NEWCASTLE UTD 1 LEICESTER CITY 0
1. Tim Krul
22. Daryl Janmaat
27. Steven Taylor
2. Fabricio Coloccini
36. Paul Dummett 72'
24. Cheick Tiote
8. Vurnon Anita 59'
14. Jack Colback
25. Gabriel Obertan
7. Moussa Sissoko
11. Yoan Gouffran 90+2'
9. Papiss Cisse
Subs
17. Ayoze Perez 59'
19. Massadio Haidara 72'
20. Remy Cabella 90+2'
21. Rob Elliot
30. Mehdi Abeid
32. Adam Armstrong
Gabby ... the answer?
But make to mistake about it, Gabriel Obertan has saved Pardew's job with his first goal for almost two years as Newcastle beat Leicester 1-0.
This was Pardew's 700th game as a manager, and the Frenchman made sure he will have number 701 next week.
Obertan's 71st-minute strike made it just Newcastle's sixth win in 27 games in 2014.
It was a nervy display that was very poor viewing, but the result was all that mattered ... on the day ... but the manager hasn't changed many minds that he should go.
It took a fine 83rd-minute save by Tim Krul to deny Matty James an equaliser, and pevious to that he was beaten but the post came to his rescue.
The afternoon began farcically with supporters still locked out of the ground at the scheduled 3 p.m. kickoff time.
A new screen, installed in the Leazes End earlier this week (supposedly ahead of next year's Rugby World Cup) became unstable.
Eventually news filtered through to the more than 50,000 waiting outside that the game would go ahead at four o'clock, but there were rumours the game could be called off!
The Newcastle supporters in the Gallowgate Corner mocked Mike Ashley with chants that suggested he bought the television from Sports Direct.
Apparently Pardew was forced to replace the "injured" Mike Williamson with some reporters suggesting he was dropped, and Steven Taylor came in.
Then Cheick Tiote was injured in the warm-up, so Vurnon Anita stepped into his position in the middle of the park.
New siging Remy Cabella once again missed out with Pardew maintaining his career-long preference for ditching flair players in times of trouble.
Newcastle were the better side as a limited Leicester offered little threat going forward, although it was the Foxes who came closes to opening the scoring.
The Magpies started brightly and might - and probably should - have been ahead as early as the eighth minute when Obertan, enjoying one of his more impressive displays in a black and white shirt, picked up possession deep inside his own half before bursting forward to find Moussa Sissoko, who picked out, of all people, central defender Fabricio Coloccini at the end of a pacy counter-attack
However, the ball fell slightly behind the Argentinian, who steered his side-footed effort agonisingly wide of the post.
Full-back Paul Dummett rifled a long-range effort into keeper Kasper Schmeichel's midriff, only for James to fire straight at Krul at the other end as the visitors staged a 20th-minute break.
Yoan Gouffran dragged a left-foot effort harmlessly wide three minutes later, but the home side might have fallen behind in controversial fashion with 28 minutes gone.
Full-back Richie de Laet felled Jack Colback with an awful tackle, for which he was later booked, and referee Martin Atkinson played an advantage which ultimately did not accrue, allowing City to head upfield once again, where it took a last-ditch challenge by Daryl Janmaat to prevent striker Leonardo Ulloa from connecting with Marc Albrighton's cross.
The game slipped into mediocrity as the half progressed, but it was almost ignited six minutes before the break when another Albrighton cross was caught by the win and deceived Krul, who was relieved to see it come back off the angle of bar and post.
Schmeichel had his one anxious moment on the stroke of half-time when Papiss Cisse's strike looped up off defender Wes Morgan and left him wrong-footed, but the ball dropped over the crossbar.
The Leicester keeper looked to be in trouble five minutes after the restart when Sissoko's shot clipped defender Liam Moore and sailed over him, but also past the far post.
But he should have been beaten two minutes later when Cisse ran on to Paul Konchesky's dreadful back-pass and rounded him, but inexplicably blazed his shot into the side-netting.
Schmeichel palmed Colback's 55th-minute free-kick away with the home side making a big push, and manager Nigel Pearson responded by sending on strikers Jamie Vardy and David Nugent for Albrighton and Jeff Schlupp.
But it was Newcastle who finally broke the deadlock with 19 minutes remaining when Colback charged down a long-range shot on the edge of his own penalty area and the ball broke kindly for Cisse, who picked out Obertan on the left.
The Frenchman cut inside and after making space for himself, dispatched a right-foot rocket past Schmeichel and into the bottom corner.
City committed men to the search for an equaliser and were denied with seven minutes remaining when Krul repelled James' first effort and his defenders threw themselves into the path of the follow-up with Taylor blocking an effort from substitute Anthony Knockaert at the death.