Alan Pardew, if nothing else, seems to carry the all-too-rare quality of saying what’s on his mind. The no-filter approach isn’t rare for a soccer manager, but the under-fire Newcastle boss isn’t afraid to rankle anyone: fans, players, coaches, media, the list goes on and on.
And the Newcastle boss has admitted that he comes off as arrogant. It’s not exactly shocking that he knows it, as this is a man who has criticized fans for being critical of losses and said it’s not “realistic” to expect the club to compete for European places (even though he achieved that objective just two years ago at this club).
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When asked about the pressure of managing at a time when fans are staging protests about the fact that he is their manager, Pardew combined all of the above personality traits into one hilarious run. After admitting that the desire for his firing has made times quite tough on his family and friends, here’s what he said.
From the BBC:“I don’t shy away from it and I’m not going to hide,” Pardew said of the increasing speculation.
“I’m not holding any grievance against the media, or some of our more militant fans, or the guys who printed the posters.
“I’ve been out and about and had a few fans telling me their opinions, quite strongly. A few cars are diving a bit too close to me.
“I get it. I will go home, shine my manager of the year trophy and give myself a bit of confidence.”
To translate: Look, it is not fun when fans try to run me off the road while I’m off running errands, nor do I like the lady at the check out line cursing me out about Hatem Ben Arfa. But if you all remember, I won a pretty darn big award back in 2011-12 doing this exact job. So, I’m not sweating it.