Middling team Crystal Palace (6-6-1, 19 points) will face hard-luck squad Newcastle United (2-7-4, 10 points) at the Selhurst Park on November 28 for a Saturday afternoon match in the 2015-2016 Premier League season.
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The struggling visitors took an early lead through Papiss Cisse but were then blown away thanks to doubles from James McArthur and Yannick Bolasie in addition to a goal from Wilfried Zaha.
And with Dwight Gayle still battling his own hamstring issue, Palace’s options have thinned, but Pardew is remaining calm ahead of facing former club Newcastle.
This latest loss by Newcastle United grants them their second largest margin of defeat for the season, only outdone by the 6-1 mauling at the hands of Manchester City at the Etihad.
“Maybe we’re not strong enough character-wise”. We stop doing our jobs when some disappointment hits us. We need character, and determination, mettle and fight. It’s been feisty, it’s been competitive, intense, energetic – really all the things that we were lacking last Saturday, so it’s been a good week and I hope we take that preparation into tomorrow’s game.
Popular consensus would suggest that McClaren is an extremely gifted coach on the training field but one that lacks in the man management department.
“I don’t have a total (in mind), but I think the improvements you see – four goals last season and four goals already this season”, Bolasie said.
McClaren questioned the attitude of his players on the day and conceded they don’t have the mentality to turn the tide in games.
“At the present moment the next games, Liverpool, then Spurs, then after that then after that – we’ve got games before January”.
“We know what’s expected, and we have to try to get them to deliver”.
McArthur equalised for the home side when his shot deflected in off defender Paul Dummett, and scored his team’s final goal of the game too after a move which he started.
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“It’s not about ability, not about tactics or systems”, said McClaren after seeing his team jeered by the visiting supporters throughout the second half – who added, among other things, that they were “not fit to wear the shirts”. Was it the same after going 3-1 down?
