MIKE Williamson is ready to do battle again with Steven Taylor, confident manager Alan Pardew will judge the outcome fairly.
The centre-back joined Newcastle United from Portsmouth 13 months ago expecting to have to fight for a place with local favourite Taylor, but the contest has barely got off the ground.
Taylor missed almost all of 2010 with a variety of injuries, during which time Williamson formed an impressive partnership with Fabricio Coloccini.
Not helped by a contract dispute which has since been resolved, Taylor was made to wait until November for his first start of the season, by which time Williamson was serving a three-match ban for an off-the-ball incident at Saturday’s opponents, Bolton Wanderers.
For the brief time both were available to him, it seemed as if Pardew preferred Taylor, only for the former England Under-21 captain to tear his hamstring against West Ham United.
In Taylor’s absence, Williamson has put in some sturdy performances as – the crazy 4-4 draw with Arsenal apart – Newcastle’s backline has not been breached in the last four games.
Williamson’s performance at Birmingham City on Tuesday was one of those singled out for praise by Pardew. If it was an attempt to reassure the 27-year-old with Taylor set to return for the reserves against Manchester United tomorrow, it was not needed, thanks to a chat Pardew had with the player shortly after replacing Chris Hughton as manager in December.
“When the gaffer came in he didn’t know me, and I hadn’t done anything for him,” Williamson said. “Chris brought me here and I’d done well for him.
“Before the Manchester City game he pulled me in and basically just said, ‘Steven did well for me against Liverpool, I’m going to start him again. I like you as a player, I’ve seen a bit of you.’ We had a good chat and got acquainted.
“I said, ‘Fair enough,’ it’s nice for managers to do that. It’s nice to know where you stand and I think that’s what it’s all about. He puts his stall out so everyone knows their place. That’s the only thing you can ask for from a new manager, that everyone’s on a level playing field, there’s no favourites or anything like that, that people’s name doesn’t go before what they actually do on the pitch.”
