Newcastle: Pardew Wasn't Mad At Half-Time, Just Disappointed

Sissoko reveals manager guilted the players into pulling their weight, basically.

By Simon Gallagher /

Having completed his second best game for Newcastle on Sunday (after his blistering second game against Chelsea), man of the match Moussa Sissoko has lifted the lid on what Alan Pardew said at half-time to change the abject, toothless first half performance into the dazzling second half one. Sissoko said that Pardew was not angry at half-time, but that he was disappointed - an incredibly efficient approach to scolding that most people will remember from getting bollocked as children. It was never the theatricals and explosive anger that made you feel bad, but the slow-burn nagging pain of having really let your mam down. Clearly, Pardew has been taken lessons from the psychology of behaviour shaming:
€œThe manager told us we had to try and play more, because the first half was not good enough. He wasn€™t angry €“ he didn€™t shout €“ but he wasn€™t happy either. He knew we could play better and so did we. We had to win more tackles, more headers and be braver when we had the ball. We did that. We scored straight away, which was good for our confidence, and then we went for another goal, which Ayoze scored.€
Sissoko also said that the victory - which he rated as better than last year's 3 points burglary in Spurs' own back yard - was just rewards for the effort everyone has been putting in behind the scenes to drag the team up the league:
€œWe stuck together though. We have worked very hard, every day, and now we are getting our rewards. We have great spirit in the dressing room and everyone wants to win games for the Club. Today, we played very well, and it was a good win for the team, for the Club, for the fans, for everyone.€
Obviously there is still a long way to go - we have still only won twice, after all - but there's no taking away from the fact that the win was a massive one, and a great reward for the 2200 fans who travelled down to White Hart Lane. He's not exactly famed for his half-time team-talks, but if that's how to get the best out of Newcastle's players, then long may it continue. Because Liverpool at home has just been given the extra hype of the potential for three wins in a row.