Pardew reveals Ba apology

Peaches and Herb - Reunited Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has revealed that star striker Demba Ba has offered an apology for the outbursts of his entourage earlier on in the week.

Pardew was blasted by Ba's brother who labelled the silver devil "crazy" following his decision to demote Demba to the bench, which was then quickly followed by Ba himself stating he was unhappy with "some things" whilst his agent took to the press to warn that if Ba kept getting dropped that he'd be looking to move on.

It's been the main talking point of the week really with the majority seeming to believe that Ba shoud "man up" a bit and stop spitting the dummy. However I'm pleased that a line is seemingly trying to be drawn on the matter and hopefully it can be put behind us, at least until January when the speculation starts again.

"Demba hasn't been playing well, he came on [at Everton] and proved what a great player he is, and he is a great player, but we all need to focus our minds on the job in hand," Pardew told The Independent in his pre-match press conference. "He's an intelligent boy. Things have been said from within his camp which I think have been unfortunate. We've had somewhat of an apology for that as well."

Ba was rested in midweek along with a whole host of senior stars as a largely youth and reserve side was tasked with getting a result in the Europa League match against S.C. Maritimo, and it seems as though Ba's absence was just a rest as he will be back in the starting eleven later on today when Norwich visit St James' Park.

"Make no mistake, he'll start [against Norwich]. Him and [Papiss] Cissé will start. We need them back to their best because they haven't been at their best until that second half at Everton when I thought, suddenly, 'here we go'. All teams go through periods when you're not performing at your very best," he added. "We're kind of in that zone but picking up points," Pardew added.

I'm just hopeful that it can all be done with now. Yes I'm sure Ba was annoyed but there are also ways and means of getting your point across and getting all and sundry to blast the manager in public isn't one of them. If anything it reflected badly on Ba more than anything else.

Now the focus can be shifted back onto the football without this whole circus going on in the background. Good management from Pardew, or a realisation of being in the wrong from the Ba camp, I don't know, but all of that going on in the background was no good for Newcastle United.

Now it's time to move on!