Newcastle: 10 Things Pardew Should Be Applauded For

9. He Stuck At His Playing Career

With the best will in the world, and that header for Palace in the Semi-final against Liverpool that every media outlet has been playing on repeat since he moved back there aside, Alan was never a world beater as a player. In fact, he was very nearly never a professional player at all. He stuck it out as a part-time, non-league player until he was in his late 20s, working as a glazier whilst playing for the likes of Whyteleafe and Epsom & Ewell ('who?' 'exactly'). In the mid-80s he even gave up football for a spell. But he stuck at it, kept going, and eventually got his move to the professional game. And in a modern football world, where nine year olds are bought and sold, where someone can be legitimately, and regularly, described as the €˜new Messi€™, despite the fact that the original (or €˜old€™) Messi is only 27, that is something of an achievement.