Sackpardew.com? I never looked at it says Newcastle United boss

A section of fans loudly called for Pardew’s dismissal early in the campaign.

But United owner Mike Ashley kept faith with Pardew – despite the clamour for his sacking.

And the 53-year-old – whose side take on QPR at St James’s Park on Saturday – has presided over five successive league and cup wins.

Pardew, having “ridden the storm” on Tyneside, is now looking to guide eighth-placed United further up the Premier League table.

“It’s certainly been the most difficult time for me in Newcastle,” said Pardew. “The back end of last season spilled over into this season. We sold Yohan Cabaye and didn’t have a replacement.

“We were a bit unlucky at the start. It looked to our fans that we were in reverse. So it was tough.

“Some of the personal jibes were hurtful. You can’t disguise that, but you have to be resilient, particularly as a Premier League manager.

“You have to ride the storms.”

Asked if he felt Ashley had any intention to sack him, Pardew added: “I would never know if there was.

“There was enough in the background that I had done at the club that made the owner stick with me.

“He made me feel confident.

“I was confident going into the next period of games when we managed to turn it around.

“You just have to stay with your philosophy, believe what you do is right.”

The sackpardew.com website was launched by a group of fans wanting a change in manager.

“I have never been into the website,” said Pardew.

“When the website started somebody said to me it was quite an organised website.

“It wasn’t like a nine-year-old on the computer sort of saying ‘I don’t like Pardew’.

“It was much more serious than that.”

Pardew is looking for progress in the Premier League and domestic cups.

United will be backed by 4,200 fans at White Hart Lane for the December 17 Capital One Cup quarter-final tie against Tottenham Hotspur.

It the furthest the team has got in a domestic cup under Pardew.

“We got to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, but in domestic cups we’ve been poor and I’d like to do a lot better,” he said.

Pardew also confirmed that captain Fabricio Coloccini will miss the club’s next three games.

Coloccini limped out of Newcastle’s last game, the 2-0 win over West Brom, with a calf problem.