Pardew? Won't Do!

I went to bed last night with Martin and Martin on my mind (Jol and O'Neill of course).

I woke up to find Alan.

(Alan Pardew, not the Braga superstar Alan who would have been an infinately cooler choice)

The sacking of Chris Hughton, as Ryan has covered, was a disrespectful blow to a faithful servant of the club. The only way the Newcastle board could make up for their behaviour was to have a genuine big name boss lined up to take the reins. One can forgive a bit of over-ambition after all.

But we ended up getting Alan.

I am not a Newcastle fan, but I know a few souls that are. And I wouldn't wish having Mike Ashley as an owner on any of them. By hiring Pardew, he has slighted and screwed over a decent manager and has been completely hypocritical and unjustifiable in the process.

Pardew is not a good manager. If he was then, frankly, he wouldn't have had to take a job in League 1 (I know Southampton overpaid, but even so). In fact, his career path is pretty much identical to that of Hughton. He took an understrength West Ham team recovering from a devastating relegation back to the Premiership. He started well enough and even reached an FA Cup final, but things slipped a bit and he got the sack.

His time at Charlton was a failure; they went down and stayed there. He was dismissed from Southampton after he clashed with the board and brought 'chronic low morale' to the team.

The first part of both Pardew and Hughton's sagas mirror each other. They were both able to unite a team devoid of the stars of previous years and take them to promotion. They both proved that they can win at the highest level.

Newcastle's only reasoning for sacking Hughton was to bring in a 'more experienced manager'. Well, Pardew is more experienced than Hughton. And what does his experience tell us?

It shows that he is washed up. Finished. I'm sorry, but if Pardew has not had success at the highest level for over 5 years then he is not going to have any now. Otherwise, he would already have a Premier League job.

Hughton is still an unknown entity because he has been given none of the chances that Pardew got at West Ham. Pardew took the Hammers to the FA Cup final. What is to say for sure that Hughton could not have accomplished something similar with Newcastle this year, or the next?

The whole 'experienced' criteria is evidently a joke. Why not get Brian Laws, so 'experienced' after Burnley's pathetic capitulation. Or find out whether Big Ron is available. Or Peter Reid, or Dick Campbell (a joke for the Scottish lower league fan(s) out their)?

And how is Hughton ever going to get experience if every team he is managing sacks him for the lack of it?

I don't normally give any weight to conspiracy theories or idle tabloid speculation, but the stories suggesting the real reasoning behind Mike Ashley's decision seem too true to be made up. As the rumours go, Ashley wanted a more high profile manager that would draw in Sky Sports reporters and get Newcastle matches broadcast more often. He wanted, basically, to stroke his own sizeable ego. And perhaps his gargantuan belly.

The only consolation for Hughton is that I and anyone else with a brain are mocking Pardew's appointment. Big Fat Mike has evidently failed miserably again. And everbody knows it.

GM