Does Alan Pardew deserve more pressure from Nicola Cortese? (From Daily Echo)

Does Alan Pardew deserve more pressure from Nicola Cortese?

10:30am Tuesday 9th February 2010 in

By Simon Carter » Sports Editor

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Sports Editor Simon Carter comments on the pressure facing Alan Pardew

So now we all know – Nicola Cortese is not happy with Saints’ current league position following the £3m spending spree.

He admitted yesterday, via a statement issued to BBC Radio Solent, that recent League One results have “not been satisfactory”.

In an instant, it became common knowledge: Mr Cortese will not be the most patient of employers.

In that respect, he will not be alone among football club chairmen.

We have no way of knowing what Alan Pardew privately thought about his chairman’s comments, issued on the eve of two massive cup games.

By Saturday afternoon Pardew’s stock amongst Saints fans might be higher than ever.

If he wins both cup ties, it could be approaching legendary status.

Such is the fine line between success and failure, though, and two bad results – certainly one tonight – will no doubt see more grumbling on internet message boards.

As mentioned in yesterday’s Echo, Saints were just seven points off the top six after beating Exeter on Boxing Day. After drawing with the same opponents at the weekend, Saints were 15 points off the play-offs and realistically looking at a second season of third division football in 2010/11.

It is possible to understand both sides of the argument here.

Pardew will argue that he has signed virtually a new team, bar the goalkeeper and a couple of midfielders, and it takes time to bed everyone in.

Certainly, in recent weeks he has introduced three new defenders at the same time.

The fixtures have also been a bit unkind to Saints, as four of their last five league games have been away from the billiard table-like surface of St Mary’s.

Cortese must also understand the vagaries of English football a bit more. In the same way that Saints can raise their game to beat a Championship side in the FA Cup, so less glamorous clubs in the third division can raise their game against Saints.

All that is true. But so is the fact that Pardew has been given £3m to spend, a sum almost unheard of in the third tier.

Saints are playing teams who cost nothing to assemble, as was the case at Exeter.

Spending money is all well and good, but it does create extra expectation.

That is both a good and a bad thing.

Look at Mark Hughes. He lost just two of his first 17 Premiership games this season, yet was sacked in December. His Manchester City replacement has lost two of his first six … A rash of draws didn’t help Hughes at all, and Pardew has also had more than his fair share of stalemates recently.

Cortese will be aware of the results, but possibly not the stories that lie behind them.

Okay, Saints drew at Millwall and Exeter – Leeds lost at both grounds and the Lions beat Norwich there last weekend.

Saints drew at Brentford. The same Brentford that beat Norwich at Griffin Park.

Saints only drew at Carlisle with a last minute equaliser. That’s still better than Norwich and Charlton, who have both lost at Brunton Park this season.

In summary, the third division is full of clubs that will refuse to lay down and die when glamour clubs like Saints, Leeds and Norwich visit.

Especially when Saints have a squad still in the rebuilding process.

All that is in Pardew’s defence.

Now he must hope all his big money signings, by third tier standards, produce the goods.

Rickie Lambert and Dean Hammond certainly have, and Jose Fonte looks a class act at League One level. Others, like Lee Barnard and Jon Otsemobor, have yet to shine, but surely there has to be some patience – at St Mary’s, of all places, given recent managerial instability – in the stands and in the boardroom?

How many Saints fans realistically expected the club to finish in the top six this season?

Cortese must be aware that Saints are not going to thrash sides every week in League One.

Football, thankfully, does not work like that.

But at the same time, you can see why some fans are unhappy with playing 4-5-1 away to Exeter.

Pardew has a huge squad containing all his signings and those he inherited.

By being handed such large sums of money, Cortese has decreased the manager’s excuses if results are not impressive.

Anyway, the chairman has set his stall out.

Cortese isn’t at St Mary’s in order to oversee the team lifting the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

He is there to oversee promotion.

As I say, not many fans back in August would have expected a play-off challenge this season.

But perhaps Nicola Cortese did. Perhaps he thinks £3m worth of investment in the squad outweighs a 10-point penalty? Perhaps he is right.

Cortese has heaped extra pressure on Pardew ahead of Saints’ next league game, by stating he is “looking forward to the team getting back to winning ways” … at table-topping Norwich.

Easier said than done. Has Cortese seen the league table?

Norwich have recorded a club record 11 successive home league wins. It will be Saints’ hardest league game of the campaign, even harder than going to Elland Road before Christmas.

Surely Cortese won’t look at it this way – that the team which cost more is the one that will win.

But it’s safe to assume that should Saints fail to get three points against the team with the best recent home record in English football, the chairman won’t be particularly happy …

Comments(62)

batesieboy says...
10:48am Tue 9 Feb 10

Yes he does.