One of the biggest problems and certainly one of the most controversial is the idea that the club are being led by the wrong man. Despite the obvious fact that Alan Pardew has been a good thing for the club, especially since guiding them to their fifth place finish, it has become all too apparent since then that he probably won't be able to take the club any further than that. With a history of being in charge at club's struggling with top flight mid-table mediocrity or worse a relegation battle, Pardew does not have the background for succeeding further up the table. Obviously everyone has to start somewhere, but with his fifth placed finish he had the chance to kick on and make a real statement that the club were there to stay last season, and he failed miserably, struggling to finish in 16th. Whilst he has not been helped much by Ashley and Kinnear, the club evidently do have faith in him by offering him an unprecedented eight-year contract a year ago. This was met with widespread disbelief, for as it was obvious that the club had overachieved since being promoted, they seem to have failed to realise that he may not be able to take them further. Maybe a change of manager is not the right thing to do, but the club do have to at least consider that they have to lower their expectations, which is possibly shown in the fact that Ashley has offered bonuses for a tenth place finish. Whatever the case, the club are certainly in a strange place right now, and as well as they do, they know that a major fall is once again round the corner. What do you think Newcastle are going to achieve this season? Can they make the top four?
Began writing about football aged 16, I've previously worked for Goal and I'm currently writing for Inside Spanish Football. Specialise in anything linked, connected with or involving football!
