10 Ridiculous Arguments Against Sacking Alan Pardew

7. The Fans Expect Too Much

This old chestnut has been levelled at Newcastle fans ever since Kevin Keegan and Sir John Hall united on their grand mission to wake the club up and build a more than 50,000 stadium. Propelled under its own steam, and on an unfair image of the Toon Army as emotional and removed from reality, it has spiralled to such an extent that it is something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. But the truth is that Newcastle fans don't expect a lot: we don't expect Champions league football every season, or a cup final appearance every couple. We don't even expect to see football memorable of The Entertainers week in, week out: what really matters is ambition. And even then, the real ambitions that matter are to be a team to be proud of, or endeavour to do well and to play to potential: after that, success would be a welcome bonus, but not a requirement. It is despicable that fans are being accused of unrealistic ambitions, when Newcastle are currently on the bottom of the 2014 table of results: surely aspiring to anything more than that is not justification for criticism?