Pardew's Excuse Reveals The Inexcusable

Skepticism is rightly rampant among Newcastle fans over Alan Pardew’s declaration that ending summer with a lack of reinforcements at center-back was done on purpose so as not to block the development of two reserve defenders, one of whom is barely old enough to go to junior prom and the other of whom would need to develop a few extra inches of height to be a top choice at the position. By that logic, Demba Ba and Papiss Cissé are mistakes because they’re in Adam Campbell’s way.

Back in my days covering sports for a living, I learned to treat the odder pronouncements of managers and coaches the same way political scientists treat Chinese propaganda: Pay more attention to the purpose than the content. The potential reasons why Pardew would advance such a lame excuse are more interesting than the excuse itself.

One possible reason Pardew took the player development route is he hoped it might play better in what’s been reported to be an unsteady locker room than yet another shoulder-shrugging reiteration of the club’s persnickety transfer policy. “See everyone? Mike and Derek are just trying to protect the players we already have whom we value so much, just like you.” One would think the players would be smarter than to swallow that line, but in telling it to the press Pardew apparently thought it might play with the public, and whether soccer players as a group are more gullible than the general public is an open question. At any rate, Pardew’s comments seem to dovetail with what Luke Edwards of the Telegraph termed last week to be “dark rumblings” of dissatisfaction within the club.

Another plausible reason Pardew declined to defend the transfer policy is that the transfer policy is too dysfunctional, at least in this case, for him to defend. A bad excuse is the best evidence of no excuse. And regardless of how much one might admire Newcastle United’s transfer approach, there is really no credible explanation, in this instance, for going into European competition with a back line this thin.

Somewhere on Planet Earth, at this moment, roams a decent center-back on some other club whom Newcastle could have secured over the summer at a reasonable cost. No, he wouldn’t have been a rock-solid bargain. The acquisition wouldn’t have come with the meth rush of a possible multi-million-pound profit down the line. It wouldn’t have been the kind of deal that Derek Llambias could brag about one day with profanity-laced bravado in a Newcastle bistro. But it would’ve been enough to allow the club to compete seriously in an expanded season without putting its most valuable players at risk of overwork and injury. A transfer policy without even that much wiggle room is, indeed, indefensible.

We at the blog applaud the way Newcastle United is assembling its club. How could any reasonable fan not applaud it, given the recent results? But there comes a point at which even a sound policy needs to bend so that its club doesn’t break. It wouldn’t have been a coup to bring in a serviceable center-back at approximately the price a serviceable center-back is worth. It would’ve been merely smart. Newcastle United needs to learn when smart is enough.

Comments

[geordiepat]

Best Toon blog on the net.

[Finn Thompson]

Cisse and ba arent in campbells way, hes 17 theyre both 27, their careers will be on the way down when he only reaches 21, they can only aid his development. Think before u blog next time.

[Bob]

You misunderstood, Finn. I'm saying the idea that Cissé and Ba are in Campbell's way is just as ridiculous as Pardew saying that a new center-back would've been in Streete and Tavernier's way.

[Pjwhitfield]

Finn Thompson clearly missed the whole point of this blog.

Think before you turn your PC on