Where has it gone wrong for Newcastle?

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew saw his team lose 1-0 at Stoke on Monday night

Newcastle took their Premier League win less streak to six games last night, as they suffered a 1-0 defeat at Stoke.

The defeat means that the Magpies have now collected just three points this season from their six games.

Pressure

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is now under increasing pressure from fans and seemingly owner Mike Ashley.

The Magpies owner had to refute stories recently that Pardew would be sacked if his team lost against Stoke.

Sky Sports now claim that Pardew’s job would be safe even if the Magpies are beaten by Swansea next weekend.

However, after the Swansea game is an international break, which means that Mike Ashley would have time to find a replacement if decide to sack the former-Southampton boss.

The recent run of results has just not been good enough for a club who by their standards had spent relatively heavily this summer, so there is no surprise that the manager’s position is in question.

Pardew’s selections and tactical decisions have been questioned this season and the end of last season. The team’s record over that time has been very poor and the performances need to vastly improve and quickly. The Magpies are currently odds of 3/1 to be relegated to the Championship this season. 

Signings

I have to say that like a lot of Newcastle fans I was impressed by the number of new players that arrived at the club this summer. A number of the signings came with big reputations from their former clubs.

Dutch full-back Daryl Janmaat arrived at St James Park on the back of some decent performances at the World Cup for the Oranje. He seems like a very good replacement for the outgoing Mathieu Debuchy, but has made a mixed start to his Newcastle career.

French playmaker Remy Cabella also arrived with a big reputation, but he has not quite found his feet in the Premier League. The French international could turn out to be a good signing, but he needs to be employed in the right way.

The Magpies have been unlucky with Dutch forward Siem de Jong, as the former-Ajax captain is currently suffering from a thigh injury. De Jong has made just two Premier League appearances so far for the Magpies.

French striker Emmanuel Riviere arrived from Monaco this summer. His trouble in France seems to have been that he could not find consistency and he has failed to find the net in the Premier League so far.

He has at times been employed as a lone striker and he seems to struggle with the role. Only time will tell if the 25-year-old can prove to be a success in English football.

What all four of the above players have in common is that they are all newcomers to English football and have no Premier League experience. However, as some of Southampton’s new summer signings have proven it does not always take foreign players time to adapt to the Premier League.

Maybe Newcastle’s foreign players will need slightly more time to adapt to the rigours of the English top-flight. It is always a gamble signing foreign players, especially when they are not world-class foreign players.

The players that Newcastle signed this summer were not world-class, but they were not exactly bargain basement foreign players either. The players that arrived as previously mentioned joined the club with decent reputations, albeit from teams in lesser standard of leagues.

Players

Newcastle has had a history of finding diamonds in the rough and polishing them. They are then sold on at a profit. That cannot be done every summer. Ironically this summer the Magpies seemed to strengthen their squad.

The players are just not giving enough for the team, or manager this season. They have to take a huge slice of the blame for the poor start to the campaign.

Borrowed Time

To me Alan Pardew is slightly like Marmite, you either love him or hate him. When Newcastle was getting results Toon fans warmed to him. However now that the Magpies are struggling it seems the majority of fans now want Pardew to lose his job.

At the moment it is hard to see Newcastle’s season turning around, especially with a difficult trip to Swansea at the weekend. Alan Pardew may be given a stay of execution, but a defeat at Swansea would surely push him towards the St James exit door.

Should Alan Pardew be sacked by Newcastle?