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When suspicious minds ran rampant Joe Kinnear insisted he was here “to help Alan Pardew” and not replace him.

Well I doubt very much if this day Pardew privately considers that JFK has helped him in his job of resurrecting United.

Rather Kinnear has strapped Pardew into a strait jacket and thrown him in the Tyne with the message “swim, pal, if you can!”

The bottom line is that if there is ever any can needing to be carried, United’s manager will be the one feeling the strain.

While Kinnear boasted of being able to phone any manager and receive immediate access, the truth is that he could deliver nought but a season-long loan deal.

Pathetic, disgraceful, far from enough. Dangerous even. Fifth bottom to where? Dare we contemplate?

The suicidal cut of the wrists is so debilitating, even by the standards of those who judge Kinnear harshly, that you are left with the nagging thought that perhaps he was merely carrying out the dictate of owner Mike Ashley.

He who explains nothing and seems to care not a jot may have decided Pardew spent his only pot in the January window to head off relegation, and if a bad fist was made of it then he must live with the consequences.

What the Toon Army must now decide is how good the financial imports of 2013 are.

Forgetting previous reputations, how well have Moussa Sissoko, Mathieu Debuchy, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Yoan Gouffran and Massadio Haidara done here? Are they value for money? Have they increased their stature or diminished it?

The individual answers may be ‘jury out, getting better, or not cracked it’.

However the undeniable fact is that United, with their collective imput, only just avoided relegation last season and have started no more convincingly this.

Add Vurnon Anita and Papiss Cisse and where are we? Smugly basking in the glow of unearthing gems or worried that familiarity with their new surrounds has only produced mediocrity?

Reputations are on the line – those of Ashley, Kinnear, Graham Carr, all new arrivals of 2013 plus those going back a year, and Pardew himself.

I’m sorry but that is the way it is. This club cannot be abused without judgement being made on those possibly responsible.

There are 50,000 or so dissenting voices and they will be heard.

Those who deserve to avoid personal criticism will. However, those who don’t will be nailed. Fans who threw rose petals on their first coming are just as adroit with acid.