Sport: Newcastle Manager Vows To Slap Jose Mourinho

Newcastle Manager Alan Pardew has warned Jose Mourinho he will get a slap if he tries any theatrical antics on the touchline on Saturday. The Chelsea manager will be standing 10 yards from Pardew at the side of the St James’ Park pitch on Saturday lunchtime as their teams go head to head in the Premier League’s early kick-off. Mourinho, who is famous for his exuberance on the sidelines, will be pumped up to bursting point by the fiery atmosphere created by a 52,000-strong crowd. Serious:

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has prepared his team to face Chelsea Last weekend he apologised for leaping into the arms of Chelsea supporters after Fernando Torres struck a last-minute winner against Manchester City. Moments later, at the final whistle, City boss Manuel Pellegrini refused to shake his hand and walked straight down the tunnel. ‘He doesn’t want to be jumping round me because I’ll give him a slap,’ Pardew said. ‘I’m bigger than him and he knows that. He can jump around in the crowd or whatever he does.’

The two men maintain contact away from the pitch and Pardew has spoken in the past about how he has taken ideas from the Portuguese. Ironically, though, it seems that crowd diving is something Mourinho learnt from him. ‘I did check my pockets in case one of them wasn’t a Newcastle fan, but fortunately my money was still there,’ he joked afterwards. ‘I’ve had a couple of occasions in the past where I’ve jumped in the crowd.’ Still, he advises Mourinho not to be doing the same thing in the North East, but grinned as he added: ‘I’ve got my own history with that so I don’t have a problem with it. ‘If you’re a football person and you can’t love what he’s about, then you can’t love the game or what he does. He makes me laugh.’ Pardew could be hugging home fans once more if Newcastle do pull off a victory against Chelsea.

Category: Sport , Sports