Pardew, who was axed at St Mary's despite a solid start to the season in League One and replaced by Nigel Adkins, is now believed to be on the verge of landing the Newcastle job.
Cortese told BBC Sport: "I'm not going into details but there were plenty of reasons why it ended up with the sack.
"All the attributes Nigel Adkins has added is something we were missing before. He's changed the attitude. His personality, his way of being, it's motivated people."
Source: PA
Source: PA