Alan Pardew has been told to gain a top-10 finish by Toon owner Mike Ashley, on our trip to the next level, so can we expect another season of nothingness before the campaign even starts?
In an interview to be shown on ESPN’s Newcastle v Arsenal coverage tonight, Pardew opened up about his rapport with Ashley.
He said: “I didn’t really have a relationship with them when I first came, it was reported that I had, but I hadn’t.
“It’s the same as anything, you learn the slight differences in people the more you get to know them.
“One thing I’ve learnt about Mike is that success drives him. If you look at his companies, that’s what he wants.
“And he does it in a way that sometimes can be brutal and harsh, but my job is to manage that, sometimes when he goes in that mode.
“He wants to be a top 10 team, and he wants that this year.
“I say to him what I think I need and he’ll argue that, but ultimately he wants to bring success to Newcastle like he has with Sports Direct.
“Hopefully we can do that, but we’re not going to do that by paying over the odds and trying to compete with the likes of Man City.
“This is a unique club, its got history about it.
“We have owners here who have made mistakes, and therefore you can always be critical about the club, but what you can’t be critical of is the passion that’s here, that will always endure, it will endure through the players and will endure today.
“The passion in the terraces will go onto the pitch, and you’ll never beat that.”