I'm not saying they didn't have an influence, I accept that they had a slight influence.
However, they did not "change the course of history" as people (including the Chron) are suggesting We hired f***ing Carver, McClaren and bought f***ing idiots like Doumbia on dodgy deals before Rafa was appointed and the course of our history was changed.
Lee Charnley didn't sit at work all those months ago thinking "oooh I better sack Schteve and bring Rafa in because of those angry SackPardew people" - he bought Rafa in because we were desperate to stay up at all costs and Ashley was willing to pay anything to achieve it. Rafa stayed because of the absolute class support he received, which the club realised.
No no no no no, you've got it completely wrong here.
A MASSIVE part of SackPardew was promoting 'short term pain for long term gain' in those exact words. Losses, poor managerial appointments, and relegation were accepted as certainties, such was the determination to just get rid of the horrible prick. So the appointment of Carver and McLaren weren't surprising at all in their ambitionlessness (definitely a word) ,in fact the appointment of McLaren was seen by some as being better than expected such is Ashley, Charley et al's ineptitude, but a poor managerial appointment was accepted by-and-large as something that needed to happen in order to break the cycle of hellish purgatory PR'd as heaven with and by Pardew.
Although Rafa's appointment wasn't a direct result of SackPardew, the whole idea was to break the cycle with Pardew, to allow the club to eventually get the right man for the job, or to lead on to making the same noises against Ashley. Rafa happening so quickly is simply a sooner-than-expected vindication of the short term pain for long term gain approach over the careful what you wish for approach.
Pardew left, rather than being sacked, we got McLaren, got relegated and still have Ashley. Looking in, it made no difference. Even the slightest reading between the lines though and it's pretty obvious that SackPardew was a push factor to Parish's pull factor and the club has improved greatly under Rafa, albeit in a lower division, as a result.
To some it doesn't end until Ashley's gone, and I'm the same in terms of the long term, our identity as a club, what's happened, worrying/being able to relax etc, but there's certainly a lot more to be proud of in spite of Ashley and that's down to Rafa, who's down to McLaren, who's massively down to SackPardew imo. THAT was the watershed moment that started it all, and we're fortunate that the cause and affect can be shown with one manager in between the two.
I agree KI that the hostility from the NUFC crowd was brought on by SP and I give them sole credit for that. However, SP did not achieve their aim (which was to get Pardew sacked). Had Palace not come in for Pardew, who knows how long he would have remained - as I said earlier, we were comfortable and midtable when he left, he was under very little pressure other than from the crowd.
Parish saw a great opportunity for Palace (ha!) to take one of their heros back to their club, which again, SP was partially responsible for.
But it is incredibly short sighted imo to say the change in the direction of the club is in any way down to SP. The only reason that Rafa was installed was because Ashley was desperate to keep us on the PL gravy train, there is no other reason for it. SP had no influence on that whatsoever.
Pardew walked at the first opportunity he had after SP put the pressure on him. It's incredibly short sighted and may I say, a tad dense to not appreciate the impact SP had. And they did it in a non egotistical way too which imo increased their credibility by staying anonymous, we may never find out who they are but whoever they are, I hope they're/he/she is enjoying the target of their excellent website getting the tin tack from his club.
