Alan Pardew
has responded angrily to suggestions that his head-butt at Hull City should have resulted in
his sacking.
The Newcastle United manager faces severe punishment from the FA – likely to be a touchline or stadium ban – after clashing on Saturday with David Meyler, the Hull and Republic of Ireland midfielder, but will keep his job.
Pardew is under contract until 2020 and Newcastle acted swiftly to address the matter, fining Pardew £100,000 and giving him an official warning. A club statement read: “We have held discussions with Alan, who has offered his sincere apologies to the club, and it is clear he deeply regrets his actions”.
Graeme Souness, who managed Newcastle from 2004 to 2006, said it was "a sackable offence" and that Pardew had "gone too far". Pardew responded by highlighting the former Liverpool midfielder's own moment of controversy as a manager when he enraged Fenerbahce fans in 1996 during a spell in charge of Galatasaray by planting a club flag in the centre circle after victory in a fierce derby match.
On the calls from Souness for him to be axed, Pardew said: “It’s a bit strong coming from him. He’s the man who took a flag and planted it in the middle of a derby situation, so coming from him it’s a bit harsh.”
Touchline trouble
The FA is set to launch an investigation into the incident, which flared up in the 72nd minute at the KC Stadium and resulted in Pardew being sent to the stands. It was a new low for the 52-year-old, who has a history of touchline trouble.
He escaped action after a foul-mouthed rant at the Manchester City manager, Manuel Pellegrini, in January but was given a two-match touchline ban and fined in 2012 for pushing assistant referee Peter Kirkup. During his time as West Ham manager he had an altercation with Arsene Wenger in 2006 but it was the Arsenal manager who was fined over the incident, while Pardew was cleared of misconduct by the FA.
Pardew admitted he would have to change his style in the dugout and resist the temptation to get close to the action by staying in his seat. “I’ve thought about it before. I think when I had the push with the linesman I thought that perhaps I should sit down. But sometimes, you know, you just want to be involved and I’ve always been involved by being on the sideline. But I don’t think it can harm my managementship to sit there and maybe I’m at an age now where I need to.”
Pardew's latest brush with authority took the gloss off what should have been remembered as a handsome 4-1 win for Newcastle. A double from Moussa Sissoko, Loic Remy's 13th goal of the season and Vurnon Anita's first goal in the Premier League blew away Hull in ruthless fashion. Curtis Davies headed in to give the home side hope at 2-1 but they had already shot themselves in the foot.
The flashpoint came soon afterward Sissoko scored Newcastle’s third, when Meyler nudged Pardew as he looked to grab the ball for a throw-in and the Newcastle manager pushed his forehead into the side of the Hull player’s face. Pardew watched from an executive box as Anita rattled in a fourth.
It was Hull's heaviest home defeat of the season but Steve Bruce said: "The whole thing is going to be about Alan Pardew rather than the result. In that respect it's decent for us. It's over for us. We accept his apology.
'Huge ramifications'
"I'm sure there will be huge ramifications and rightly so. I'm not going to shy away from that. I've never seen anything like it. Is it a head-butt? He has put his head there but we'll let the FA and powers that be deal with it. We're obviously outraged that the incident has happened and it's a good job Meyler didn't react in the way most people would have done. Then Alan would have been in big trouble."
Guardian Service
