Newcastle United: Alan Pardew Needs Team to Play to Potential to Save His Job

Newcastle United is a club in peril, and with manager Alan Pardew's job in the balance after a gutless display culminated in a 4-0 loss at Southampton on Saturday, via The Guardian's Paul Doyle, circumstances might not improve any time soon.

News outlets are awash with the news that Pardew's tenure on the Tyne is almost at an inglorious end, with his successor allegedly lined up before the 53-year old is even out the door at St. James Park.  BBC Sport have spoken of Hull boss Steve Bruce's displeasure of being touted as Pardew's replacement—but all of that is window dressing to hide the real issues at the heart of Pardew's position.

There are several serious problems which are threatening the security of Pardew's job, and they all begin and end with the team.

One prominent issue involves the state of the squad following the transfer window.

Newcastle's performance at St. Mary's Stadium on Saturday was so utterly devoid of drive, determination and ambition that Pardew cannot possibly be blamed for all of it.  It reeked of a squad rife with a lack of understanding, both with one another and with the tactics the manager is trying to implement. 

It leaves Newcastle glued to the bottom of the Premier League table, having taken just two points from the possible 12.

A lot of this can be attributed to the transfer window, where an influx of several players has left the squad in a state of disarray.

There have been some notable arrivals in Newcastle, granted.  Thus far, the liveliest appears to be Remy Cabella, formerly of Montpellier, who has looked capable albeit being culpable for defensive errors aplenty with the rest of his new colleagues.  In contrast, Emmanuel Riviere, also formerly of Ligue 1, has yet to get off the mark after a string of indifferent performances. 

Once Loic Remy's loan period expired, Pardew knew he would be short of goals—granted, the long-term injury to Siem de Jong, via Louise Taylor of the Guardian, could not have been foreseen.  Yet his new men have failed to take chances, or show the particular hunger to do so.

But it's another area—an area notably left untouched over the summer—where Newcastle's greatest flaws were highlighted on Saturday. 

The two centre-backs, Mike Williamson and Fabricio Coloccini, were at the epicentre of Newcastle's abject performance.  Fraught with positional errors, glaring lack of spacial awareness and with drive and determination nowhere to be seen, the pair put in an embarrassing shift on the South Coast.

With funds at his disposal over the summer, Pardew could have shored up his centre of defence, certainly.  But if his new attackers and midfielders are slow to find their best form for Newcastle, who's to say a new centre-back would fit in immediately?

The whole conundrum shapes up to suggest the players, like the fans, have no faith in their gaffer.

So what has changed for Newcastle?  Certainly, this downward spiral has been in effect for some time now: only five points snatched from the last 12 league games, per Doyle's Guardian report.  Yet only two summers ago, the Magpies were in dreamland after a fifth placed Premier League finish, something not achieved since 2004 and the days of Alan Shearer and Sir Bobby Robson.

Pardew's current squad isn't dramatically better or worse than its 2012 counterpart.  Yet the glut of English players in the side of yesteryear is absent now.

Be it the language barrier of having so many foreign players or simply the fact that many of the names from 2012 are no longer in the north-east, Pardew has a dangerous disconnect with his players.

This could well be seen as Pardew's own undoing, if it were not for the fact that Newcastle's board took an advanced role in this summer's transfer dealings (per The Journal's Stuart Rayner).

Signings taking time to adapt to new surroundings is no alien concept.  Yet this Newcastle side replete with new names was up against Southampton, who started six of their own summer signings in the 4-0 win.  Ronald Koeman's men, judging by their performance, had no trouble assimilating their new boys to the attacking football the Saints' faithful love to see.

So why can't Pardew's new signings—or his stalwarts, like Williamson and Coloccini, for that matter—play for their manager the way Koeman's men can?

The squad, talented as it is, is aimless on the pitch.  There are areas of real strength—full-back is one, with Daryl Janmaat joining the talented Davide Santon and Massadio Haidara.  Yet these aren't translating to performances of Premier League calibre on matchday.

Generally speaking, the squad aren't enjoying their football, and they certainly aren't enjoying playing for Pardew.  For a squad of genuine quality in several areas, the lack of ambition displayed on Saturday was staggering.  The drama surrounding the club and its ownership can't help, either (via Damian Spellman, The Independent).

There are an awful lot of factors transpiring to make Newcastle United the most dramatic club in English football at the moment.  Yet, as the old adage confirms, it's a results-driven business—and if the players aren't playing up to their potential, the results won't come.

Pardew looks set to be the next managerial casualty of this young Premier League season.  Unless, of course, he can conjure up some sort of scheme to win the hearts and minds of an entire squad and an entire city.

If he can and start leading the Magpies to some respectable results in the process, it'll be the crowning glory of his career.