10 Most Laughable Excuses Alan Pardew Has Made At Newcastle
10. The One Where It Was The World Cup's Fault
More often than not in the season immediately following a World Cup or European Championship tournament, under-performing managers will look back to the shortened rest time for key players, and the disruptive influence of not having international players at pre-season camps that are apparently an increasing part of players not wanting to kick lumps out of team-mates these days. That is understandable, and it is fair to say that some players will be jaded after no summer holiday where they can smoke and drink on the beach and post pictures on Instagram. But other managers - like Pardew - can actually use the World Cup as an issue before it even starts. Not content with blaming the club's poor form in the second half of the season on his own tactical problems and the loss of key players like Yohan Cabaye, Pardew claimed that the fact that some players were heading to Brazil for the show-case performance derailed his side:
We were affected by the World Cup, theres no doubt about that in my mind.
Apparently, Tim Krul thought that being a bit rubbish was the best way to become his nation's number one, and that both Moussa Sissoko and Loic Remy got themselves injured because they were going to the World Cup. Such is the logic that emanates from that excuse, when the reality was that even the World Cup players just weren't all that good in the second half of the term.
