Pardew: I've let NUFC down

Alan Pardew has taken it upon himself to shoulder the blame for the 4-0 defeat to Wigan at the weekend.

Personally I think it's wrong for him to do it as the players deserve their fair share of the blame for their inept first half performance. Just my opinion of course.

Perhaps it's a motivational thing heading to Stamford Bridge tomorrow evening? Maybe Pardew is trying to be clever apportioning blame pretty much to himself? We've seen it happen before, most notably after the 5-0 defeat to Spurs earlier on in the season, so perhaps he is trying it again?

“It was a bad day at the office, but for reasons,” he told The Journal. “I think part of the psychology was that, with all due respect to Wigan, it was them we were playing and not Chelsea that was three days around the corner."

“I’m not attributing any kind of blame here, I’m just saying that collectively we all got it wrong. The psychology of the team and the tactical side of things is my responsibility, and I felt that I let the club down a little bit as well. On Wednesday, I have to make sure I don’t get that wrong."

“The only thing I worry about in terms of Wednesday night is making sure that my team is motivated at the right level. That will probably mean bringing them down rather than building them up, like I was trying to do on Saturday."

“I don’t think we’re under any illusions. Tactically, we made mistakes as a coaching team and myself. I think the psychology didn’t work for us and, with no disrespect to Wigan, the performance they put in was probably above themselves"

“All those factors resulted in that result, and we all take responsibility for it. Therefore, we all need to make the same response on Wednesday night.”

Perhaps this is the kick in the backside the players needed? If they play anything like they did in the first half against Wigan at Stamford Bridge they will be on the end of a hammering which I am sure they will all want to avoid.

It seems to me though as if the players have got off lightly, and I'm not a huge fan of that. They take the plaudits when things are going well so should be prepared to, as they say, take the rough with the smooth.

A manager can only do so much in the build up to the match, but he can do nothing about individual errors or poor performance on the pitch. Well, he can, but only three subs are allowed remember, which poses a problem when virtually of the team are playing poorly!

Has Alan Pardew let NUFC down? Not for me...