Newcastle United vs Liverpool: Alan Pardew likens job at Newcastle to building furniture from Ikea

Pardew heads into this weekend's match against Liverpool on the back of three straight wins

Alan Pardew applauds the travelling Newcastle support after the 2-0 win over Manchester City (Getty Images)

Alan Pardew believes the job he has had to do at Newcastle United is like building a piece of furniture from Ikea stores.

Pardew has emerged from the darkest period of his managerial career with back-to-back victories at Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. He had faced huge hostility from Newcastle fans during a run of one Premier League victory in nine games this season.

The mood on Tyneside has altered significantly following those two wins, especially the Capital One Cup fourth-round success at the Etihad Stadium, and Pardew has again insisted he must be given more time.

“You’ve kind of got to box it down,” he said. “It’s a bit like one of those Ikea furniture packs you buy. You can’t try and get to the end, you’ve got to do all the little bits to get there and it takes time.

“I’ve done a few of them because my wife’s Swedish. It’s about doing that little bit first, and if you get that wrong, the second bit doesn’t work.

“If you get the second bit wrong, the third bit definitely ain’t working and the table top is all... I just think it’s very important, if you’re in the coaching or managerial world, that you actually segment it down and just say, ‘Right, what’s our problem, what do we need to do, what needs to happen at this football club to turn us from what we are to a better team?’

“The last international break was important for us so we could do a review of how we were getting at teams and how they were getting at us. We’ve put some blocks in place that now gives us some sort of thing to hinge on to.”

Newcastle face Liverpool on Saturday in the Premier League after the dramatic turnaround in form, with Pardew aware that the traditional season for managerial sackings is approaching. “We are coming into the dark months of November and December,” he said.

“The money involved in the Premier League is such that there will always be sackings. Managers will always change and you have to be very strong in this position now, with everything that goes on in the media, to make sure it doesn’t affect you trying to do your job. The other decisions, in terms of getting the sack, are out of your hands.

“Some of the sackings in the Championship [this season] have been nothing short of a disgrace. It’s just incorrect, and the authorities have to have some sort of say, or some sort of guide as to how long a manager gets to manage a team, to give him a chance. Six weeks? Four weeks? It’s ridiculous.”