11 years on: Alan Pardew appointed Newcastle United manager

In 2010, the newly-promoted Magpies sat 11th in the Premier League when Chris Hughton was controversially sacked following defeat at West Bromwich Albion.

He was promptly replaced by Pardew, who had been dismissed by then League One side Southampton earlier that year.

Pardew’s appointment was arguably as unpopular as Hughton’s departure but the former Crystal Palace midfielder slowly but surely won the Geordie faithful over during his first year at the club.

A 3-1 win over Liverpool in his first game in charge was soon followed by a 5-0 thrashing of West Ham United and the memorable 4-4 comeback draw against Arsenal as Newcastle stayed up comfortably. They finished the 2010-11 season in 12th place but they would have finished 9th had they not thrown away a 3-0 lead over West Brom on the final day.

What was Pardew’s managerial record at Newcastle?

After guiding the club to 12th in 2010-11, Pardew led Newcastle to an unlikely 5th place finish and Europa League qualification in his first full season in charge. The feat saw him named Premier League and LMA manager of the 2011-12 season.

It was the only time Newcastle had finished higher than 10th in the Mike Ashley era and remains the most recent time they’ve secured European football. They reached the quarter-final stage the following season only to be knocked out by Benfica.

But regular European matches took their toll on Newcastle’s league form as they fell to a 16th placed finish.

Pardew seemingly got things back on track for the 2013-14 season as United sat 6th at Christmas before limping to a 10th placed finish after losing 14 of their final 20 matches.

The sale of Yohan Cabaye in January 2014 was the catalyst for a miserable second half to the season.

A 4-1 win at Hull City was overshadowed by Pardew headbutting midfielder David Myler and being handed a seven match touchline ban – arguably his lowest moment as Newcastle boss and one that almost saw him sacked.

Newcastle's poor form continued into the 2014-15 season. They failed to win in their opening seven league matches and sat in the relegation zone.

But a remarkable run of five straight wins saw the club rise to fifth in the table by November 22. A 2-1 win over a previously unbeaten Chelsea side soon followed as the club’s early season relegation fears eased.

But a fourth straight Tyne-Wear derby defeat to Sunderland piled on the pressure once again. On December 29, Pardew left to join Crystal Palace with Newcastle sitting 9th in the table after 19 games.

Overall, Pardew’s Newcastle record stands at 71 wins, 41 draws and 73 losses from 185 games in charge.

How does his record compare with other United managers?

Pardew’s win percentage of 38.4% actually stacks up well compared with other permanent Newcastle managers of the ill-fated Mike Ashley era.

Newcastle United manager win percentages 2007-2021

Chris Hughton – 59.38% (31.25% not including Championship) Rafa Benitez – 42.47% (33% not including Championship) Alan Pardew – 38.4% Sam Allardyce – 33.33% Steve Bruce – 28.8% Kevin Keegan – 28.57% Steve McClaren – 22.58% Joe Kinnear – 22.22% John Carver (interim) – 15%

Although Pardew remains an unpopular figure on Tyneside, his Premier League record was the best of any manager under Mike Ashley.

Why was Pardew unpopular at Newcastle?

Despite a strong start, Newcastle’s poor run form in the league compiled with early cup exits and growing anger towards the club’s owner saw Pardew face a lot of heat from supporters.

He had put together a strong group of players during the 2011-12 season but a failure to strengthen in the summer saw United lose their momentum and they are yet to truly recover.

While that lack of investment wasn’t down to Pardew, his perplexing excuses such as grass being too long, ‘too much atmosphere’ and the Notting Hill Carnival also gained him no favour with supporters, especially when the side were regularly suffering embarrassing defeats.

Picking up just 19 points out of a possible 81 in 2014 led to strong calls from Newcastle fans for Pardew to be sacked as SackPardew.com gained traction.

A mammoth eight-year contract handed to Pardew after finishing fifth was also like a millstone around the club’s neck when they were floundering in the bottom half.

Still, the early part of Pardew’s spell brought some of the best memories a ‘post Bobby Robson’ generation of supporters have had following Newcastle – even if things went off the rails.

What Pardew has said about his time at NUFC

Speaking to The Times back in 2017, Pardew said: “It gets documented that my first year is a great success then it kind of fades away.

"That’s what people say about me. I could have arguments against that. I thought I had come back well at Newcastle with the second team I built there.

“I was unfortunate to lose that team to transfers – big players like Loic Remy, Yohan Cabaye, Demba Ba.

“With buying and selling, I think I was in credit at Newcastle, not that the fans want to hear that.

“I had to show a lot of resilience at Newcastle. I soon realised you can’t always please people so you have to get about your job the best way you can.”

What has Pardew done since leaving Newcastle?

He spent just under two years at Crystal Palace before being sacked with the club under threat of relegation.

A year later, he returned to manage in the Premier League again at West Brom but departed after winning just three of 21 games.

A brief spell in the Eredivisie with ADO Den Haag followed but he left the club by mutual consent in April 2020 having won just one out of eight matches.

In November 2020, he was appointed as а football advisor at Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia.

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