"When you're the king, you can do anything". Shakespeare? No, a much wiser man than the great English play write, Alan Pardew. These were his alleged words at a hotel dinner with members of West Ham United's back-room staff, before a game against Sunderland, during his tenure with 'The Hammers'. It all refers to him swapping a plate of food with his then fitness coach, Tony Strudwick, due to the fact he did not like his own dish.
That same Alan Pardew, was given an eight year contract by Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley. Now anyone who has followed the English game in the last decade or so will have heard of Ashley, the owner of SportsDirect who does not enjoy much support among the Geordie faithful.
Newcastle reached their highest league position since the Bobby Robson days during the 2011-12 season (5th), when Pardew was handed a new eight year contract. With the money being thrown around nowadays it is possible for pretty much any scenario to occur, but even this was strange. Never before had I heard of an eight year contract being offered to a manager. Newcastle finished 16th in 2012-13. A win on the second last day of the season and total of 41 points was enough to keep them in the Premier League.
Newcastle United is a club with a rich history, a passionate fanbase and a stadium that the world's elite would be proud of. However, with any sort of success there seems to follow an inevitable turmoil. The high of a fifth place finish in 2012 and a return to European football was immediately followed by a domestic collapse the following season. All of this comes after a return to the Premier League from their unimaginable relegation in 2008-09.
A season consisting of managerial ins and outs and chaos within the club, led to their demise to the second tier of English football for the first time since the introduction of the Premier League era. Chris Hughton was installed as their manager on a permanent basis and the 'Magpies' decimated all opponents to the Championship title. Hughton enjoyed a strong start to his first season back in the top flight but was sacked in December after a 3-1 defeat to West Bromich Albion. This came as a surprise to fans and media alike. Pardew was brought in three days later.
Having worked so hard to get promotion, Ashley decided to sell Andy Carroll for a British transfer record fee of £35m. In hindsight, that has actually turned out to be an incredible bit of business by Ashley, but this is were the fall out seems to occur between fans and board. The fans want Newcastle challenging for honours season in, season out. They do not see themselves as a selling club and so clashes with the board have ensued. Which leads us to the position they find themselves in today.
The departures of Yohan Cabaye, Demba Ba and Hatem Ben Arfa in recent years, without quality replacement, has taken its toll on the Geordie faithful. They have started this seasons campaign without a win in the league and only managed to scrape past Crystal Palace in extra-time on Wednesday night in the Capital One cup.
The fans have been protesting for a number of weeks now and are pleading with Ashley to sack their manager. It seems that Pardew is running out of time on Tyneside and the 'King' is about to be dethroned.
