Pardew to tame Toon squad

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew admits he has to win over his new players before the weekend’s match against Liverpool.

Saturday’s game comes after an emotionally charged week on Tyneside following the departure of the immensely popular manager Chris Hughton.

Pardew started the second day of his new job with the threat of a player revolt and supporter unrest.

And ahead of the Premier League clash with Roy Hodgson’s men, he admitted:

“I have to get the dressing room right.”

“I think it’s very important we get the level of the players right.”

“We carry a couple of players from Liverpool the city, so I’m sure they’ll be pretty fired up for it.”

Indeed Pardew hopes to be able to rely on influential Newcastle captain Kevin Nolan while Joey Barton is also pushing for a return after a groin strain.

The new manager has urged his players to focus on the task in hand and not get too sucked in by any supporter unrest.

Pardew said: “If they get too hyped you can find yourself with 10 players on the field if somebody gets sent off.”

“That’s something I definitely don’t want against Liverpool because they keep the ball so well.”

“We’ve got to be very focused on going about this game the right way.”

Pardew goes in against the team that denied him the FA Cup in the shape of Liverpool.

Liverpool are still without captain Steven Gerrard for the trip to Newcastle. And Pardew added: “You have to say it’s a bonus for us to play a Liverpool side without him.”

“He’s a talisman for them, and a great player, so that’s some news, but they have picked up recently, and are starting to flex their muscles.”

“It’ll be a big scalp for us, and a nice coup, if we can beat them.”

United’s training this week has been organised by Peter Beardsley and Steve Stone who will both have some input into the team after taking temporary charge this week.

However, Newcastle are without long-term absentees such as Hatem Ben Arfa and Dan Gosling while Tim Krul will get the nod again ahead of Steve Harper, who is back in training.