Newcastle manager Alan Pardew 'knows he's on borrowed time and sack is inevitable'

1 Oct 2013 22:30

Supporters' group spokesman and fanzine editor Steve Wraith claims Toon Army expect director of football Kinnear to take over

One more chance? Losing to Cardiff could be curtains for Pardew

Getty

Alan Pardew is on borrowed time at Newcastle – and knows it, according to one influential Magpies fan.
Steve Wraith, the spokesman for the NUFC Fans United Group and editor of the club's No.9 fanzine, claims Pardew believes it is "inevitable" that director of football Joe Kinnear will take over as the Toon's manager.
Newcastle were awful in the first half as they lost 3-2 to Everton on Monday, and a third successive league defeat - against Cardiff on Saturday - could spell the end of Pardew's three-year reign at St James’ Park.
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Wraith claims his fellow fans feel sacking the manager would be unfair, because of the way owner Mike Ashley undermined him this summer by bringing back ex-boss Kinnear in a new job.
“There is more support for Alan Pardew now than there was at the end of last season, when many wanted him out,” said Wraith.
“They feel he has been ­undermined and the Joe Kinnear situation has made it inevitable he will replace him as manager.
“I don’t think Pardew would argue with that assessment - and I am privy to certain conversations he has had with certain people.
“Pardew knows he’s on borrowed time and if results continue to go pear-shaped, there’s only one man who’s going to get his job.
“Kinnear approached Mick Harford in the summer to be his assistant - who ever heard of a director of football having an assistant?
“That was Joe’s way of telling us what is going to happen. It just seems inevitable and Pardew does not deserve to be treated like this.”

Catalogue of errors: Ashley and Kinnear bought no players this summer

Michael Regan

 Kinnear denied earlier in the season that he was waiting in the wings to replace Pardew, who is just a year into an eight-year contract.
He told Mirror Sport in August: “We are working together – not plotting against each other. There seems to be a perception outside the club that we are at loggerheads, but I don’t know why people jump on the bandwagon because it is a false picture.”
Wraith claims Kinnear and Ashley must accept their share of the blame for Newcastle’s plight, because of the lack of investment in new players this summer.
“The team spent most of last season battling relegation, but the only player brought in during the summer was Loic Remy on loan,” he said.
“You can’t just blame one person in Pardew. It’s a job lot.”

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