He says the players "are hurting because at the moment they are Newcastle fans".
But when Yohan Cabaye signs for Man Utd or Spurs in the summer; when Hatem Ben Arfa joins Liverpool or PSG; the fans will still be wearing the black and white of Newcastle United.
The players are "hurting" ... if we go down ... they have no idea how deeply the fans will be "hurting".
Criticism of Pardew and his beleaguered Newcastle United players, in the wake of the worst result (at St James' Park) in 88 years, has been unflinching and uncompromising.
It’s been unavoidable. It’s been brutal. Because the performance was the worst in living memory!
Alan Pardew: “It’s important that my psychology for the game is strong.
“I’m an experienced manager now. I’m not a young manager.
“In the past I would have reacted to some of the criticism this week. I haven’t reacted to any, and I’m not going to.
“I listen to it. If I think it’s got any substance, I’ll address it. But most of it has been really unhelpful, and not fair.
“That, I can easily dismiss. I’ll accept that and keep myself together.
“When I turn up in that dressing room (at Upton Park), trust me, I want to win that game.
“I want to do everything I can to win it. I don’t care what’s been said.
“There’s a line that needs to be drawn.
“There’s a blood letting. We’ve done that. The Press have certainly done that.
“Then it’s about moving on. By Tuesday afternoon, we were moving on. Monday was tense – I’m not going to say it wasn’t. It was very tense. It was a tough day.
“You’ve got to understand all these players’ family and friends are Newcastle fans. They instantly become them. They all suffer as well.
“We suffered terribly in terms of that defeat, but that doesn’t mean to say we can’t bounce back quickly.
“That’s the beauty of football – you can. With our destiny in our hands, we’ve got to take that confidence into Saturday.”