Pardew began the season predicting Shane Ferguson, Sammy Ameobi, Haris Vuckic, James Tavernier, Adam Campbell and Gael Bigirimana – a summer signing from Coventry City – would emerge to become vital cogs in a new look Newcastle machine.
Four of the above qualify to play for England – potentially good news for our national boss Roy Hodgson, although more so for England Under-21 manager Stuart Pearce.
A little over six months later and none have progressed sufficiently to suggest they are any more likely to make it at the highest level than they were back in August.
Indeed, after appearing prominently on the team sheet up until Christmas, none even made the bench against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. Vuckic, a Slovenian, is out for the season with a knee injury, the others are back in the reserve team.
There was something admirable about Newcastle's intentions. They were trying to do what the Football Association wishes every club would, develop their own players and increase the number playing in the top flight who qualify for the national team.
All have been given first team chances, particularly in the Europa League, some have even started in the Premier League. But when relegation threatened, bringing with it the fear of a financial apocalypse, the Magpies were no longer willing to put their faith in youth. They put it in French football instead.
When Newcastle lost to Championship side Brighton in the FA Cup back in January, six home grown players appeared in a 2-0 defeat, along with Bigirimana. Pardew subsequently described writing the team sheet for that much as "depressing" adding "it was not a team good enough for a club of Newcastle United's stature."
They are not alone in suffering a sense of deflation. Liverpool were dumped out the FA Cup by League One Oldham Athletic with Brendan Rodgers claiming he had "been let down by his young players."
It was hard on Newcastle's youngsters, but this was always going to be a sink or swim season. They sunk and Newcastle are more interested in saving themselves than teaching them how to swim.
Since they acted in the transfer market, bolstering their squad with five French players and another from Switzerland, Kevin Mbabu, for the Academy, Newcastle have picked up two wins, and suffered a narrow defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.
Their relegation fears have eased considerably. With a squad that now has genuine competition for places, fans will now urge a serious attempt to win the Europa League, a campaign that resumes against Metalist Kharkiv this week.
It is hard to argue with what Newcastle have done in protecting the business. Indeed, regular readers of this blog will know I argued in the summer they had made a terrible mistake when they decided not to strengthen, but the failure of their experiment is indicative of the perpetual problems the Premier League creates for the national team
Clubs talk about the importance of their Academies, but when push comes to shove, they will always buy in talent when the pressure is on – and the pressure is always on in the Premier League.
Even when clubs like Newcastle spot a good prospect in the Championship, a youngster who has already gained plenty of first team experience and is ready to step up, they are put off by the inflated asking prices.
For example, Wilfried Zaha has signed for Manchester United from Crystal Palace for £12m. The 20-year-old has one England cap and has played just over 100 games in the Championship. Newcastle signed Montpellier captain Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa for £6.7m, who at the age of 23, has played three times for France and almost 200 games in Ligue 1.
Manchester United paid almost double to sign an English player with potential than Newcastle did for an established first team player with a proven top flight pedigree in France.
Despite repeated warnings about the knock-on effects for the national team, English players make up a relatively tiny percentage of Premier League players and it is not showing any sign of improving.
Newcastle tried, but the project became a victim of results. Aston Villa are persevering with it, more out of financial necessity than anything else. Both are grand clubs, both have become embroiled in relegation battles and will be plunged into turmoil if they drop out of the top flight.
Pardew believes he was asked to throw too many of his young players into action together because of injuries. He still believes one or two will be good enough to become first team regulars in the future, but they will not get another chance this season.
Most will now go out on loan to gain the experience no longer available on Tyneside. Whether they come back better players remains to be seen. Newcastle certainly hope so, but even if they do, it is doubtful they will be given the same opportunities again.
Newcastle, after all, have already indicated they will buy again in the summer. As will everyone else, and most of the money will flow aboard, for foreigners given the opportunities to blossom elsewhere.
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