Chris Kamara
Football Expert & Columnist @chris_kammy
Pardew's actions have thrown 'everything into question' at Newcastle
What punishment would a player face if roles had been reversed?
Last Updated: 03/03/14 12:35pm
What Alan Pardew did was... unbelievable
KAMMY SAYS: To be honest, I couldn't believe what I was hearing when news of the Pardew incident came through. I was at Leicester City, listening to Soccer Saturday in my headphones while watching my own game, and I thought Merse was making the whole thing up! I've seen managers fight with their own players plenty of times, but this has got to be a first! Alan has let himself down - and he knows it - but it's all the harder to understand given that Newcastle were winning! You do get up tight as a manager when you're team is losing and you're under pressure - I've been there, seen it and done it but nobody expected him to do that.
To be fair to Alan, he did the right thing and came out and apologised straight away. The club has fined him and I would imagine that Mike Ashley will now sit down with his board and have a chat and decide whether they think he is the right man to take the club forward. This has brought everything into question. I just hope Alan has learnt his lesson and we never see something like this again. Alan says he's going to take anger-management courses, which will be a step forward for him.
The FA has no choice but to come down hard on Pardew
KAMMY SAYS: There's no doubt the FA will throw the book at him because they'll have to make a stand. If the situation had been the other way around and a player had done that to a manager, people would be questioning whether that player had a future in the game, so I'm sure the FA will come down heavily on Alan and he could well be looking at an eight to 10-game touchline ban during which time he'll have plenty of opportunity to reflect on what has happened.
What makes the whole thing worse is that we should be talking about the game rather than Pardew because it was a fantastic away performance from Newcastle. Hull have been playing really, really well lately but two of Newcastle's four goals were very good and it was a great performance. But football is a passionate game and Alan got carried away. If he could turn back the clock I'm sure he would, but unfortunately you can't and now he has got to learn from it.
Two 'Worldy' Wembley goals denied Sunderland
KAMMY SAYS: It was an absolute pleasure to do Goals on Sunday from Wembley. The Football League were terrific and we had total access, from the dressing rooms to the Royal Box and it was a great day out. Sunderland did brilliantly for 45 minutes and they were beaten by two 'worldy' goals. Any team in the world would find it hard to recover from two goals like that and Gus Poyet can rightly feel proud of his lads. Sunderland are still in the FA Cup so their supporters could still have another day out at Wembley to come if they can overcome Hull in the quarter-finals. I know Sunderland are still in the bottom three but on this form I can't see them ending up there.
Congratulations to City but they can't rely on 'worldy' goals like that to win them fixtures all of the time. I'm sure Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs and Everton will have been looking on yesterday thinking 'it's not a foregone conclusion that they are going to win it'. I wouldn't say City were ordinary for 45 minutes but Sunderland were the better team.
Stoke handled Gunners' threat extremely well
KAMMY SAYS: Stoke probably didn't get the credit they deserve for their win over Arsenal. Everyone was saying that Arsenal weren't great but that was because Stoke didn't allow them to play well. The penalty was contentious, for me. We've been saying for a long time now on Goals on Sunday that 90 per cent of handballs inside the box are accidental. The referees seem to have taken this on board this season and you can count on the fingers of one hand the ones that have been given. It was a harsh penalty decision on Laurent Koscielny but you can understand why the referee gave it because Koscielny's hand was in a high position. The game could have ended all square but the penalty decided it and well done to Stoke for that, because they didn't allow Arsenal to play anywhere near their best.
Four-star Villa are starting to make their points
KAMMY SAYS: It was a brilliant result for Aston Villa against Norwich after going a goal down. You can't say that this was the result which secured their Premier League status for another season because they still need another nine points out of their remaining games, but this was a big win for them because a draw wouldn't have been good enough in their circumstances. Villa's home form hasn't been great so this was just what they needed. There are no easy games in the Premier League but Norwich have got a hard run-in. A point would have been a good point for them, as it was for Crystal Palace away at Swansea. This morning's papers are all about how well Swansea played and how it was a smash-and-grab by Tony Pulis' side but he won't mind that. His team might not see the ball for 85 minutes but if they end up getting a point out of it, then that will do very nicely.
The battle for Champions League places isn't letting up
KAMMY SAYS: Spurs still have a fighting chance of making the Champions League places after beating Cardiff and it was good to see Soldado get himself on the scoresheet after some of the criticism he's taken from people who should know better. Everton also had a great win, over West Ham, which will keep them buzzing in and around the top. Out of the top six I'd say they have the slimmest chance of getting into the Champions League places but they do have a game in hand so don't rule them out. Romelu Lukaku proved just how big a loss he's been for them recently by coming back with a goal. West Ham can count themselves unlucky, though, because on a different day the referee could have sent off Gareth Barry for denying Kevin Nolan a goal-scoring opportunity but that's the bit of luck that you need sometimes.
Relentless Blues must beware Reds
KAMMY SAYS: Meanwhile Chelsea keep rolling on and rolling on. You should never, ever be surprised to see that they are drawing at half-time because they don't just entertain, they stifle teams as well to make sure the opposition don't get to play. Someone always seems to produce the goods for them and this time it was Andre Schurrle with a memorable hat-trick. He has taken a while to settle into the Premier League but while some players take to the Premier League like a duck to water, others need more time to settle. Bigger players than Schurrle have needed more time than him but now it looks like he's back to his best just when Chelsea need him. Fulham remain in trouble and I'd have to say their defending wasn't great. For 45 minutes they did their job properly but they more or less gave up after the break and that must be a massive, massive worry for Felix Magath. They lost their concentration and who they should be marking. Liverpool are just behind Chelsea in second place now and what a job Brendan Rodgers has done in his short time there. They still need to strengthen at the back - that's for certain - but they are definitely going in the right direction.
