More misery for Pardew (From Daily Echo)

More misery for ex-Saint Pardew

6:13pm Saturday 19th January 2013 in Sport

Alan Pardew

Adam Le Fondre came off the bench to dump ex-Saints boss Alan Pardew and his Newcastle team deep into relegation trouble as Reading staged another famous fightback.

The substitute struck twice inside six second-half minutes as the Magpies imploded having dominated the opening 45 minutes.

Pardew's men would have been out of sight by half-time had it not been for the heroics of keeper Adam Federici, but led only 1-0 courtesy of the returning Yohan Cabaye's superb 35th-minute free-kick.

But they wilted alarmingly after the break to lose a game they simply had to win in front of a disgruntled crowd of 49,411.

The Royals, who came from 2-0 down to beat West Brom 3-2 last week, left Tyneside having boosted their own survival hopes while significantly denting those of their hosts.

If ever there was a must-win game, this was it for Newcastle after a run of just two wins in 13 Barclays Premier League games which had seen them slide inexorably towards the scramble for top-flight survival.

Promoted Reading arrived on Tyneside as one of only four sides with a worse record than the Magpies, and therefore this was an opportunity the home side could not afford to let slip at the end of a difficult week.

Pardew thought he had landed Marseille striker Loic Remy, only to be gazumped at the death by QPR, and the battle to land the reinforcements Pardew so desperately needs, as well as that to retain the services of skipper Fabricio Coloccini, are ongoing.