After a poor start to the season, the Magpies sit in 18th place and are still awaiting their first league win of the season, having drawn four and lost three of their opening seven games.

A number of Newcastle fans have voiced their concerns towards Pardew, but Williamson believes that the 53-year-old boss is the right man to guide the club towards the league's summit.

"The strength of the league is phenomenal and I think if you look at the budgets we're miles apart from the top teams, but it's a target for the not too distant future because we're looking to build every year," Williamson told Shoot magazine.

"We want to cement ourselves as a top-seven team, and the manager and everyone else is working so hard to make that a reality.

"(Pardew) certainly has the right credentials. He's come in and in terms of the teams, we have been building," he added.

"We've had some difficult periods over the last four or five years, but in terms of consistency, training discipline, structure and mentality, he's the right man and there are exciting times ahead.

"He's a fantastic manager. He's got a wealth of experience at every level and he's the focal point of the club so he is going to come in for criticism at a big club with the expectations we have."

The former Portsmouth defender believes the fans have every right to express their disappointment at the club's current form but says that the team are itching to get their first win of the season, starting with the visit of Leicester City on Saturday.

"People are entitled to their opinion because they come along and support the team," he said.

"Sometimes it can be a bit fierce, but that's the industry we are in, and we're just trying to communicate that we're trying all we can to get that win.

"We've got the same goals as the fans and if it's a case of blocking it out then that's what we need to do."