With the FA handing Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew a seven-game ban on Tuesday for headbutting Hull City midfielder David Meyler, the 52-year-old boss has shown plenty of remorse.
Speaking after hearing of his seven-game ban, the first three of which will be from the entire stadium and the next four will just be a ban from the touchline, Pardew insisted he doesn’t plan an appealing the ban from the FA and wants to move on and help Newcastle finish the season strongly.
In a statement on Newcastle’s official website, Pardew had the following to say.
“As I have made clear, I deeply regret the incident and again wholeheartedly apologize to all parties for my conduct, which I understand was not acceptable. I will accept the punishment handed down by the FA today. My focus now turns to preparing the team for this weekend’s game against Fulham and finishing the season as strongly as possible.”
(WATCH: Pardew sent off for headbutt on Hull’s Meyler, as Newcastle manager loses the plot)
With previous discrepancies — which included Pardew pushing a linesman in 2012, verbally abusing Manuel Pellegrini and a full-out brawl between the benches of Southampton and Newcastle earlier this season — many would say the Newcastle boss has got off lightly with the seven-game ban and $90,000 fine.
After already being fined by $167,000 by Newcastle directly after the incident occurred, Pardew will certainly pay his penance for a mindless act, financially and morally, which will see him go down in PL folklore for all the wrong reasons.
Now, as he said, it’s time for Pardew to prepare his team the best he can for the rest of the season, as the Magpies have a great chance of grabbing a top six finish with nine games to go. Will Pardew get a hero’s return when he’s back on the bench for the final few games?
We’ll have to wait and see. However for the next few months, we won’t be seeing much of Pardew.
