da betobet： Alan Pardew has been in charge of Newcastle for nearly six months now and, having guided the Magpies to Premier League survival, faces an important summer in which he needs to strengthen the squad. Here’s Pardew’s thoughts on his time at St James’ Park thus far…
da wazamba： When you took over at Newcastle you admitted it would take some time to win the fans over. How did you set about doing that, and do you feel you succeeded?
I think there is only one way of winning fans over at Newcastle and that’s winning games. With a club of this size that’s what we should expect every week, to try and win the game. I have tried to approach the game in that manner. I have tried to be honest and open with the press and media so they know exactly what is going on, so there is no hidden agenda. Also I have tried to grow the club with the vision I have. My vision is simple; attacking football on the front foot, looking to win the game.
How impressed have you been with the supporters?
The support here is phenomenal and I knew that before I arrived. You don’t actually feel it until you are in and around the city and you are standing on that sideline at St James Park. There’s been quite a few occasions where the stadium comes alive and its very intimidating for the opposition and takes players above the level they can play at. It’s an unbelievable thing.
How pleased have you been about the team securing a mid table finish?
In terms of what has happened to us and losing Ben Arfa to a terrible injury and the sale of Andy Carroll, our second half of the season we have done extraordinarily well. Players have stepped up to the plate and have been fantastic. Players like Shola, Joey, Kevin Nolan, Gutierrez all in around that group have been superb to work with.
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What do you think about the potential of this Newcastle team, do you think qualification for Europe is a realistic target?
I think next year will be difficult for us. The euphoria of promotion has gone. We will suddenly start thinking we are Premier League people, and we could get a nasty surprise, so we need to make sure we don’t start the season like that. We need to get momentum and improve on our squad by bringing in some key offensive players. We need a bit of pace in the team and if we do that we will see where it takes us.
You mentioned the sale of Andy Carroll and the need to replace him. Is your top priority for the summer to find a goalscorer?
We replaced him with Shefki Kuqi, but yes you are right we didn’t get a chance in the transfer window. We would love to invest that money wisely in a player that we think will score us a lot of goals.
Are you looking forward to dipping into the transfer market?
It’s always fraught with dangers and difficulties. We won’t play safe. We could play safe and finish 14th or 15th in the season for the next 4 or 5 years, but where is the ambition in that? It won’t inspire me, the fans or the chairman. The chairman wants to be a bit risky about it, and to hope that we can get players that can take us a lot better than that. That is what we are trying to find.
Newcastle have a history of trying to make the fans excited, is that a consideration for you?
Yes. We are going to have Ben Arfa back which is going to help but we are certainly going to need two more of that ilk because this club has a history of fantastic individual players. This year we have had some fantastic players but it’s been a team effort and I think next year we need a few more fantastic players in that group.
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