Newcastle boss Alan Pardew demands player updates from international managers
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Your support makes all the difference.Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is demanding up-to-the minute news of his players from international managers after losing Tim Krul and Fabricio Coloccini during a costly break.
Pardew was today still coming to terms with the loss of keeper Krul, who damaged an elbow in training with Holland after getting the nod ahead of Maarten Stekelenburg for the World Cup qualifier victory over Turkey last week, and Argentina defender Coloccini, who returned with a hamstring problem.
The Dutchman is likely to be missing for up to three games, while his South American club-mate is rated as a doubt for Monday night's Barclays Premier League trip to Everton at the very least as medics assess the extent of the injury.
As a result, the Magpies boss wants to know exactly what his players are doing when they head off to meet up with their respective countries.
Pardew said: "We lost [Shane] Ferguson injured on international duty; we have lost Coloccini twice now injured on international duty and we have lost Tim injured on international duty when he trained after the game, which we were disappointed about, if I am honest.
"Therefore, we have put in a procedure now that we want all international sides to inform us what the players are doing, and exactly what they are doing.
"With the technology we have today, GPS and everything else, we want a report back and to know what they are doing because we are handing these players over, to an extent on our pay, so we want to make sure they are looked after."
Pardew's frustration is perhaps understandable as he went into the latest round of international matches with defenders Danny Simpson and Ryan Taylor already sidelined by hamstring and knee injuries respectively and with James Perch having missed the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa because of a neck problem.
Perch will be available at the weekend, but Simpson is facing another two to three weeks out and Taylor will be missing for months.
In addition, key midfielder Cheick Tiote is still struggling to shake off the calf problem which has prevented his participation since the opening day of the season, and his return is far from imminent.
Pardew said: "Cheick, I would say, is touch and go for next week too, so we are down on what you would like to select from.
"But we have still got very, very good players in the building, so I have got no issues.
"We have lost three of our back five that started the season - that's a significant blow for us because we are not a Chelsea or a Manchester United, who can bring in international players to replace them.
"Having said that, I think our replacements are strong. We are not that much down on going there with those guys."
PA
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