"We've played worse," said a dejected Pardew after the 2-1 home defeat.
"When you take the lead at home you expect to go up a level but we didn't do that, we went backwards.
"I was searching for desire but it never arrived. We're falling way behind now and we need to find more aptitude if we are going to go up. I was brought here to get us promoted, but it is proving far more difficult than I ever thought it would.
"It seems like I have been here a lifetime and the fans don't deserve what we're giving them right now. Our wage bill is the biggest in the division by a country mile.
"The players are well paid but no one is playing well enough and we're leaving ourselves with an awful lot to do."