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Alan Pardew


JH

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Gained a little respect for him today with the way he handled himself.

 

Agreed.

 

Yup.

 

Could have been as pig headed as Ashley was, but chose to step into the shadow and just get on with it.

 

Still think that a combination of the players fighting for Hughton/fans turning anger and frustration into passion was the main reason we won that.

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I did wonder whether he might retain Steve Stone as his number 2. They looked to get on okay as a team - with Stone as the mouthy one and Pardew the thinker. It wouldn't do Pardew too much harm to have one of the old guard in there as well.

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Guest ObiChrisKenobi

Gained a little respect for him today with the way he handled himself.

 

Agreed.

 

Yup.

 

Could have been as pig headed as Ashley was, but chose to step into the shadow and just get on with it.

 

Still think that a combination of the players fighting for Hughton/fans turning anger and frustration into passion was the main reason we won that.

 

Aye, was happy with this, slinked into technical area as the players walked on to the pitch. Didn't wave, didn't big himself up - smart move.  :thup:

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Guest BlacknWhiteArmy

Can't say anything bad about how he presented himself, he knows he's come in at an awkward time, and acknowledges it's going to take time to have an influence on the players. He didn't big himself up either, just got on with the job.

 

No way suggesting he's now a good manager, but he's gone about it in a good fashion

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Well it just shows he's smarter than a rock really.  The sensible approach walking into this situation would be the humble one and he's taking it.  Hardly going to do a dance on Hughtons grave is he? 

 

That said he picked the right team and made the right changes today but he's still on probation - a result against Birmingham (the quote unquote kind of game we should be looking to pick up 3 in but haven't been) will help his case. 

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Made them early as well. Ranger on for Ameobi had a massive impact on the way the game was going.

 

Shola had more time on the pitch today than he had last weekend.

 

Chris Hughton rebuilt the team spirit at this club but I never really felt he used subs to best effect. Maybe Pardew just got jammy with this one but it worked. He did talk about pressuring the ball before the game and Ranger did that brilliantly.

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Don't really know where to put this,  but a cracking piece from the Mail about recent goings on.  Waddle's comment made me crack up...

 

 

 

While the team he created came wading through the debris of a chaotic week, Chris Hughton was far away from the action.

 

A fine manager, crassly discarded, was celebrating his birthday and coming to terms with his cruel misfortune. Yet still he cast a long shadow across St James’ Park.

 

His was the face on the fans’ banners, his was the name on their lips. Well, his name and those of the men who sacked him; the Newcastle owner Mike Ashley and his managing director Derek Llambias.

 

The fans spoke warmly of Hughton, the man who led them to the Championship title last season and delivered some remarkable results in the Premier League this term; six goals against Aston Villa, five against Sunderland, victory at Arsenal, a point against Chelsea.

 

They revered Hughton for bringing stability, dignity and a real measure of success to a club which had been a stranger to such things. The players seemed to share that view. ‘There was such a dignity about the way he left. It goes without saying that we were shocked’, said Newcastle’s captain Kevin Nolan.

 

 

And if they loved Hughton, then they despised his executioners. These, after all, are the people who employed Joe Kinnear and Dennis Wise, as well as Alan Shearer and Iain Dowie, perhaps the least successful double act since Cannon and Ball. Shrewd judgment is clearly not their forte.

 

Hughton’s successor, Alan Pardew, had arrived on a wave of apathy. There is usually a cast of thousands for the introduction of a new manager at St James’ Park. Pardew was greeted by a couple of cleaners, the local postman and the club cat. Enthusiasm was easily contained.

 

The preamble to last night’s game was unpromising for Pardew. Kevin Keegan, one of his many predecessors, offered a character assessment.

 

He said: ‘You can’t work with these people. You can’t trust them. They tell you one thing and mean another... Mike Ashley doesn’t know anything about football and Derek Llambias knows even less than him. So you’ve got two people running the club who know nothing.’

 

Chris Waddle, another Newcastle favourite, added his own commendation: ‘When you’ve got Batman and Robin upstairs, you’ve got no chance,’ he said.

 

In fairness, there was support for Ashley’s treatment of Hughton from the former Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd: ‘A lot of people won’t agree with me but I think he has done the right thing. I would have done the same,’ said Shepherd. Some might find that encouraging. Others would suggest that, with Shepherd as your friend, you really don’t need enemies.

 

Pardew arrived to boos and banners acclaiming Chris Hughton. Ashley turned up with chins sagging, neck gaping, radiating all the gravitas of a ticket tout.

Next to him, Llambias looked like a casino director, which he is. It was at his casino, it seems, that he made the acquaintance of Pardew, who was sacked by his three previous clubs.

 

As we know, there is nothing a casino boss loves more than an habitual loser.

 

Newcastle had found their next manager. Pardew affected a cheery indifference. ‘I’ve had a lot of texts from other managers saying I must be mad coming here,’ he said.

 

Perhaps so, but the fact the alternative was continued unemployment possibly influenced his decision to sign a five-and-a-half year contract.

 

The team, Hughton’s team, played willingly enough for the new man against a Liverpool side whose performance belied its recent encouraging results.

 

Indeed, when Nolan scored after 14 minutes, it seemed that they might get Batman and Robin off the hook.

 

But Steve Taylor’s own goal did nothing to improve the mood and jeers were simmering until the 80th minute, when Joey Barton stole the lead.

 

The final flourish, an extravagant drive by Andy Carroll, had Ashley up on his feet, dancing and demonstrating his delight and relief. It would be pleasant to report that his joy was shared across the length and breadth of English football. But it wouldn’t be true.

 

Pardew, sensitive soul that he is, announced he would be contacting Hughton for his observations. ‘But he’ll be hurting, so I’ll give it time,’ he said. Splendid idea. About five-and-a-half years ought to do it.

 

 

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1337850/Patrick-Collins-Chris-Hughton-Newcastle-United-hero-Batman-Robin-upstairs.html

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