Pardew on the brink

Southampton 4 Newcastle 0

A poor start to the Premier League season has seen the 53-year-old — already a divisive figure in the north east — come under increasing pressure.

A recent poll showed 85% of supporters did not want Pardew to stay on as manager and they made that clear throughout Saturday’s 4-0 defeat at Southampton.

Chants punctuated the thrashing at St Mary’s, while a ‘Pardew out’ banner was held up in the away end and one angry fan even encroached on the pitch at full time.

Pardew did not attend the post-match press conference — nor did any of his staff — and only spoke to the broadcast media. Asked if the fans’ criticism was unfair, he told Sky: “They’re fair because you can’t get beaten 4-0 as Newcastle manager. I’ve had it a few times and at this club it is tough to take.

“We just have to put ourselves on the line, really, and be brave. Certainly, today, for us we have a bit more quality than we showed today, for sure, and we need to get that on the pitch.”

Pardew was apologetic after a miserable display from his side, while Southampton manager Ronald Koeman was sympathetic to his counterpart’s cause.

“I understand how difficult the situation is for them, and for Pardew, the manager,” he said.

“It’s football, it’s going fast and if it’s going bad you have to wait to win again and if you are winning you have to be prepared over what is going to come. That’s our job and if we don’t like it we have to do something about it.”

In the build-up to this game, Pardew pleaded for patience as he looks to blood in a host of summer acquisitions — a problem Koeman is making light work of.

Graziano Pelle, one of six recent signings starting for Saints, netted a first-half brace, which Jack Cork and Morgan Schneiderlin complemented with efforts after the break.

“We had a great start,” Koeman said. “We spoke about it because in our last match at home against West Bromwich we didn’t do it in a good way and the tempo was too low.

“We had a great start, a high tempo and the big difference was we were really pressing in the beginning, we didn’t give them the time to build up.

“We scored two fast goals and that gave us the confidence to play.”