Newcastle United manager http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alan-c4244 Pardew insists that qualifying for the Champions League spot this season would be as big as winning a trophy.
The Magpies finished at fifth place last season, defying expectations and managing victories against the likes of Manchester United and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786.
Many credit Alan Pardew for Newcastle’s impressive run in the league last season, and perhaps it is justified. Pardew received plaudits for his work and contribution, and was chosen as manager of the season by pundits and journalists alike.
Even though his appointment as manager at the time was unpopular, Pardew has become a local favourite at Tyneside, and is determined to build upon last season’s success.
Newcastle only fell shy of the fourth spot by a point, but that would not have mattered on account of Chelsea winning the Champions League.
The club still managed to attain European football as it qualified for the Europa League and remains an attractive destination for many up-and-coming football stars. During the summer, the club was the preferred destination of players such as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mathieu-Debuchy-c24682
and FC Twente’s Brazilian centre-back http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Douglas-c11600.
Alan Pardew yesterday spoke to the press and said that qualifying for the Champions League would be as big as winning a trophy for Newcastle. The manager insists that it will be the same thing as ending the club’s 43-year trophy drought.
The Magpies will travel to Old Trafford tonight as they prepare to face Manchester United in the Capital One Cup, and will hope to get a result and win the tournament. The last trophy the club won was the European Fairs Cup back in 1969. Newcastle has since
not been able to bring a trophy to Tyneside.
Speaking about Champions League qualification, Pardew said:
"Winning for us would be actually qualifying for the Champions League. It would be like winning a trophy. But our fans would like to see a nice big cup, I am sure, and hopefully we can achieve that somewhere down the line.”
"We are getting to the stage where there's a mentality and a quality in the group that could win a competition such as this.”
“We have to just try to win every game that we enter and see where our goals are come Christmas-time when we can really start focusing on what we want to achieve this season."
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