Hughton Relegated, Pardew Promoted

[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…

(Source: philosofooty)