Alan Pardew: “It’s out of respect to our fans, and what we’ve served them this year.
“There’s no party for us, and the same for the staff. That’s how it should be.
“Trust me, there have been horrible things said about our group and our staff, but we’re together.
“And we’re fighting and trying to put it right. The fans have to realise this isn’t just a game to us – it’s our livelihoods and our profession. It pays our bills.
“Not only that, we have to have a certain pressure of entertaining our fans who pay good money to come and watch.
“Looking at all those factors – we’ve not done enough this year.
“That’s why I think it’s right we called it off.”