Morning folks, Jonny Forumer reporting for duty. Alan Pardew sure brought the pride back to Newcastle United last season with a 5th place Premier League finish resulting in an LMA award from his peers, but Magpies owner Mike Ashley’s decision to reward him with an eight-year contract has prompted no little debate amongst the Toon Army faithful, especially in the wake of their club’s mixed start to the 2012-13 season. I hung around online joints NUFC-forum, Toontastic and Newcastle-Online, asking questions and listening in on folk sharing their two cents’ worth…

The Forze, NUFC-forum…

Feels like we’re getting married to Pardew. Scary.

Dr Gloom, Toontastic…

ridiculous.

if he’s still here in 8 years, it’s arses out all round in fenwicks’ window

Ketsbaia, Newcastle-Online…

Credit to him, he has turned it all round. As part of a winning structure, he is the focal point of our revival and deservedly won Manager of the Season. The players seem to love him, he’s a master of the media and is a pleasure to listen to. I also like the backroom staff he’s brought in, instilling a Geordie influence on our dressing room. I’ve not always agreed with his tactics and decisions but you can’t argue with 5th place. Absolutely brilliant.

St1pe, NUFC-forum…

8 f***en years? How much will it cost to sack him if we nose dive?

King Shola, Newcastle-Online…

I think he has been massively aided by our competent scouting network and the tremendous team morale developed in the Championship season.

The Fish, Toontastic…

It’s more about scaring off the likes of Spurs than actually tying him to the club for 8 years. I’ll bet there’s an early release clause for Ashley’s benefit if Pardew doesn’t achieve set goals. Something like he has to guarantee; Premiership survival, there won’t be consistent lower half finishes, we’ll get a cup in 5 years, or whatever

alpal78, Newcastle-Online…

I’m still unhappy with his recent comments that we as fans should realize that the summer transfer window was good or words to that effect. That came across as very condescending. His job is to manage the team, get the best out of the players and get the points. It does not include to persuade us to believe whatever he or the board wants us to believe in. We can think whatever the hell we want and most would say that notwithstanding the fact that we (to our credit) kept our best players, we missed an opportunity to either strengthen the first team or add depth to the squad (beyond Anita).

It’s all fine if he thinks that we had a good summer transfer window, but if that’s the case that he should not be complaining about our injuries (as they seem to be piling up now) when we don’t get points or perform poorly. That’s the whole point, injuries do happen in football, no team has ever gone through the whole season without injuries to their key players, that’s why we need a bigger and better squad. You can’t have your cake (good window) and eat it too (complain bout our injuries) Pards.

Oliver, NUFC-forum…

There is definitely a compensation clause in all those contracts. No way would Ashley risk having to pay that much compensation if Pardew does badly. I’m glad to see it though, stability is what we want at this club and has been missing for far too many years.

PaddockLad, Toontastic…

all these long contracts are very fishy iyam. Is this another cost cutting measure from Ashley?….are they on half the money a premier league coach or manager should be on so theyve doubled the length of a normal contract?….

This means if they leave for another club, NUFC have saved a fortune. If NUFC sack them, theyd have to pay the full 8 years money up. Which doesnt make a lot of sense for anyone tbh….its not an incentive to do well, but there will almost certainly be huge bonuses for success. Ashley does beleive in rewarding employees who have done well for him.

Wullie, Newcastle-Online…

The real worry for me is next year. Our entire gameplan is based around using our individual quality to nick a goal while the rest of the team stay where they’re told.

What happens next summer when Ba, Cisse and Ben Arfa (as well as others) decide they don’t want to keep feeding off scraps and trying to finish between 5th and 8th?

Some teams have a recognizable style of play coached into them (Arsenal the best example), so when they lose players, as they often do, it doesn’t actually affect them all that much because they keep playing the same way, creating chances the same way. We’re not like that, we don’t have a style or even a formation that is ours, we just send our players out and basically tell them try not to concede and give it as early as possible to three of the most effective attacking players in the country.

If they’re not there, we’re in real trouble.

Cajun, Newcastle-Online…

What I really like about Pardew is he always seems to be working hard to improve himself which is probably why he expects the same from the players.

He doesn’t just stick to one style that has had relative success *cough MON, cough* but is constantly studying and trying to test new ideas.

I think we are on to a winner here, he will make mistakes, he won’t always please everyone (especially with his team ethic and getting the flair players to adapt to it) but as long as the board back his ambitions he will get us as realistically successful as possible.

Also he often seems to be in tune with the fans, he won’t agree with the majority all of the time but he is the first manager in a while that seems to be on the same wavelength as the fans most of the time.

IPG, NUFC-forum…

See absolutely no point in this deal whatsoever. A 4 year deal was perfectly satisfactory and provided sufficient stability. Lets face it if results were to go down the pan then Pardew will get sacked, this just adds to potential costs.

Toonpack, Toontastic…

I mean seriously, what’s not to like.

