Alan Pardew admits Newcastle job is in jeopardy but claims Mike Ashley is also to blame
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Your support makes all the difference.Alan Pardew has admitted his position at Newcastle United is in doubt after a season that has left the club fighting for their Premier League future.
Pardew will sit down with owner Mike Ashley as soon as the campaign finishes to sort out his future and has spoken of a collective failure that has led to a relegation fight in which Newcastle are just three points above third-bottom Wigan Athletic. Pardew spoke of his own mistakes this season, but also those made at boardroom level by Ashley.
“My job is to manage this football club with dignity, with an honesty, which I’ve done, not just with the players but with the press and more importantly with our fans,” said Pardew.
“Hopefully it’ll be good enough to keep my job next year, but that ultimate decision is not mine so we could get the points we need and Mike could decide he needs to move to another manager.
“I like to think that he won’t, that next year we’ll stay with myself, and we need to make some changes and we’ll do that and talk about that at the end of the year. We know we’ve got an uncomfortable conversation regarding the form this year, the underachievement that’s been mentioned and everything else.
“It’ll be uncomfortable for us both, because we’ve both underachieved. Him as an owner and me as a manager. We need to find out what the reasons were and then it’s for Mike and hopefully with me to decide how to go forward.
“I’m talking about the club, we’ve underachieved as the club, so the point is we all take responsibility. I’m trying to make the point that we’ve got to be honest. It’s about making sure when we go forward – and [managing director] Derek [Llambias] as well – that we put right some of the things we put wrong this year.
“I’m confident enough that I want to be the manger of this football club. Some of the issues I’ve had this year, some of the selection times I’ve had to pick teams has been against me a lot of the time. The injuries more than anything have been a massive blow to this football club, to key players at key times, that’s something we can’t afford to happen.
“We’ve had a year where we’ve finished fifth and everybody perhaps assumed we’d roll into that season again. We didn’t. Those reasons I shall keep to myself for this time, but I have relative views on that. In terms of, are we good enough, well we couldn’t have been, because this is where we are.”
Newcastle head to Queen’s Park Rangers sitting fourth bottom of the Premier League and with only one away win this season. But Pardew believes victory at Loftus Road would be enough to secure United’s top-flight status.
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