‘Thick-skinned’ Alan Pardew aims to prove Newcastle United fans wrong

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/02/alan-pardew-newcastle-fans-criticism

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Alan Pardew refuses to be cowed by the continued calls for his head from increasingly disgruntled Newcastle United fans but fears his family could suffer collateral damage.

“I’m thick-skinned,” said Pardew, whose struggling side seek their first Premier League win of the season at Swansea on Saturday. “I don’t ignore the criticism; it does penetrate me – of course it does – but I’m resilient to it and I want to prove people wrong. The effect on my family and friends worries me a little bit though. It’s a difficult scenario, particularly for family. It’s not nice for them – but that makes me even more determined.”

If his wife and daughters are not enjoying the situation, nor are Newcastle’s players. “At the moment we’re fighting the opposition, the press, opposition fans and even some of our own fans,” said Pardew.

“It’s a lot for the players to deal with but we’re becoming battle-hardened. We have to deal with this pressure. On a personal level I have to keep fighting until there’s nothing left to give – and at the moment, I’ve plenty of fight left in me.”

After presiding over only five league wins in 2014 Pardew should have been sacked some time ago, according to many critics, but he remains determined to win back hearts and minds. “You have to understand I love this football club,” he said. “The players are a young group. The heat is on them and they’re feeling stress so I need to help them. I’ll do so until such a point comes where I can’t help them any more.”

For the moment at least Mike Ashley, Newcastle’s owner, is staying loyal. “I spoke to Mike and the chief executive [Lee Charnley] this week and the message is: ‘How much can we support you,’” said Pardew.

“I wouldn’t expect any different, even if they were thinking different privately. They’ve been very solid and I appreciate that. The truth’s getting lost in the wash a little bit; people think that I’m here out of arrogance or that Mike’s being stubborn about it to annoy people, but we’re not.

“I’m very fortunate to have an owner that can see we’re fighting for the club and of course I’m thankful for his backing. But the fans are angry, there’s nowhere to hide and we must get a win at some point because no manager is immune from not winning. I can’t go on not winning.”

Pardew has been bolstered by endorsements from Newcastle supporters prepared to contradict the consensus. “I’ve been going out and about in town as normal and I’ve had one or two interactions where critical fans have made their point which I’ve no problem with,” he said. “But I’ve also had two or three fans come up to me wishing me well and I appreciate that. It’s probably my hardest spell as a manager but I’ve had a lot of support from within the game – from people at boardroom level through to ex players.”

Understandably, Pardew is not prepared to criticise Ashley but it is thought the owner is beginning to accept that his strictly implemented policy of buying young talent from abroad possessing high resale potential may be flawed.

“We’ve bought players we think have good market value and that means mainly younger players,” said Newcastle’s manager. “Since coming here I’ve had to deal with younger players and some have been massively successful and some haven’t. At the moment we’re not having as much success [with the policy] as we’ve had in the past.”