Pardew wary of Demba Ba threat
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew will head into Saturday's clash with Chelsea warning his players not to leave him cursing the man who slipped from his grasp.
Owner Mike Ashley arrived by helicopter at the club's training ground on Thursday to formally welcome the five players he has signed for Pardew this month to Tyneside, and also to re-assure them, their new team-mates and their manager that there would be no dramatic deadline-day departures.
That came as a boost to Pardew, who lost leading striker Demba Ba to Chelsea during the opening week of the winter window after the Blues activated the well-publicised release-clause in his contract.
The Senegal international will return to St James' Park this weekend needing no introduction, and his former manager knows exactly what will be required to spoil his day.
Pardew said: "You know if you give him an opportunity, there's a good chance he's going to score. You have got to limit his opportunities, Demba.
"He's a clinical finisher, so it's about not giving him the moment."
Ba's departure hit the relegation-threatened Magpies hard both on and off the pitch - they scored only twice in the four games immediately following his exit - but the recruitment of Bordeaux frontman Yoan Gouffran and Toulouse attacking midfielder Moussa Sissoko paid an immediate dividend as they returned to winning ways at Aston Villa on Tuesday evening.
Pardew said: "We missed Demba in the three games in which we hadn't got a replacement for him, or replacements in the shape of Yoan and Moussa.
"But we now have, so we are back to the sort of strength we had before he left. But he (Ba) is a fine player and he's doing a super job for Chelsea."
The arrivals of Gouffran, Sissoko, Mathieu Debuchy, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Massadio Haidara provided Pardew and his battle-weary players with a significant boost, but the retention of skipper Fabricio Coloccini and his fellow big names has proved equally encouraging.
Pardew said: "We have worked hard to get into this position.
"Now what we have got to do is make sure the team is strong enough between now and the end of the year to not just secure our Premier League status, but hopefully a little bit more than that to give us real optimism for next season and have a second half of the season like Everton did last year, and then have taken it into this.
"I think we have the potential to do that, but we have to realise it."
Asked if any club had enquired about any of his existing squad members as the transfer window approached its final few hours, Pardew said: "Not with a bid or anything. There were a couple of enquiries, but we just said they weren't for sale."
Some of the club's younger players, who have been thrust into the first-team picture by the club's gradually abating injury crisis, could yet be sent out on loan to gain vital experience away from the heat of the Premier League, with midfielder Mehdi Abeid having indicated he is set to join Scottish side St Johnstone for the rest of the campaign.
In the meantime, Pardew will continue to assimilate his new boys into the squad - a process which continued on Thursday in the staff restaurant.
The manager said: "The chef did a nice French day today [Thursday] to welcome them. It's important too make them feel comfortable.
"Something like 41 per cent of our squad is now French, so it's a big part of our squad.
"Not too much English is being spoken at the moment, but they are beginning to understand. With a new language, it's sometimes easier to hear than to say.
"But I think they are picking up the words they need to."