The problem with Pardew is simple - he has never won a single thing in his football career - as a footballer or a manager.
Absolute f*** all!
And when he goes into the Scunthorpe game worried because Brum won the competition and were relegated - that seriously is a concern.
Do we stay mediocre forever - or do we go out and try and WIN something?
We have lost our star players for decades (Andy Carroll and Jose Enrique are the latest) and they leave because THEY WANT TO WIN SOMETHING.
There is a big clue in there somewhere ... something to do with the words "win" and "something".
And the Carling Cup is the best chance we will ever have of bringing silverware to the club to replace the countless stuffed magpies in the trophy room.
Pardew keeps talking about the "passion" of the fans; well let's see the "passion" Joey Barton shows on the pitch feed through to the manager - and a will to WIN something.
Alan Pardew: “I guess what happened to Birmingham last year is not going to fill us all with great enthusiasm.
“I think if you feel you are strong enough to attack the Cup and the Premier League with the squad you have of course it is a target.
“You only need to look at our bench on Saturday and the players who did not make the bench – like Alan Smith – to know we are much stronger squad-wise to attack this competition and the FA Cup.
"Certainly when we got knocked out of the FA Cup by Stevenage, we will be looking to have a stronger squad. We are certainly buoyed by that.”