Progress pleases Pardew as thoughts turn to building for future

ALAN PARDEW will head for Liverpool tonight confident Newcastle have made significant progress since he first went into battle with the Reds.

Pardew stepped into the home dugout at the then St James’ Park for the first time on December 11 last year with the club in turmoil in the wake of Chris Hughton’s dismissal.

The fans were in open revolt after Hughton’s controversial exit — the man who had guided the Magpies back to the Barclays Premier League was summarily dispatched with his side making a fist of life in the top flight and replaced by, in the eyes of the most disgruntled locals at least, a new member of the so-called ‘Cockney Mafia’ in control of the club.

However, the players Pardew had inherited did him proud as they secured a 3-1 victory, and despite a transfer policy which has since seen four of the men who started that day — Andy Carroll, Jose Enrique, Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton — all leave, the curve has been largely upward ever since.

The 50-year-old said: “The biggest progress we have is stability at the football club because the results and the way we have conducted ourselves here at the training ground have suggested that hopefully we can have a period where the manager stays in place and we can build the team.”

Tonight’s game will take place at Anfield, and just as he did in his first match at the helm, Pardew will go into it with a striker in form and causing people to sit up and take notice.

Last year, it was Andy Carroll who marked his rapid development with a superb long-range strike to seal victory with his 10th goal of the campaign.

This time around, Carroll will be wearing the red of Liverpool having secured a £35million move just weeks later, and desperately searching for a foothold at his new club.

By contrast, the man who has assumed his mantle at Newcastle, free signing Demba Ba, has been a revelation, scoring his 14th goal of the campaign in the 2-0 St Stephen’s Day victory at Bolton which ended a six-game wait for a league win.

Pardew, who is bracing himself for the Senegal international’s departure on African Nations Cup duty next month, said: “He’s just one of those players who has everything, really, as a striker.

“There’s not much to his game that he hasn’t got, and that stands you in good stead. When any chance comes your way, you are going to have a good armoury to get a goal.”

Ba has overcome a knee problem to make himself available.