Yet we've qualified for the Champions League three times before - but not won a domestic trophy since 1955!
Alan Shearer hit the nail on the head when he said:"Qualifying for a competition is NOT success!
"Winning it is!"
Mike Ashley wants Champions League qualification because it makes him more money than winning the League Cup ... so is the owner telling the gaffa when to play is first team players?
It could be a fact we have to face. Because one thing we have learnt during Pardew's spell at the club - he has NEVER crossed the white line and said a bad word against Ashley.
Chris Hughton said a couple of choice words after Ashley failed to deliver in a transfer window - and we all know what happened to him!
With Manchester City and Everton already knocked out of the competition, isn't it common sense to go and try win a competition we really CAN win?
PLEASE VOTE:
http://www.newcastleunited-mad.co.uk/interactive/voting_polls.asp
Alan Pardew: "Obviously, we want to win something - you shouldn't be in the game unless you want to win something.
"Winning for us would be actually qualifying for the Champions League - that would be winning for us, 100%. It would be like winning a trophy.
"But our fans would like to see a nice big cup, I am sure, and hopefully we can achieve that somewhere down the line.
"We are getting to the stage where there's a mentality and a quality in the group that could win a competition such as this.
"We have to just try to win every game that we enter and see where our goals are come Christmas-time when we can really start focusing on what we want to achieve this season."
"I know a little bit of the story of the club and from what I can remember, they haven't won any cups for quite a long time.
"For any club, that's what the fans want, the fans want a trophy - the Capital One Cup, the FA Cup, the Europa League, whatever, the Premier League, they just want a cup just to get that feeling of winning something.
"It would just lift up the place. It's a hard challenge, but we are here, that's our job, we have got to provide that.
"I think he's still, knowing Alex, smarting from that 3-0 defeat at St James' Park, and he will be looking to put that right on Wednesday, so we will need to be on our toes.
"I watched the game against Liverpool and I don't think United were at their best and that's dangerous, to play United when they haven't played well and won at a place like Liverpool.
"We are on our guard and we will go and hope to play well ourselves."