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| Stoke’s Peter Crouch header piles pressure on Newcastle’s Alan Pardew | Stoke’s Peter Crouch header piles pressure on Newcastle’s Alan Pardew |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| At least we can now find out whether Mike Ashley was joking or not when he said that Alan Pardew was “finished” if Newcastle United lost at Stoke. Peter Crouch’s first-half goal condemned Newcastle to a defeat that leaves them joint-bottom of the Premier League and, in the process, brings that bizarre interview Ashley gave to a reporter outside the Golden Lion pub in Soho on Thursday night sharply into focus. Either Ashley has a strange sense of humour or Pardew is toast. | At least we can now find out whether Mike Ashley was joking or not when he said that Alan Pardew was “finished” if Newcastle United lost at Stoke. Peter Crouch’s first-half goal condemned Newcastle to a defeat that leaves them joint-bottom of the Premier League and, in the process, brings that bizarre interview Ashley gave to a reporter outside the Golden Lion pub in Soho on Thursday night sharply into focus. Either Ashley has a strange sense of humour or Pardew is toast. |
| The Newcastle owner was looking on from the stands here as his club slumped to a 10th league defeat in 14 matches. Only Burnley’s pitiful goal return is sparing them from the ignominy of propping up the table. All the while the protests from the Newcastle supporters are getting louder, calling for the manager’s head and railing against Ashley’s regime. It is, in short, a terrible mess. | The Newcastle owner was looking on from the stands here as his club slumped to a 10th league defeat in 14 matches. Only Burnley’s pitiful goal return is sparing them from the ignominy of propping up the table. All the while the protests from the Newcastle supporters are getting louder, calling for the manager’s head and railing against Ashley’s regime. It is, in short, a terrible mess. |
| At one stage in the closing minutes both sets of fans were singing “You’re getting sacked in the morning” as Pardew stood on the edge of his technical area, looking like the loneliest man in the world. There was another chastening experience to endure at the final whistle, when the Newcastle manager applauded the visiting supporters – many of whom were holding aloft “Pardew out” placards – and received a volley of abuse in return. | At one stage in the closing minutes both sets of fans were singing “You’re getting sacked in the morning” as Pardew stood on the edge of his technical area, looking like the loneliest man in the world. There was another chastening experience to endure at the final whistle, when the Newcastle manager applauded the visiting supporters – many of whom were holding aloft “Pardew out” placards – and received a volley of abuse in return. |
| Even by Newcastle’s standards the build-up to this game had been surreal. The image of Ashley performing a throat-cutting gesture when discussing Pardew’s future with a journalist after that chance meeting in London last week will take some beating. “Dead. Finished. Over. One more game, then that’s it,” Ashley is reported to have said. Ashley’s lawyers, and Newcastle, subsequently claimed that the remarks were made in jest. How Pardew and the Newcastle fans must have chuckled. | |
| It did not take long for the frustration to come to the surface on a dank evening in the Potteries. It was the 28th minute when the first “We want Pardew out” chant emanated from the visiting end. By that point Newcastle were already behind to the goal that would decide the game. | It did not take long for the frustration to come to the surface on a dank evening in the Potteries. It was the 28th minute when the first “We want Pardew out” chant emanated from the visiting end. By that point Newcastle were already behind to the goal that would decide the game. |
| With Stoke denied a stonewall penalty in the first half, when Yoan Gouffran somehow got away with barging Victor Moses over, and unfortunate to see Marko Arnautovic’s shot cannon off the upright early in the second period, Newcastle could have no complaints about the result. Despite seeing plenty of the ball in the first half, Newcastle looked devoid of ideas going forward throughout, although they did come within inches of salvaging a point six minutes from time. | With Stoke denied a stonewall penalty in the first half, when Yoan Gouffran somehow got away with barging Victor Moses over, and unfortunate to see Marko Arnautovic’s shot cannon off the upright early in the second period, Newcastle could have no complaints about the result. Despite seeing plenty of the ball in the first half, Newcastle looked devoid of ideas going forward throughout, although they did come within inches of salvaging a point six minutes from time. |
| Gabriel Obertan’s cross dropped invitingly for Jack Colback but the former Sunderland midfielder, from inside the six-yard box, hammered his shot against the crossbar. Colback, Pardew said, was “beating himself up” in the dressing room for failing to snap up a chance that might have brought a little bit of respite for the manager. | Gabriel Obertan’s cross dropped invitingly for Jack Colback but the former Sunderland midfielder, from inside the six-yard box, hammered his shot against the crossbar. Colback, Pardew said, was “beating himself up” in the dressing room for failing to snap up a chance that might have brought a little bit of respite for the manager. |
| Instead Pardew looked like a broken man when he addressed the media afterwards. He said that he would carry on fighting but his body language suggested that he is expecting a tap on the shoulder any minute. It has got to the point where it might even come as a relief. | Instead Pardew looked like a broken man when he addressed the media afterwards. He said that he would carry on fighting but his body language suggested that he is expecting a tap on the shoulder any minute. It has got to the point where it might even come as a relief. |
| For Stoke and Mark Hughes the emotions were very different. After picking up five points on their travels, including a win at Manchester City, this was their first victory at home in the league this season. Stoke had not even scored at the Britannia Stadium before Crouch, towering above Fabricio Coloccini, headed in an inswinging cross from the excellent Moses. “Victor’s a man on a mission because he hasn’t had a lot of football in the last two seasons,” said Hughes. | For Stoke and Mark Hughes the emotions were very different. After picking up five points on their travels, including a win at Manchester City, this was their first victory at home in the league this season. Stoke had not even scored at the Britannia Stadium before Crouch, towering above Fabricio Coloccini, headed in an inswinging cross from the excellent Moses. “Victor’s a man on a mission because he hasn’t had a lot of football in the last two seasons,” said Hughes. |
| The Stoke manager should have been spared a nervous finale but the home team’s failure to kill the game meant that there was always a flicker of hope for Newcastle. Only Craig Pawson, the referee, knows why he failed to award a penalty when Gouffran upended Moses. Mame Diouf pulled a hamstring in the lead-up to that breakaway, forcing Hughes into an early change that saw Arnautovic introduced in the 23rd minute. The Austrian acquitted himself well on the Stoke right. | The Stoke manager should have been spared a nervous finale but the home team’s failure to kill the game meant that there was always a flicker of hope for Newcastle. Only Craig Pawson, the referee, knows why he failed to award a penalty when Gouffran upended Moses. Mame Diouf pulled a hamstring in the lead-up to that breakaway, forcing Hughes into an early change that saw Arnautovic introduced in the 23rd minute. The Austrian acquitted himself well on the Stoke right. |
| Newcastle, for all their possession before the break, took 43 minutes to force Asmir Begovic into a serious save, when Daryl Janmaat drilled a 30-yard shot that the Stoke goalkeeper turned round the post. Pardew introduced Papiss Cissé at the start of the second half but this time there was to be no repeat of the Senegalese’s heroics against Hull. The game was up for Newcastle and the same may soon be true for Pardew. | Newcastle, for all their possession before the break, took 43 minutes to force Asmir Begovic into a serious save, when Daryl Janmaat drilled a 30-yard shot that the Stoke goalkeeper turned round the post. Pardew introduced Papiss Cissé at the start of the second half but this time there was to be no repeat of the Senegalese’s heroics against Hull. The game was up for Newcastle and the same may soon be true for Pardew. |