When Alan Pardew confronted the waiting media to pick the bones out the 3-0 defeat to Arsenal, Newcastle's sixth on the spin in the Premier League, it's likely both fans and journalists sat back and expected the Magpies boss to fire another preloaded excuse. So they were presumably knocked for six themselves when Pardew finally, and it's been a long time in coming, conceded that his players have under-performed in 2014 after succumbing to their 14th defeat in the 19 matches since they were beaten by Arsenal at St James' Park in December. "They're frustrated. We had 2,000 here tonight making this long, long trip. Although we're playing a good team, they still expect us to win," he acknowledged when speaking to the Guardian. "They've seen us lose again and they're not happy, and I have to respect that. But all I can do is do this job to the best of my ability. "We've been top 10 all year. We should have performed better in this run, I know, and we've got to finish in the top 10. If Cardiff think it's important for them on Saturday, it's important for us to finish in the top 10, too, believe me." It was a frank admission and an escape from the norm of Pardew's usual brass-necked strategy of blaming everything from the local media to trotting out the injuries bingo card in the aftermath of a defeat, previously opting instead to blissfully ignore our blatant deficiencies on the pitch. Pointing the gun at the players, however, may prove to be a counter-productive move that could eventually backfire on Pardew, especially if he loses respect from the dressing room. Judging from our feeble performance at the Emirates Stadium last night it looks as if he already has.
