Will these scenes be repeated today?The new era begins in earnest at St James’ Park this evening when Alan Pardew takes charge of his first Newcastle match since being appointed manager during the week.
There are many views on what the Pardew era will bring, but in amongst the speculation, rumour, hearsay, unrest, anger and dismay, there is the small matter of trying to beat Liverpool.
Yes that is correct – football.
With everything that has gone on this week it has perhaps been easier to put the football on the backburner whilst the events have been digested. In all probablility there is likely to be some form of protest against Mike Ashley at the ground, which is fine if that is what people want to do. I just hope that the protests don’t spread to the players in much the same way they did just over two years ago against Hull City. (more…)
Alan Pardew - The new man in charge.Well the decision that was expected has been made and Alan Pardew is our new manager for what could potentially be the next five-and-a-half years.
My own personal view is that this is a sideways step compared to a forwards one, but it’s done now, and at least it puts a rather swift ending to the vast amount of speculation regarding who would be taking over from Chris Hughton.
Is Pardew the peoples choice? Evidently not, but like or not, he is the man that is charged with taking this club forward. Whether he can do that or not remains to be seen, but he needs a chance to to prove to the fans just what he can do for us. This is why I suggest that we get behind the team and the manager.
Now in no way should this take away from the feelings that I have towards the board at the moment. Quite honestly I am livid with the decision to sack Chris Hughton, and with the way that it was done, but nothing is going to change it now. (more…)
Freddy and his pearls of wisdom.Former Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd has backed the decision to sack Chris Hughton just 16 games into the Premier League season.
Shepherd claims that the writing was on the wall for Hughton, and had been for some time, so the decision shouldn’t have come as a shock to people. He even claims he would have done the same himself had he still been in control of the corridors of power at St James’ Park.
That doesn’t surprise me to be honest as Shepherd did have a bit of a penchant for sacking managers in his time, usually having to fork out millions of pounds in compensation in the process. The departure of Hughton will have not warranted a large sum of compensation, but it still came as a shock to a lot of people who had thought that Hughton was doing reasonably well.
Shepherd said: “I may be the last guy to tell anyone how to run as football club but no-one should be surprised. The signs were there, no contract, no transfer funds and no replacement for assistant Colin Calderwood. I’m surprised anyone is surprised. The writing was on the wall.”(more…)
Hughton - A class act, and a tough one to follow.A lot of people are still trying to come to terms with the unexpected sacking of Chris Hughton on Monday.
It’s a move that has left many Newcastle fans, neutral fans and media-types scratching their heads, but it’s been done now and can’t be reversed.
Naturally all of the speculation at the moment is regarding just who will be the successor to Hughton.
Names are being thrown about left, right and centre but nobody really knows anything. A lot of the rumours are being pushed by eager journalists who are dying to be the first one to get it right. Whatever, listen to them if you wish, but nothing is certain as yet.
One thing that is certain however is that whoever is charged with building on all the good work that Hughton has done will have a bloody hard act to follow, in more ways than one. (more…)
Hughton can hold his head up high.Well the decision has been made to usher Chris Hughton out of the door. It’s shocking, but it’s been and gone and there is very little that can be done to bring him back now.
My own view is that Hughton has been strung out to dry on this one. Mike Ashley has given him very little to work with in terms of resources since he was awarded the managers job, but working within those restrictions and doing a grand job appears to be not enough.
Let’s not forget where we were when Hughton took control of the reins at Newcastle.
We had just been relegated and had a club up that was up for sale. Players were leaving left, right, and centre amid rumours of a poisonous dressing room and infighting. The club could very easily have drifted towards oblivion, but it didn’t, and that was largely down to one man – Chris Hughton.
Chris Hughton will forever have a place in Tyneside folklore in my opinion. Whilst I admit that I wasn’t overly keen to see him appointed as our full-time manager, I have to say that come the end of his tenure at St James’ Park he had completely won me around and I was right behind him. In fact I was even singing his name at The Hawthorns yesterday, along with a large percentage of other fans I hasten to add. (more…)
