Andy Gray has his comment now
A no-lose situation
Pardew must try to make most of wonderful opportunity, says Andy
The average shelf-life of a Newcastle manager hasn't exactly been long and healthy over the last 13 years so Alan Pardew is going to need things to go his way at St James' Park, starting with the visit of Liverpool.
Somewhere along the line the club's owner and board are going to have to give a manager more than 15-18 months in charge; they are going to have to back their boss to turn a bad spell around if the club is ever going to challenge for major honours on a regular basis.
Opportunity knocks: if Pardew can ride out the troughs, he has plenty to gain says Andy
Opportunity knocks: if Pardew can ride out the troughs, he has plenty to gain says Andy
As Manchester City found in the 1970s and 80s, sacking managers on a regular basis and replacing them with somebody who brings in a different attitude and methods is a recipe for disaster.
Alan has been given a five-and-a-half year contract and I hope he does get a decent crack at the job but the sad truth is that the deal he signed might as well say 11 years because these days contracts are not worth the paper they are written on.
Results will decide Alan's future. If he can start quickly and positively and succeed in keeping Newcastle in the Premier League then I'm sure he will go a long way to soothing the fears
If Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias decide at any point in the next few years that they want to get rid of Alan Pardew then they will.
Opportunity
Right now, though, Alan is in a no-lose situation. He was an unemployed manager who was desperate to get back in and this week he's been given a wonderful opportunity at a famous old club in the Premier League.
So what's the downside for him? There isn't one. It won't be Alan who wins the fans over, it will be results.
I remember when Howard Kendall was getting hammered from the terraces at Everton and petitions for him to be sacked were doing the rounds.
But all of a sudden we put it all together on the pitch and we went on to win the FA Cup in 1984 before winning the league and the Cup Winners' Cup the next season. Success came thick and fast and soon people were talking about Howard Kendall being the best manager in Everton history!
If the board had listened to the fans at the beginning of 1984 then Howard would have got sacked and the club might not have enjoyed the glory that it did.
So results will decide Alan's future. If he can start quickly and positively and succeed in keeping Newcastle in the Premier League then I'm sure he will go a long way to soothing the fears of the fans.
At the end of the day the supporters are Newcastle United fans. While it seems the overwhelming majority wanted Chris Hughton to stay, their loyalty remains to the club not any one manager.
A manager is only one custodian of the club for the length of time he is there. If Newcastle do well then I've no doubt the fans will warm to Alan.
He's going to need plenty of luck along the way but what manager doesn't?
I'm sure Alan feels he is a much more educated and experienced manager now than he was when he first tasted Premier League football in 2005.
He's enjoyed highs, taking West Ham to the FA Cup final, and been through relegation with Charlton - a time when he will have learnt a lot about himself.
I'm sure he recognises that there will be peaks and troughs this season, good days and bad days, and he'd be right to do so because I won't deny that I'm still worried about Newcastle's prospects.
They are only four points above the relegation places and their form remains hit and miss.
They need Joey Barton, Kevin Nolan, Fabricio Coloccini and Mike Williamson back quickly - this weekend if possible for the first two.
Whatever Liverpool have shown under Roy Hodgson away from home - and that hasn't been a great deal - they remain a very difficult side to beat and Newcastle will have to play an awful lot better than they did against West Brom to get anything.
Decency
I'm sure Chris will watch future events at Newcastle with interest.
The lasting impression I'm left with after the events of this week is that he was never the man Ashley and Llambias wanted to manage the side in the top flight.
I would have thought more of them if they'd had the decency to say last May once the club had won promotion 'thanks very much, Chris, we appreciate all that you've done but we feel that we need a more experienced man now to take us into the Premier League; here's a lovely big golden handshake'.
Instead, it looks as though they've waited until a bad result has come along and then used that as an excuse to get rid of him.
Alan has my best wishes for the job that lies in store