ALAN PARDEW has accepted a seven-game ban dished out to him for headbutting Hull City's David Meyler, but the Football Association could launch an appeal against the decision.

The FA are understood to be frustrated at the punishment imposed on the Magpies boss by a three-man independent regulatory commission at Wembley yesterday afternoon.

The first three matches, starting with this Saturday's trip to Craven Cottage, are a stadium ban which will prevent him from being anywhere near the action at Fulham and for the home dates with Crystal Palace and Everton.

He will then serve a touchline ban for the remaining four games of the suspension for the games with Southampton, Manchester United, Stoke and Swansea.

But he can be back in the dug-out for the final three games of the Premier League season against Arsenal, Cardiff and Liverpool as things stand. He has also been hit with a £60,000 fine and warned about his future conduct.

FA chiefs, however, are weighing up whether to appeal against the sentence handed out by the commission. They will wait to read the written explanation before deciding their next move.

That written explanation is not due until Friday and it will be at that stage when discussions will take place inside Wembley to determine whether or not to formally dispute the verdict.

It is the second time in the last few weeks that the FA have been unhappy with the outcome of a punishment handed out by the commission.

The five-game ban handed to West Brom striker Nicolas Anelka for making a 'quenelle' gesture in the December meeting with West Ham United also left members of the FA disappointed.

Pardew, though, will now focus on trying to prepare his Newcastle players for this Saturday's game with Fulham, knowing he will not be anywhere near to Craven Cottage when the match is played.

The 52-year-old, who pleaded his case yesterday along with a hired QC, offered his regrets for his actions at Hull's KC Stadium on March 1 following the commission's verdict.

Pardew, who has already been fined £100,000 by Newcastle for his behaviour, said: "As I have made clear, I deeply regret the incident and again wholeheartedly apologise to all parties for my conduct, which I understand was not acceptable.

"I will accept the punishment handed down by the FA today. My focus now turns to preparing the team for this weekend's game against Fulham and finishing the season as strongly as possible.”

Plans have already been put in place for communication between the team hotel and Craven Cottage for Saturday's game.

Pardew's assistant John Carver will lead team affairs in the manager's absence and will be responsible for ensuring the team plans are followed. A teamtalk will take place in the team hotel before the game.

Newcastle are keen to build on a decent – albeit topsy-turvy – first six months of the season without Pardew in the technical area.

The comprehensive 4-1 victory over Hull – which was overshadowed by Pardew's 72nd minute headbutt on Meyler – took Newcastle up to 43 points and a top six finish is not inconceivable.

Such a placing come May would still seem short of persuading leading goalscorer Loic Remy to stay at St James' Park beyond this season.

The Frenchman has 13 goals in 23 league appearances since arriving on loan from Queens Park Rangers and his performances have alerted a number of top European clubs, including Arsenal.

And, speaking in France, Remy has hinted he will be looking for a Champions League club to play his football when the action restarts in August.

The 27-year-old said: “Nowadays, without being pretentious, I might be able to play for a bigger club, a top five European club. I do not know “I will be part of a top five in Europe, or I will be part of a very large club. I'm sure of what I can do and I can still be much better.”

Remy could be lured by playing top European football this summer in a similar way to that which convinced Yohan Cabaye it was time to head for Paris St Germain.

Cabaye has only started one league game since his return to France, but the 28-year-old is happy to have made the £20m move to the Parc des Princes when he did.

He said: “It goes very well. Everyone was very friendly with me. I'm getting comfortable with them. But it is easy, they are great players. I take pleasure to evolve with them.”

He added: “The coach makes his team, it must be respected. I'm coming after six months of competition in a team where it runs well. I have to adapt to the players, the game system I play when I am asked to play. The coach picks the team.”