Does Pardew have to take some blame for defeat?

Let me just say that after watching Newcastle's defeat to Everton that I do not think many of the players performed anywhere near their ability with the exception of Best who took his goal well and the young Shane Ferguson.


That being said I do not think Alan Pardew helped his team at all with both his selection and his substitutions. Yes we were missing several first team players through injury and suspension but Pardew decided to put round pegs in square holes and this backfired big time rather than put the trust in the squad players, or even youngsters.


Pardew decided to shuffle his pack and selected several first team players who played out of position. Stephen Taylor at right back could have worked - no doubt he has played there before at some point in his career, however this did not seem like a smart move as Taylor is just returning from injury so it would make sense to play him in his most comfortable role. Stephen was embarrassed all afternoon and was caught out of position many times, including during the build up to the equalising goal. Now Stephen needs to take responsibility for this, but i do not think his manager helped him out.


Secondly and probably more noticable was the selection of Danny Simpson on the wing. For me this just threw out the whole shape of the team. Danny has fast developed into a solid right back, but he is not know for his quality attacking ability. The question comes to mind 'If Simpson was playing at right back what difference would it have made?" I say this as I thought Arteta was Everton's best player and he seemed to have all the freedom he wanted as he operated from left midfield. The combination of a centre back and a full back really negated the whole right side of our team. Again not the best decision by Pardew.


Once Jose Enrique was forced to limp out of the game I am sure many of us thought that either James Perch or Shane Ferguson would be a straight swap as they both have played in the left back position. Perch has not settled well and I personally do not like him playing at left back, however Ferguson has impressed during his cameo appearances this season and once again on Saturday he give a another solid performance. Shane should of been the replacement for Jose Enrique - no question. Pardew did not agree and Shola was the replacement. This meant yet more shuffling of the team and more players playing in foreign positions.


Everton are a quality team and the premier league is very unforgiving. You cannot just expect lads to pick up a position and compete at the highest level. I am not letting the players of the hook at all, however taking that into account I really feel that Pardew let his team down. Maybe he learned something about his squad, who an do a job for him, who cannot.


3 points were lost but we move on to Stoke were we will face a battle, hopefully we have a few of our big guns back and we can get back to winnings ways. This season is all about survival and we need to avoid slipping into a relegation battle.