need to make sure we are a Premier League team next season. Our team today is a shadow of the team we can put out’.
It is questionable whether such public utterances will inspire those players on whom Pardew must currently rely to perform in crucial matches. This is a pivotal January for the future of Newcastle United. They next go to Carrow Road, a venue where even an on song Magpie unit were humbled 4-2 last year. Following that trip to Norwich are fixtures against Reading and Aston Villa which bear all the hallmarks of monumentally important clashes. If the Geordies don’t avoid defeat in at least two of these games, they have the prospect of meetings with Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur to try and get back on track.
Of course, a secondary consequence of failure to improve results is the eyes through which prospective signings will be viewing the club. There certainly won’t be many forwards of Demba Ba’s calibre, or even possessing Andy Carroll’s capability, who will be hurrying to immerse themselves in a high-pressure fight against the drop. A chance to feature in a Europa League last-32 tie with crack Ukranian outfit Metalist Kharkiv will be no more appetising.
Alan Pardew has encountered many challenges in his managerial career. This is the toughest, and now shorn of his attacking talisman, he will do extremely well to lift Newcastle United from their current unforeseen slump.
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