Newcastle boss Alan Pardew insists he can see the bigger picture as he tries to head off a yet another revolt on Tyneside.

The Magpies head for Pardew's former club Saints tomorrow yet to win a Barclays Premier League game this season and with the manager under fire once again after a summer transfer window which started positively, but ended with fans' favourite Hatem Ben Arfa being shipped out on loan to Hull and no last-minute arrivals.

Sources on Tyneside have denied claims that the 53-year-old has just two games in which to save his job, while speculation has suggested owner Mike Ashley is once again ready to sell in order to buy Rangers, although prospective purchasers remain as thin on the ground as they have been for the last six years.

But amid all the furore, Pardew, who this week received an 85 per cent disapproval rating in a newspaper poll of more than 5,000 people, is remaining steadfast.

He said: "Sometimes, when you're at a club for a long time - and I'm the second longest serving manager in the Premier League now - it becomes a little more difficult, especially at a club of this size.

"People ask, 'Why haven't you won a trophy?', but we haven't won a trophy at this club since 1969. It's very, very difficult.

"I have to try to look at the bigger picture - a bigger picture than the local media and some of our fans - but I also understand there's an immediate world we live in. Immediate results are important, and I can't take my eye off that either.

"But by the same token, I do have to have a bigger vision. I think we've got better, and we're a stronger club than when I arrived, a lot stronger. I don't know how else you can gauge it."

Pardew is aiming to avoid a third successive St Mary's loss in charge of the Toon - Saints having won the corresponding game 2-0 in 2012/13 and 4-0 last March.