The Toon chief has skilfully managed to stabilise one of the
maddest clubs in the Premier League.
And Pards goes into tomorrow's clash with Norwich with his eyes
on a Euro slot.
It is incredible to think how the Toon Army now sing his name
loud and proud considering their fury when he replaced axed Chris
Hughton.
It was even claimed he only got the job because of a supposed
friendship with owner Mike Ashley and chairman Derek Llambias.
But 12 months down the line, Pards has been royally heralded as
the latest Geordie saviour and he admits he has loved every minute
on Tyneside.
He said: "There have been more highs than lows. I've really
enjoyed it.
"There were no doubts in my mind. It is such a huge club. Other
managers were saying to me, 'You know what it is like there, it's a
bit of a crazy club'. Well, we are not so crazy now. There isn't so
much bad news coming out.
"It's about making sure we have a good product on the pitch for
the fans. I think the fans appreciate our team.
"We have to get through this difficult period because of all the
injuries but if we do we could have a great season.
"Easier than I thought? No, but the end product is probably as
good as I would have hoped for in terms of where we are in the
league.
"I'm not going to disguise that. Certainly it's been eventful
and demanding. I would not expect anything else at a big club like
this. I enjoy it."
Pardew has united a club long associated with disharmony. He
said: "When you come into a club, it's important to make progress
and we've managed to do that. I'm really happy with the team.
"In some ways, it feels like a long year after all the
incidents, selling Andy Carroll and everything else. But in another
way, it flashed by.
"As a club we have tried to do it the right way, tried to put a
team on the pitch that plays in the right manner."
The Toon may have lost key men Carroll, Joey Barton and Kevin
Nolan but the likes of Yohan Cabaye and Demba Ba have been
impressive.
Pardew said: "I'll never change my philosophy that my teams have
to be on the front foot, trying to win the game and that's served
us well.
"Our fans understand we can't compete with the top four or five
on transfer fees, especially when someone comes in for our
players.
"What we have is that the players we are bringing in for less
are doing as well as the ones we have lost. Ba for Carroll is an
example of that."