The Toon in Troubled Water

The difficulty of managing a mid-table teams could easily been overlooked. Although free from title expectation and relegation threat, it is easier said than done to maintain a sustainable team development, while retaining satisfaction of supporters and support from directors board. The recent dismissal of Michael Laudrup at Swansea is a classic example. Newcastle, who is one position above Swansea, is facing similar crisis that put Alan Pardew's future in serious doubt.

From being awarded manager of the month to three losses in a row in February, conceding ten goals without answering back, the two key differences in Newcastle between this period is the departure of Joe Kinnear and Yohan Cabaye. Few would argue that losing Cabaye was a huge blow to the Magpies halfway through a season which they were getting stronger and stronger.

He was on the verge of joining Arsenal before the summer transfer window closed, but Newcastle stood firm to block the move, while Cabaye, after absenting a few games to calm down, moved on to produce one of his finest season in career. The prospect of European football once again reignited at St James Park. 

 

His phenomenal performance aroused interest from Paris. Moving ahead of World Cup is debatable, but how many players in the world can afford to reject the opportunity to wear Paris St Germain's jersey? Mike Ashley clear understands football is a business. A foreign move minimises the chance that Cabaye would come back to haunt them, while it is also a good gesture to thank the Frenchman's contribution in the past two and a half seasons. There was indeed very little reason to decline the bid.

The problem is Mike Ashley seemed to have no intention to bring in a replacement. The impact of losing the brain of midfield was obvious on Wednesday. Without a distributor, they looked clueless in how to unlock Tottenham's defence, which was far from solid. Fullbacks David Santon and Mathieu Debuchy in particular suffer from the lack of playmakers, that their forward runs were often unspotted and unrecognised, which ultimately left Sammy Ameobi and Luke De Jong exposed to one-on-one situation. It was as if Pardew was driving a decent car without engine.

More worrying is that the passion of the players has vanished. Mohammed Sissoko and Papiss Cisse were the focal point of booing when both looked uninterested to put on a fight. Late in the game, four Tottenham players were rushing to receive a cross from fastbreak, but only young defender Paul Dummett, who replaced Santon who had a horrid night, threw his body out to block the shot. Together with the 3-0 derby loss at home to Sunderland, Pardew appears to have lost the magic to inspire his side.

outnumbered, outperformed

With three months to go, Newcastle is now stuck. They have only the league to compete in. With twelve games to go, they can declare to be relatively safe from dropping zone, but also not quite in the race for European football. It will almost certainly be an improvement to their league position last year, but what should the fans expect? Have they shifted their ambition of European football to next season? However, can they keep up with the pace of development of rivals like Everton, Tottenham and Southampton?  The comedy around Joe Kinnear and departure of key players make the club less attractive to quality players. The future of Newcastle is among the mist.

Alan Pardew has led Newcastle to numerous memorable moments in the past four years. Nevertheless, more than once the supporters cast doubt over his suitability to the role. He characteristically survived among the turbulence last season and has recovered to drive Newcastle to where they are now. As a reward to his commitment, more importantly to the fans' support, Mike Ashley needs to rate club development ahead of financial return in managing the Magpies. Otherwise, by the end of season, it will only look even more depressing at St James Park.