ON the first anniversary of his tenure as Newcastle United manager, Alan Pardew thinks he has helped eradicate the 'crazy club' tag which existed when he agreed to take over on Tyneside.

It was on this day 12 months ago that Pardew was officially paraded as Chris Hughton's successor, when other members of the managers union questioned his sanity.

But after a whirlwind first year in charge at St James' Park, which has seen Newcastle climb in to contention for a European place while significantly improving the club's finances, the confident boss feels times have changed.

The 50-year-old, who had been out of work since leaving Southampton, never had any negative thoughts about taking the job in the first place - even though he was aware Graeme Souness, Sam Allardyce, Glen Roeder, Kevin Keegan, Joe Kinnear and Hughton had unsuccessful short spells.

"There were no doubts in my mind. It is such a huge club after all," said Pardew. "Other managers said 'what are you doing it for?' But they were all pleased for you. I was pleased to take the job, that was the point I was making.

"The other managers would say 'you know what it is like there, it's a bit of a crazy club'. Well we are not so crazy now. There isn't so much bad news coming out of here now."

During his first 12 months in charge, Pardew has encountered his fair share of problems. Fans didn't want him in charge in the first place and then he had to deal with the high profile departures of some key members of the dressing room.

Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan, Jose Enrique and Joey Barton have all left Newcastle under his watch, with more than £40m raised in transfer fees - and considerably more saved on the wage bill.

But a string of cute buys in the transfer market have helped ease the concerns of Newcastle's supporters, with the likes of Yohan Cabaye and Demba Ba helping to lead the Magpies up in to contention for a top six place.

"I think our fans are realistic and they understand we can't compete with the top four or five clubs on transfer fees, especially when someone comes in for our players," said Pardew.

"What we have got is that the players we are bringing in for less value are doing as well as the ones we have lost. Ba for example for Carroll.

"We have to be on our toes all of the time and try to be the best team we can because we have proven over a period of games, not just one or two, that we can be competitive. The team is always stronger than the individual."

Even when there has been strong criticism of decisions made from within the boardroom, like selling the naming rights to St James' Park, Pardew has been the cool head which has kept his players focused on the football.

"It's about making sure we have a good product on the football pitch for the fans," said the Newcastle boss, who has lost 11 games from his 39 in charge. "I think the fans appreciate our team. We have to get through this difficult period because of all the injuries, but if we do we could have a great season.

"Has it been easier than I thought? No, but the end product is probably as good as I would have hoped for in terms of where we are in the league. I'm not going to disguise that."

The last seven days have arguably been one of his worst week's in terms of problems on the pitch which have arisen.

As well as learning that Steven Taylor is unlikely to play again this season with an Achilles problem, there was further bad news when Danny Guthrie was ruled out of action for between four to six weeks.

Guthrie strained his groin in last Saturday's defeat to Chelsea, which means Pardew - already without Cheik Tiote this week at Norwich tomorrow - now has a midfield problem as well as a defensive one.

He does hope captain Fabricio Coloccini will be deemed fit to play, but is already weighing up whether to field Dan Gosling, Haris Vuckic or Alan Smith in centre-midfield alongside Cabaye.

Pardew, who confirmed he wants Guthrie to sign a new deal, said: "Danny's stats from Saturday suggest it was one of his best games for us. It is a blow to lose him. He has been terrific. He will be back and he will be back for a crucial period when Cheik goes to the African Cup of Nations in January."