Newcastle United manager, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alan-c4244 Pardew admitted that he was glad not to experience the disappointment of not been able to qualify for the Champions league next season had they finished the league table at fourth place.
Chelsea won the coveted European competition in the previous term, beating Bayern Munich on a penalty shoot-out in the final. By doing so, the London outfit also registered their place in next season’s event at the expense of the fourth-ranked Tottenham
Hotspur.
Uefa has set a quota of only four English teams to compete in the illustrious competition, with title winners getting preference over the team which finishes fourth in the league.
The Magpies, who were in with a chance of securing a top four finish till the very last day of the season, eventually ended up with fifth spot; four points behind the unfortunate Spurs.
Pardew conceded that even though his side gave it their all in order to finish as high up in the table as they can, he would have been crestfallen had they secured the fourth place and still failed to claim a Champions League berth.
He told the reporters, “We would have been more heartbroken if we had finished fourth, but missed out to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 after they won the Champions League.”
However by finishing inside the top six, the Toon won a place in the Europa League next term and the Englishman was delighted to see European football return to Tyneside.
The Magpies tally of 65 points in the 2011/12 campaign was their highest in almost eight years. Having seen his side launch a spirited fight for a top four finish throughout the season, the 50-year old vowed to build on Newcastle’s achievements in the next
term but admitted that they need to set realistic goals ahead of them.
Pardew also revealed that his side will give higher precedence to the European competition, but won’t take their eyes of their Premier League goals next season.
He continued, “If all the players come through the European Championships and everybody is fit and well, then we'll go for a high finish.”
The Englishman, who oversaw a successful January transfer window, also unearthed that the pre-season preparations were under full swing these days, and hinted at signing a couple of new players in the summer window.
He added, “I'll start gearing up for the new season. Pre-season is all sorted, so we're just looking forward to what we hope will be a successful transfer window, with one or two in and taking the team forward.”
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