Alan Pardew has played down joke comments from Mike Ashley that he has just one game to save his Newcastle career, writes Lee Ryder in the Chronicle.
Ashley reportedly told a journalist from the Independent that he would fire Pardew if he lost at Stoke on Monday night.
The statement was described as the owner humouring the reporter outside the Golden Lion pub in Soho, London.
Pardew said today: “Yeah, but sometimes things are taken out of context.
“If it was a sit-down interview done in a serious manner, I’d be a lot more concerned than I am today, that’s for sure.”
Club sources have briefed the media that Pardew’s position is safe at the moment and that “patience” was the watch word.
Now Pardew is focused on the clash with the Potters. He said: “For anything in your life, you have to be focused on what is the goal. There’s a simple goal for us on Monday night: we want to get a win.
“We showed our spirit on the pitch on Wednesday when we were down to 10 men in extra time to get a winner. That shows we’re fighting.
“We’ve had two morale-boosting displays, the comeback draw against Hull and the win at Palace, and that gives us something to lean on.”
Pardew also feels that fit again Papiss Cisse will have a role to play in the Potteries.
He added: “He was very unfortunate last season because I don’t think he had that much opportunity. We started really well and Loic [Remy] was scoring, but in the second half of the season, we didn’t have the creative force of the first half of the season.
“This team will create more chances and if he can capture the form of two or three years ago, it will be a massive bonus. He’s a great character and we hope he can give us goals.”