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Pardew: Newcastle survival is my responsibility now
Following the arrival of five new players in the January transfer window, the Englishman believes he can have no excuses if the Magpies fail to stay in the Premier League
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has claimed that the club's Premier League survival is now down to him following the arrival of five new faces in January.The Tyneside club, who currently sit 16th in the Premier League, have welcomed Moussa Sissoko, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Yoan Gouffran, Mathieu Debuchy and Massadio Haidara to St James' Park this month.
And, ahead of his 100th game in charge of the Magpies against Aston Villa on Tuesday, the Englishman has admitted he can have no excuses should his side be relegated.
"I think the challenge for me is to get a team quickly here. We've worked on that. The importance of the fixture is hard for them to comprehend," he told reporters.
"What happened to this club four years ago at Aston Villa [when Newcastle were relegated] is a message that will be difficult to portray to them unless you felt it.
"The most important thing is that we get performances and we hit the ground running with this team. There are some players that you just know are at the level are going to hit the ground running and I don't envisage Moussa Sissoko having a problem in this division or settling in quickly."
The 51-year-old also underlined the importance of the club's owner Mike Ashley witnessing Newcastle's recent demoralising home defeat to relegation rivals Reading.
"I think it was a significant move that the owner was there [for the 2-1 defeat by Reading]," Pardew added.
"In some ways, it was a watershed game in terms of the problems we were having. His reaction and that of Derek [Llambias, the managing director] has been very strong.
"Therefore, when I turn around at Aston Villa I'm going to see a lot stronger bench and it gives me a much greater chance of turning a situation around or improving a situation, or actually making sure the situation doesn't change.
"I think the signings have shown he [Ashley] is committed to the club because you don't sign players at that age if you're not committed to the club. If it was a short-term option he probably would have given me the signal to go and buy some older players to make sure we stayed in the division. If they were any good next year, it wouldn't really matter.
"His vision is much more long-term than that and that's why we've bought the players we have. That didn't happen because of the Reading game.
"All those players were well in the system and most of them well along the road to being finalised before the window but we've accelerated certainly one of those from this summer and certainly one of those a week ahead of schedule. So it might have cost Mike more money but we needed to do it.
"The players have helped, they understand I have to pick a team now that's right for Newcastle every week and they have to accept the decision and I won't be making too many excuses for them."
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