In the normal world, a five and a half year deal would make think that his annual salary must be quite low to balance out giving him such a long deal.

In the fairytale land of St James's Park, I'm not so sure......

Pardew only has to keep them up to be more succesful at the club than Shearer.

And not quit when the going gets tough to be better than Keegan

Sounds bizarre, but could be true!

You have to wonder about some of his decisions!

Football really is gripped with this pandemic of financial stupidity. It pays salaries to players and staff way above what it should be doing as a loss making industry. Newcastle are giving a manager sacked by Southampton a 5 and a half year contract? It's absolutely unbelievable. If they had gone after Mourinho or Wenger and been told the only way to secure them was that deal, fair enough. They are proven. But Alan Pardew has a record of destroying as many clubs fortunes as he has helped and was not in demand from any other club. So why the ridiculously long contract?

It smacks of helping a mate out to me. I think Ashley is going to try and sell the club again now, so he's giving his casino buddy a long contract in the knowledge that he'll get a good few million when he is inevitably sacked.

As daft as it sounds, i cannot think of any other reason why Alan Pardew would be good enough to manage Newcastle United. I just cannot work this one out, at all.

That's the biggest issue, the length of contract. Even putting aside the fact that the previous manager should not have been sacked etc why offer such a long deal. The chances are he will be sacked before this contract runs out so he will be in line for a big payoff. Like you say if it is the only way to get the man you want as they are in demand then fair enough but Alan Pardew?? It should have been a 2.5 year deal max.

Seems like one mate helping out another!

Was a great atmosphere. Loved the attendance being announced as "about 7,000 - we're still counting"
Thought FC didn't deserve to lose 4-0 but as you say fitness told and also the expected difference in skill & decision making given the difference in leagues (League 1 v NFP)
Not got the stats but FC seem worse than Spurs at converting penalties.

He made the most of it but both were 100% penaltys.

Poor again last night, something isn't right with Diddi. Bosingwa injured AGAIN As said the only positive to come out of the game was how good JMc played.

CA needs to win 2 out of the next 3 or he'll be looking for a job. The only problem is who would we get in, Guardiola wouldnt leave Barca imo.

Guardiola's a none starter. He aint leaving Barca unless Mourinho wins the league and CL double for the next two years. Would he come to us? Not with the baggage we've got with our treatment of managers.

Basically, there's a two man shortlist. One of them is managing Real Madrid, he aint coming. That leaves the manager of the Turkish national team.

I'd give Hiddink a 5 year deal with total control of football. Guaranteed no interference with any part of his work.

So Pardew claims other managers have texted him questioning whether he's wise to take on the Newcastle job?

Yeah, because if he'd have waited Chelsea or Man United would have been calling with an offer.

Was a good night. Brighton were class and played with the right attitude as well which was good to see.

FC have now missed their last 6 penalties.

Does Pardew have the right credentials for the job?

There is a very tough questioning process, it goes like this...

Q1. Are you a geordie?

Did he even pass this test? I mean they are in dire need of a geordie messiah, not some half baked non geordie who doesn't understand the immensity of the job.

How to try and prove it is not corrupt by inadvertantley proving the opposite. www.sportinglife.com/football/ne ... atter.html The admission is that we were desperate to allocate a World Cup to new territories no matter what a better bid might have to offer.

How to try and prove it is not corrupt by inadvertantley proving the opposite. www.sportinglife.com/football/ne ... atter.html The admission is that we were desperate to allocate a World Cup to new territories no matter what a better bid might have to offer.