Alan Pardew: Newcastle boss is looking for a first league win this season

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew says he has held discussions with club owner Mike Ashley since last weekend’s defeat at Southampton.

Pardew’s side lost 4-0 at St Mary’s, leaving Newcastle rooted to the bottom of the table and without a win in four Premier League matches.

A section of the travelling support came with banners calling for the removal of Pardew, which they unfurled throughout the game.

Pardew believes the fans are doing little to help the fragile confidence among the players, but insists Ashley did not add any further pressure during their chat.

“I’ve spoken to Mike. We had a long conversation on Sunday and obviously he was disappointed in the performance, as he has a right to as the owner, and he reflected that to me,” Pardew said.

“The one thing we both agreed on was we really needed to focus on Saturday and try to get a win for the football club.

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“And I think that’s very important that certain issues, particularly the issue regarding me, has to somewhat take a bit of a backseat in terms of the team, because it’s going to be a difficult environment if we have the atmosphere we had at Southampton for long periods.”

While Pardew is adamant his own future has not been raised by Ashley, he concedes the owner has some concerns.

“It never really come up if I’m honest, and if that sounds like I’m trying to fudge the issue I’m not," he said.

"We talked about the team, we talked about a couple of things that were a problem within the team and also about the performance,” he said.

“And of course he was upset about the performance. Really we focused on that. I never asked for any reassurance. All I do know is I signed a long contract here, for good and bad, and we’ve had some great times which seem to have been forgotten recently. We’ve had some tough days too, and this will be one of our toughest.

“I can think of some tough games I’ve had as manager here, but the environment for the players on Saturday will probably be as tough as it’s ever been. We have to accept that. We have to know that Hull are going to come and make good use of our situation and make it difficult for us.”