Newcastle: Cabaye's Faint Praise Damns Pardew Further

What are the current and ex-players of Newcastle seeing that the fans aren't? What is it that makes them compelled to come out and back a manager whose record stands at 18 losses in the last 27 games? Could it just be that Pardew is a good lad? That he's great on the training ground and in the dressing room? If that's the case, you'd suspect the players would be falling over themselves to play for him and get him the results he needs to turn the tide of criticism away from him. And if he is respected as a "football man" then surely that would translate into results? Either way, something is being lost in translation. Yohan Cabaye is the latest former Pardew player to come out in support of the manager, though his statement is not exactly an endorsement of the manager's suitability to get the team out of trouble.

"He gave me everything when I arrived three years ago, so for me he is a good manager and he will stay the same in my mind.€

Pandering to a player's desires - including the opportunity to leave for a bigger club when it came along - does not a good manager make. And in another part of his "supportive" statement, Cabaye suggested what we have all long suspected:

€œEven when I was there, the manager showed us the way to play. It is the players who have to work harder.€

The manager shows the way, so the manager should be held accountable for the system and the style of play. It isn't enough to say the players aren't pulling their weight, because demoralisation and under-performing across the board has to come down to the management. If it was a couple of players who were judged individually accountable for the team's form, that would indicate problems with them, but when it's everyone, that indicates problems with the environment and their leadership. At the end of the day, it is remarkably easy for the likes of Cabaye and Mike Williamson to support their manager publicly - the former is no longer playing for his side (having been given the chance to play for PSG thanks to his influence indirectly) and the latter probably wouldn't be getting a game in the Premier League if it wasn't for him. The thing that should be taken from the quotes once more is that the manager is accountable for the way the team plays, and it is obvious even from a fan's point of view that that way is not the right way.