Saturday, 20th September, 2014
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has thanked his club's players after they came from 2-0 down against Hull City at St. James' Park to draw 2-2 and potentially save their boss' job.
Pardew was under immense pressure heading into the contest, with a number of Newcastle fans waving banners calling for his sacking.
And it appeared the Magpies were set to continue their poor form when they fell behind to a Nikica Jelavic goal in the 48th minute, a situation which was then made worse for the hosts when Mo Diame scored 20 minutes later.
But Pardew reaped the rewards for throwing striker Papiss Cisse on from the bench in the 69th minute.
The striker first found the back of the net just four minutes later, halving the deficit, before he then grabbed an equaliser three minutes from time by driving the ball home from six yards out.
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Pardew was quick to thank his striker and the team.
"We've had to climb a mountain. The players were magnificent for me, I have to thank them. It just goes to show, with Papiss Cisse's celebration, football can bring you together", he told the BBC.
"I'm conscious of not making excuses because I've been accused of making excuses. I just want to do defend the team, but we were really good at times today and hopefully the fans can digest that.
"It's not lost on me that I get accused of being arrogant but I'm also a proud man to be manager of this football club and I'm going to fight to keep it. My team need to reflect that and I think they did today.
"Ironically, one or two people clapped me as I walked out and I thank those couple of fans – it was only two. We need to win every game that we can at the moment to release some pressure. And I just want to end this interview by thanking the players because I wouldn't have liked to have played in that game."
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