Former Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has shared his reaction to the club’s Champions League group draw.
Newcastle United have been dealt a tough hand in this year’s Champions League group stage draw. After a twenty-year absence from the competition, Newcastle were placed in pot 4 – the lowest seeded selection of teams – for the group draw.
As a result, the Tyneside outfit have been drawn in a group with French giants PSG, German outfit Borussia Dortmund, and iconic Italian club AC Milan.
Eddie Howe, who is managing in the Champions League for the first time himself, will know that his side face a tough challenge against that trio of European superpowers. However, the Magpies will have wanted to test themselves against some of the best that Europe has to offer this season, and now they will get that chance.
They will certainly fancy their chances against any of those teams when they welcome them to what is sure to be a raucous atmosphere at St James’ Park.
Pardew says Howe has Newcastle boost
Ex-Newcastle manager, Alan Pardew, believes the Tyneside club will be relishing the challenge ahead of them. Speaking on TalkSport, the 62-year-old said it is a “fantastic draw for them, they’ll be absolutely delighted…A lot of pundits have said that Newcastle probably won’t finish in the top four, they had a great season last year. I think they’re stronger…The problem Newcastle will have, of course, is the demands of the competitions…and whether the squad is deep enough.”
This Champions League campaign, alongside Newcastle’s Premier League and domestic cup commitments, will certainly test their strength in depth. Howe will have to rotate his squad regularly and use his players cleverly to ensure that they can maintain their best efforts throughout the campaign.
The recent upturn in the club’s financial fortunes has certainly helped in this regard. Howe has been able to bolster his squad this summer with the arrivals of Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes, Lewis Hall, and Tino Livramento. They are all quality additions who raise the level at the club.
Pardew was in charge the last time Newcastle were in a European club competition. He managed the Magpies throughout their Europa League campaign of 2012/13. However, he has bemoaned the lack of resources he had at that time.
Pardew said, “when I went to that Europa League I wanted to be a lot stronger than I was in terms of the size of the squad and we just couldn’t manage to fill it as we wanted with the finances we had…Eddie doesn’t have that problem.”
Howe may well be in an advantageous position at Newcastle. Now, he needs to make the most of it.
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