No matter which way you look at it ... we are in the relegation fight ... and (apart from Man City) we had a dream draw to the start of the season when the fixtures came out in June.
Pardew said himself: "City is a tough nut to crack, but we are looking at a good start. We should be in the top half of the table come October, then we can push on from there."
We are joint bottom of the Premier League table, with odds on for the drop Burnley.
Now what does that tell us?
A good squad of players? Pardew claims it is the best since he arrived at St James' Park.
These are the winners and the shakers of Pardew's dealings ...
Yohan Cabaye
TRANSFERS IN
2011-01-05 MF Hatem Ben Arfa Olympique de Marseille £2m loan fee + £5m
2011-02-10 FW Shefki Kuqi Free agent Free
2011-05-25 MF Mehdi Abeid Lens Free
2011-06-10 MF Yohan Cabaye Lille £4,300,000
2011-06-17 FW Demba Ba West Ham United Free
2011-06-18 MF Sylvain Marveaux Rennes Free
2011-08-09 MF Gabriel Obertan Manchester United £3,250,000
2011-08-30 DF Davide Santon Internazionale £5,000,000
2011-08-30 GK Rob Elliot Charlton Athletic £300,000
2012-01-17 FW Papiss Cissé SC Freiburg £9,000,000 s
1 July 2012 MF Romain Amalfitano Reims Free
6 July 2012 MF Gaël Bigirimana Coventry City £1,000,000
31 July 2012 DF Curtis Good Melbourne Heart £500,000
15 August 2012 MF Vurnon Anita Ajax £6,700,000
4 January 2013 DF Mathieu Debuchy Lille £5.5 million
22 January 2013 DF Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa Montpellier £6.7 million
23 January 2013 FW Yoan Gouffran Bordeaux £1.4 million
24 January 2013 DF Massadio Haïdara Nancy £2 million
24 January 2013 MF Moussa Sissoko Toulouse £2.1 million
31 January 2013 DF Kevin Mbabu Servette £1 million
4 July 2013 MF Olivier Kemen Metz £350,000
5 August 2013 ST Loïc Rémy Queens Park Rangers £2 million
6 June 2014 FW Ayoze Pérez Tenerife £1.6m
9 June 2014 MF Jack Colback Sunderland Free
2 July 2014 MF Siem de Jong Ajax £7.5m
13 July 2014 MF Remy Cabella Montpellier £8.0m
16 July 2014 FW Emmanuel Rivière Monaco £6.3m
17 July 2014 DF Daryl Janmaat Feyenoord £5m
18 July 2014 ST Facundo Ferreyra Shekta Donesk Loan
9 August 2014 GK England Karl Darlow Nottingham Forest £3m
9 August 2014 DF England Jamaal Lascelles Nottingham Forest £4m
Total spending: ~ £94,500,000
Andy Carroll
TRANSFERS OUT
2011-01-31 FW Andy Carroll Liverpool £35m
2011-05-25 DF Sol Campbell Free agent Free
2011-05-25 FW Shefki Kuqi Oldham Athletic Free
2011-06-16 MF Kevin Nolan West Ham United £4,000,000
2011-06-23 MF Ben Tozer Northampton Town Free
2011-06-30 MF Patrick McLaughlin York City Free
2011-06-30 DF Matthew Grieve Ashington Free
2011-06-30 MF Daniel Leadbitter Torquay United Free
2011-06-30 FW Andy Mogwo West Auckland Town Free
2011-06-30 MF Ryan Page North Shields Free
2011-06-30 GK Ben Robinson Trafford Free
2011-06-30 FW Aaron Spear ÍBV Free
2011-08-04 MF Wayne Routledge Swansea City £2,000,000
2011-08-12 DF José Enrique Liverpool £6,000,000
2011-08-26 MF Joey Barton Queens Park Rangers Free
2011-09-16 MF Fabio Zamblera Free agent Free
2011-11-21 MF Kazenga LuaLua Brighton & Hove Albion £1,000,000
2012-02-15 MF Jóan Símun Edmundsson Viking FK Free
2012-04-01 GK Ole Söderberg Molde FK Free
1 June 2012 MF Alan Smith Milton Keynes Dons Free
1 June 2012 FW Peter Løvenkrands Birmingham City Free
1 June 2012 MF Danny Guthrie Reading Free
1 June 2012 FW Samuel Adjei Free agent Free
1 June 2012 FW Phil Airey Blyth Spartans Free
1 June 2012 MF Ryan Donaldson Gateshead Free
1 June 2012 DF Stephen Folan Limerick Free
1 June 2012 DF Tamás Kádár Roda JC Free
1 June 2012 MF Greg McDermott Stockport County Free
1 June 2012 DF Patrick Nzuzi Free agent Free
1 June 2012 FW Ryan McGorrigan Gateshead Free
1 June 2012 MF Daniel Taylor Oldham Athletic Free
1 June 2012 DF Jeff Henderson Sligo Rovers Free
1 June 2012 DF Michael Hoganson Derby County Free
1 June 2012 GK Alex Baird Free agent Free
1 June 2012 FW Billy Ions Leeds United Free
1 June 2012 MF Ben Sayer Free agent Free
1 June 2012 DF Louis Storey Ashington Free
1 June 2012 DF Lee Toland Glenavon Free
2 July 2012 FW Leon Best Blackburn Rovers £3,000,000
5 July 2012 GK Fraser Forster Celtic £2,000,000
4 January 2013 FW Demba Ba Chelsea £7 million
31 January 2013 FW Xisco Córdoba Free
31 January 2013 MF Marcus Maddison St. Johnstone Free
31 January 2013 DF Michael Riley Free agent Free
31 January 2013 FW JJ Hooper Free agent Free
31 January 2013 FW Dennis Knight Free agent Free
1 March 2013 FW Nile Ranger Free agent Free
1 July 2013 LW Yven Moyo Free agent Free
1 July 2013 CB Alex Nicholson Free agent Free
1 July 2013 RB Lee Desmond Free agent Free
1 July 2013 RB Alex Kitchen St Johnstone Free
1 July 2013 RW Esteban Cardona Lopez Free agent Free
1 July 2013 MF Bradden Inman Crewe Alexandra £100,000
1 July 2013 RB Danny Simpson Queens Park Rangers Free
3 July 2013 RB James Perch Wigan Athletic £750,000
15 July 2013 GK Steve Harper Hull City Free
16 May 2014 MF Dan Gosling Bournemouth Free
23 May 2014 FW Shola Ameobi Gaziantep B.B. Free
23 May 2014 MF Steven Logan Annan Athletic Free
23 May 2014 MF Brandon Miele Glebe Rangers Free
23 May 2014 GK Jonathan Mitchell Derby County Free
23 May 2014 MF Conor Newton Rotherham United Free
23 May 2014 MF Michael Richardson Free Agent Free
28 June 2014 DF James Tavernier Wigan Athletic £400k
1 July 2014 MF Romain Amalfitano Dijon Free
17 July 2014 DF Mathieu Debuchy Arsenal £12m
Total income: ~ £73,250,000