Football: Pardew gives Newcastle flat-pack four
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has likened his side's recent up-turn in fortunes to the process of assembling flat-pack furniture. After a poor start to the season, Newcastle have won their last three matches in all competitions, climbing out of the Premier League relegation zone and qualifying for the League Cup quarter-finals. "You've kind of got to box it down," Pardew said ahead of his side's home game with Liverpool on Saturday, in comments published in several British newspapers. "It's a bit like one of those IKEA furniture packs you buy. You can't try and get to the end -- you've got to do all the little bits to get there, and it takes time. "I've done a few of them because my wife's Swedish. It's about doing that little bit first, and if you get that wrong, the second bit doesn't work. If you get the second bit wrong, the third bit definitely ain't working and the tabletop is all... "I think it's very important, if you're in the coaching or managerial world, that you actually segment it down and just say, 'Right, what's our problem, what do we need to do, what needs to happen at this football club to turn us from what we are to a better team?'"
