Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew had been silent for weeks since the appointment of Joe Kinnear as the Toon's Director of Football. Pardew finally spoke out over the weekend and made some interesting comments, including publicly stating his shortlist of players at the striker position.
Pardew noted that he wants to bring in Loic Remy, who the Toon nearly had signed in January, as well as out of favor Aston Villa striker Darren Bent. Both players have been linked to Newcastle over the past few weeks during the transfer window, but not Pardew has stated his interest publicly, which firmly places the pressure on Kinnear to deliver.
"The obvious target at the moment is a striker, and we have four or five targets," Pardew told The Chronicle, also admitted centerback is a position the club is looking at. "It's difficult. I know there's been speculation, particularly about Darren Bent. I think I can comment on that because it sounds like at Aston Villa, he's not particularly involved."
Pardew is endearing himself to fans in a smart way, it seems. He's setting himself up to lump the blame on Kinnear if they don't bring in a top flight striker or two during the summer window, as he can now point back and say these were my targets and he couldn't deliver.
There was some thought that bringing in Kinnear could force Pardew to resign as the club's manager, but it appears he's dug his heels in now. It's going to be interesting to watch going forward.