We haven't had Europe to deal with in the last six games, so Pardew cannot put the blame on travel ... as he has done all season!
And in those last six games we have scored THREE (two of those against bottom club QPR) and let in TWELVE.
Apart from Tim Krul in goal, that was Pardew's strongest team out there on Sunday, and it asks the question ... is it good enough?
We finished five points away from relegated Wigan - and 48 away from Manchester United.
Two and half years under Pardew ... is that progress?
1 Man Utd 89
2 Man City 78
3 Chelsea 75
4 Arsenal 73
5 Tottenham 72
6 Everton 63
7 Liverpool 61
8 West Brom 49
9 Swansea 46
10 West Ham 46
11 Norwich 44
12 Fulham 43
13 Stoke City 42
14 Southampton 41
15 A Villa 41
16 Newcastle 41
17 Sunderland 39
18 Wigan 36
19 Reading 28
20 QPR 25
Alan Pardew: "We paid our own tribute to Steve (Harper) in the dressing room and he spoke very well.
"The importance of the fans here, I want to highlight.
"They have been magnificent for us after the season we have had. In the 20 years he has been here, he has touched on that.
"We are very lucky to have fans like that.
"We owe them a debt next year to serve up a better standard of football and results. In terms of the season we know we should have done better.
"It's been the toughest season in terms of workload I have had because of the Europa league campaign and the stress it has had on the squad, the staff.
"Again, today, it has been a reflection of the season. If we had (Moussa) Sissoko or Shola (Ameobi) to come off the bench then that would have helped.
"But that's like our season. We have had too many big players missing. When we finished fifth, the team hardly changed.
"If you were an outsider at this game you could not see there were 12 places between the two teams.
"It's obvious that the Europa league campaign, which we did terrific in, we went out to a very good Benfica side, that the Thursday to Sunday schedule really hurt us.
"It is the depth and quality we need to improve on, next year we will not have that pressure so we can go week to week in the Premier League.
"We will not be foolish to think we do not have issues to sort out. One or two players to come in to offer a different look."