Philosofooty

[Alan Pardew is the next lucky man to be taken for a ride on the managerial merry-go-round by Mike Ashley…]

By Oliver Sparrow, writing from London

As discussed in our most recent AFR podcast, Newcastle United have this week parted company with their manager Chris Hughton after only sixteen games of the Premier League season after guiding them back to the top flight this year. News today has broken that Alan Pardew is the man who has been chosen to replace him, an appointment which had been widely rumoured in the football media.

To most of us on the outside, Newcastle fans or not, Hughton’s sacking seems like a nonsensical decision. This is a man who took over the reins from Alan Shearer when the club were relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2008/09 season, a time when the club was at its lowest ebb for as long as many can remember. He guided them through a potentially tricky season in England’s second tier and came out on top of the pile. What more could the man have achieved in his first season in charge? Aside from pipe-dreams of winning the FA and/or League cups, it’s hard to see how Hughton could have done any better. One season, one promotion. So far, so good…

Fast forward to this season.  At the time of his sacking, Newcastle lay in 11^th place in the Premier League. Pretty impressive stuff for a promoted side. It’s not exactly a flash-in-the-pan spate of early season form, either. We’re sixteen games into the season, and although there’s still a long way to go, it would be very harsh to say that Newcastle are lucky to be where they are.  If Newcastle owner Mike Ashley conceived that his side should be higher up the table by this stage of the season, then quite frankly he has delusions of grandeur.

True, Newcastle’s form has been very topsy-turvy of late, but that’s to be expected of a newly promoted team. They are still feeling their feet in the Premier League, and there will be days when they try something new that goes badly wrong. Equally, there will be days when they surpass expectations and pull a great result out of the bag. They will have relished handing out thrashings to Aston Villa and Sunderland, but defeats such as the 1-5 mauling against Bolton are to be expected and should be taken as a lesson in a learning curve rather than an indictment on their Premier League fate. You can’t learn to ride a bike without falling off a few times…

Indeed, Newcastle bounced back from that loss to Bolton with a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Chelsea at St. James’ park, roared on with great vigour by the Toon Army, braving the sub-zero temperatures to aim bare-chested bellows of encouragement to their boys. Howay the lads, indeed. A draw against the champions is not to be sniffed at, and the result was an indicator of how well Hughton was able to rally his troops.

However, a 1-3 loss away to West Brom at the Hawthorns was to be the nail in Hughton’s coffin. Ashley had decided that he had seen enough and sent him packing. Newcastle hadn’t played well, but it was hardly the kind of performance, or indeed run of form, that usually prompts the sacking of a manager. The general consensus was that Hughton had been doing a very good job at Newcastle. They are in a decent position in the Premier League and the future is looking bright for the Geordies - certainly brighter than it was before Hughton took over anyway. He was also well-liked by the fans, and more importantly the players. Members of his team often ran straight for their manager after scoring, perhaps out of pure joy, but more likely as a show of solidarity and friendship. One can’t help but think that Ashley will have upset the balance of the dressing room by removing a manager so revered by his players. It’s a rare thing these days, and is something I fear the portly owner has foolishly overlooked.

The club statement announcing Hughton’s departure stated that the board felt that ‘an individual with more managerial experience is needed to take the club forward’. How much further forward does Ashley realistically think that they can go, for this season anyhow? They are sitting pretty in the league, and it would be a big surprise if they finished much further up than they already are. It also seems a very weak excuse to use for sacking a manager that has been doing so well. He may not have that much experience, but he has shown enough so far to get his team into a good position, and who was to say that his success wouldn’t continue? It would seem more sensible to wait until the end of the season to assess his performance rather than hoisting him out on a whim that he hasn’t got enough experience mid-season. The whole thing stinks. Hughton had done a great job and had fulfilled everything that could have reasonably been asked of him. Add to that his personable character and standing amongst his players and you are left with a decision that seems utterly ridiculous. It is incredibly unfair on Hughton and is a matter which has been dealt with in such a cack-handed manner as to bring shame upon Newcastle football club.

Some fans might have cut Ashley some slack had he had a hot-shot manager to replace the apparently inexperienced Hughton, but instead he has lined up Alan Pardew, a man who had previously been deemed not good enough for West Ham or Southampton, and who left Charlton out of mutual consent. Whilst Pardew does have more Premier League experience than Hughton, he doesn’t necessarily have a great record of success. In fact, when he was brought in at Charlton in Christmas 2006 he failed to keep the Addicks in the Premier League. Worse still, when they dropped into the Championship he failed to even mount a serious playoff challenge and they finished 11^th. The following year was even worse and he left when they were languishing at the foot of the table. Hardly encouraging reading for Newcastle fans hoping that their team will stave off an unwanted relegation battle this season.

The water gets even murkier amidst BBC reports of Ashley meeting Pardew in a London casino – ‘It is believed Pardew became close friends with Newcastle owner Mike Ashley and director Derek Llambias when all three were familiar faces at an exclusive London casino where Llambias was managing director.’ Perhaps Ashley is getting Pardew for free in lieu of mounting gambling debts with Mr. Llambias?…

Jokes and speculation aside, though, Pardew doesn’t seem like a brilliant replacement for a man who was already doing pretty well. He’s hardly a superstar manager capable of sensationally catapulting Newcastle towards European qualification places. It is yet another chapter in a lengthy saga of Newcastle’s management history, and one which I wager most Newcastle fans won’t be in a hurry to re-read. I have nothing against Alan Pardew, and I wish him all the best in his new position, but I just feel that his management history doesn’t dazzle enough to warrant replacing a man who was already performing a more than adequate job. Poor old Chris Hughton has been well and truly shafted by the dubious thinking of Mike Ashley, but he can walk away from St. James’ park with his head held high. I hope he finds another job in management soon, he deserves it.