After 13 months on the back foot, Alan Pardew had cause for celebration this week. Now the Newcastle manager is hoping his players can give themselves similar freedom to be “dangerous”, writes Stuart Rayner

EVER since arriving as manager of Newcastle United 13 months ago, Alan Pardew has had to do other people’s talking for them.

The Magpies manager has worked against a backdrop of suspicion – initially at his own credentials, and always at the motivation of those above.

Not until the transfer window closes with his squad intact will he be able to claim vindication, but with January’s biggest transfer deal to date done and dusted, he can sit more comfortably.

Twelve months late, Newcastle fans have finally been presented with the No.9 they were promised, in £7.5m Papiss Demba Cissé.

A centre-back is still needed for this window to be a complete success, but at least it seems unlikely to turn into the car crash of last year.

The mental scars of last January remain. It is why Pardew dares not say “never”, and why everyone else is reserving judgement.

Sixth in the table with the opportunity to go fifth by beating Fulham tomorrow, things are going well. A little too well, perhaps.

In the black-and-white world of Newcastle, the next crisis is rarely far away. Half a season of tranquillity has heightened rather than calmed some nerves.

The performances of Tim Krul, Fabricio Coloccini, Cheick Tioté, Yohan Cabaye and Demba Ba have brought unwelcome attention. The fear is that owner Mike Ashley is too much of a businessman to turn down an offer as generous as the ones which took Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan to pastures new in the last two windows. Supporters have 11 shopping days to keep their fingers crossed.

“It is really a case of being on our guard,” admits Pardew, desperate to avoid promises his boss cannot keep. “We are still vulnerable to the Champions League clubs. We still financially need to balance the books. Therefore, even in this window, I am on guard about that.”

When Newcastle got cold feet about Modibo Maïga after the Sochaux striker’s medical, it seemed a convenient way to let the fans down yet again.

“To try to get a striker late in the day now, after Maïga has fallen down, would just be slightly reckless,” Pardew said at the time. This piece of disinformation was much more to the fans’ liking.