Pardew Should Blame Himself!

Last updated : 18 September 2012 By Footy Mad - Editor

s

Alan Pardew admitted he had to inject some much-needed “belief” into his Newcastle United side after a desperate first-half performance at Goodison Park.

But it was HIS unbelievable team formation that caused the mayhem in the first place.

If you want a playmaker to run the show from midfield - like he tried with Jonas Gutierrez - that player has to be able to pass the ball!

Sylvain Marveaux ahead of a ball-winner in midfield? Come on! He's a luxury player who never rolls up his sleeves in a fight.

Gerrard and Lampard can slot the ball through the eye of a needle, but you don't need me to tell Newcastle fans that Jonas has amazing strengths ... but a skill in passing is not one of them.

For the first two seasons at St James' Park he was known by the Look North sports team as "all fur coat and no knickers" ... because he was amazing on the ball - but could never find a black and white shirt.

Pardew’s injury-hit team trailed Everton 1-0 at the break to a goal from Leighton Baines after a dismal half.

But 45 minutes later they left the field with a valuable point after a dramatic 2-2 draw, with substitute Demba Ba coming off the bench to net twice.

Pardew – who watched the game from the stand because of a two-game touchline ban – changed things around at half-time.

Alan Pardew: “We just lacked belief – you can’t enter any games lacking belief.

“I knew changing the belief at half-time was the ingredient. Demba got two great goals for us, and we looked like a team that could compete at this level.

“With the spirit and endeavour, we probably deserved it.

“Sometimes you have to show the spirit.

“You go back to Arsenal, and we were four goals down that time. We lost our way. We lost our way (at Everton), and it was lucky it was only 1-0. That was my message to the players.

“We didn’t come here to get a draw – we came to give it a go. That’s what our fans, and our owner, wants to see.

“Half-time gave me a chance to put some belief in the team. I knew I needed to change that attitude, because the first half was as bad as we have been since I’ve been manager of this team.

“We have got great spirit, and we showed that last night. That could be a massive, massive result for us.”