Simpson hails Pardew approach | Football News | Sky Sports

Full-back Danny Simpson has hailed the defensive job Alan Pardew has done since taking over at Newcastle.

The former West Ham boss returned to the Premier League last December following the shock dismissal of Chris Hughton.

Newcastle have lost just once in the league since the turn of the year, away to Fulham, and right-back Simpson feels that is down to Pardew's man-management skills.

"All managers are different. But the one thing that Alan Pardew has worked on is the back four so we all know our individual jobs,"Simpson told theDaily Express.

"We were giving teams far too many chances. He knows with the players we have got we can always score goals, so when he came in he worked a lot on defending.

"I know Newcastle have a reputation for scoring a lot and conceding a lot, but since he came in he seems to have tightened it up a bit.

'Warmed'

"The players have warmed to him, particularly because we are picking up results. Everyone has taken to his ideas and he listens to the players as well.

"You can't say that about every manager. He is honest with you and if he doesn't think you have done well he will tell you, but in a constructive way, not in a nasty fashion."

Newcastle are ninth in the Premier League at present, just three points shy of sixth-placed Liverpool, and five of their remaining games are at St James' Park.

"We are looking up the table. We are no longer looking over our shoulders,"said Simpson, who joined the club from Manchester United in January 2010.

"Our outlook has changed, especially with the amount of home games we have coming up. We have looked at the fixtures and we think we can get the points to continue to push up."

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