Pardew: My job is too easy

Alan Pardew says managing Newcastle is too easy - because he hasn't got enough top players to choose from.

The Newcastle boss reckons it is a simple job for him to pick United’s team, and that most fans agree with his first-choice line-up.

Pardew is determined to pack his squad with more options during a summer of rebuilding, so the merits of his team selections will cause more debate.

Mike Ashley has pledged to hand Pardew the £35million raised by the sale of Andy Carroll to spend on fees and wages - although it is unclear if signing Cheik Tiote on a new six-year deal has already eaten up a big chunk of that cash.

Pardew wants versatility, with new recruits able to challenge in a couple of positions, rather than carry a bloated squad.

"I don’t want to necessarily increase the size of the squad too much, but I do want to increase the competition for places," he said. "At times, we lack that. In terms of the starting XI, most Newcastle fans would pick the same side - and that’s a worry for me as a manager.

“Why isn’t there more competition? There should be more questions for me to answer at a club this size. We should be sitting here and we could all come up with a different formation and a different team.

“It’s too easy to pick the team and we are paying the cost of that now, with the injuries. The best players have played every week.”

Jose Enrique, a target for Liverpool, Italian and Spanish clubs, is the club’s only experienced left-back.

"I don’t necessarily want two top-level left-backs, but you need somebody who is comfortable playing there," added Pardew. "You need somebody like Phil Neville at Everton, who can play left-back, right-back, centre midfield...

“That saves you a lot of money. They call them utility players and you need someone who can play in three different positions. A player like that would be important to us next year.

“I don’t mean two players in every position - I mean a wide player who can play on both wings, for example. I don’t want to lose the focus of the group. I want to keep it tight and relatively small and easy to manage.

“I’ve made that mistake before - it happened to me at West Ham, the squad got too big and it was difficult to focus the group. We need to protect the spirit here.”

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THE PREMIER LEAGUE NUMBERS GAME

Newcastle are mid-table when it comes to players used in the Premier League this season.

West Ham 33

Aston Villa 32

Blackpool 30

Blackburn 29

Manchester United 29

Sunderland 29

Fulham 28

Liverpool 28

Wolves 28

Newcastle 27

Tottenham 27

West Brom 27

Arsenal 25

Manchester City 25

Wigan 25

Birmingham 24

Stoke 24

Bolton 23

Chelsea 23

Everton 21