Pardew finding stadium ban frustrating

Alan Pardew admits to being frustrated watching Newcastle United from a distance following his stadium ban for headbutting David Meyler.

The Newcastle manager was forced to watch last Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Fulham from a hotel after he was hit with a three-match stadium ban for his altercation with the Hull City midfielder on March 1.

Pardew has yet to decide where he will view Newcastle’s encounter with Crystal Palace at St James’ Park on Saturday, with the game marking the first home fixture of his ban.

Despite his frustrations, Pardew retains confidence in assistant manager John Carver to make important decisions in his absence.

“It was a bit frustrating in terms of it being difficult to assess the mood of the stadium and difficult to assess the mood of the players when it is coming through a flat screen,” Pardew said.

“I’m a little bit undecided at the moment where I’m going to be (for next Saturday’s game) but one thing is (certain), I’m not going to be in the stadium.

“In terms of the (Fulham) result it was a disappointing fixture for us but we picked up for it though and we’ll get better for the next game.

“I spoke to John and said, ‘my opinion from here is this, do you share that?’. And we more or less agreed so that was easy that part.

“I think it has changed a little bit for John as there’s more responsibility on him, he’s right in the firing line in terms of making the decisions then and there because there may be a decision that has to be made very quickly and I have full confidence in him.”

Elsewhere, Pardew confirmed preparations have started in terms of player recruitment for Newcastle next season.

The 52-year-old was frustrated by a lack of movement in the January transfer window, with forward Luuk de Jong the only arrival on a loan deal from Borussia Monchengladbach, while the club failed to replace star midfielder Yohan Cabaye after he sealed a big-money move to Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain.

Asked whether his priority was to conclude business early in the close-season, he added: “Yes, it is. Our process has started.”