For him to see out the 8 years we’ll have to be doing consistently well and the duration of the contract means he’s unlikely to get “poached” without serious dosh. Absolutely will have get out of jail clauses for Ashley if it shouldn’t work out.

He’s the best manager (and backroom team) we’ve had for absolutely ages, think it’s good news all round, me.

Overtrick, NUFC-forum…

8 years, bloody hell. That’s a crazy amount of time. Saying that, if he’s still the manager when I’m 30 years old I’ll be shocked.

J69, Toontastic…

Are people honestly not seeing this as being a nice big incentive for AP to toe the line for another 8 years? Llambias keeps referencing Wenger and Fergie. Except we all know they would have told Ashley to shove his club up his arse long before now.

Scoot, NUFC-forum…

All about stability isn’t it.

Good news i suppose! Lets just hope we keep moving forward!

brummiemag1, Toontastic…

He’s done a decent enough job so far, but giving him an 8 year contract seems ludicrous to me. He’s not Wenger or Fergurson for god’s sake and I’m not aware of any other manager on such a long term contract.

However he is a yes man and he’s prepared to work on a shoe string budget – exactly what Ashley wants

He’s also competent enough to keep us in the Premier League for the next 8 years, nothing more – and sadly thats the sum total of Ashley’s ambition for Newcastle United

Schrute, NUFC-forum…

All about stability. 8 years might seem a bit much but it’s sending a message that they want him long-term which is what we’ve lacked for a long time.

ohmelads, Newcastle-Online…

8 year contracts? 1 major signing? There’s too much complacency going on based on the events of last season. We’ve incurred 8 extra european games before the new year alone yet the squad numbers remain the same. We have witnessed a noticeable dip in form from key players like Cabaye and Cisse, and when you look at the backup players, there just isn’t competition for places. Last season Pardew managed a similarly weak squad well, getting the most from players like Ryan Taylor and James Perch. He must find a way to do it again, because there are too many automatic selections, and we are way too predictable to opposing teams. We have been relying on individual match winners to pinch results with very limited service.

I do think Pardew’s got a difficult task, and some of the criticism on here is a little premature in my view. He was let down by Ashley in the summer, his reward for European football was much the same squad over many more games, so to expect another 5th placed finish is a huge ask. He may become a victim of his own success, if people expect a similar finish. I just don’t believe he has the players to achieve that, not with the extra games stretching the squad through fatigue and injuries. I think we are paying for a poor transfer window, though Pardew is certanily not beyond criticism. Looking back on the window, the Anita signing, our one major deal, was a weird one. It did not address any of our needs and basically blew our whole transfer budget. I’m not sure who sanctioned that deal or why but I’d be surprised if Pardew thought that would be his final signing.

Benny, NUFC-forum…

Good on him – he’s earned it. Hopefully all the s*** about him having a bust up with the owners will f**k off like a fart in the wind now

J69, Toontastic…

Im bookmarking this thread for 12months time when AP is thanking MA for putting his hand in his pocket for 3million to replace the 15million we get for Ben Arfa. And a big thanks to Bigi for stepping into Tiote’s shoes. And we really need to hold onto krul cos, you know, 12mil would see him sold, not that we want to sell him *wink wink.

In what world is it fucking normal for a manager to hawk his own players around in the press to make the owner some cash?

Just my opinion of course. Although it was shared by the majority of people on here recently. Short memories. Pardew has done a cracking job but lets not kid ourselves that employing him was good judgement rather than plenty of luck. Hughton was booted out because he didnt want to toe the line. Keegan left because the owners were clueless. Pards is staying because he keeps his head down and says nowt to rock the boat. Its a shame because hes turned out to be a cracking manager. Its a shame his loyalties dont lie where ours do though

Majestic, NUFC-forum…

Oh well Pardew is perfectly content to make excuses for the lack of investment and should also be able to pretty much guarantee mid table finishes.

will keep the money flowing in for ashley

Yoda, NUFC-forum…

There are positives and negatives to take on this, we’re building a very promising Academy and bringing a lot of good young players and obviously Pardew is helping in the development of that so it’ll mean he’ll be around to utilise those players. It also means the players can be confident of the stability of the manager – something which we could be known to lack in the past.

However, if it does go all tits up, it’s going to reflect badly on Ashley and cost him a huge amount of money to pay him out. Another dilemma is Pardew doesn’t seem to have a Plan B which has cost us in games in the past so hopefully he can build on that.

On the whole, I’m sceptical about this deal but if Pardew can work on a better footballing philosophy rather than punting the ball forward, I’ll probably warm to it more. Anyways, I hope he has a very successful 8 years with us.

wolfy, Toontastic…

He’s done an excellent job in the time he’s been manager and that cannot be denied.

Too many people forget the dire condition this club was in and what we are doing right now.
Pardew is like any other manager, he works within the means of his club…forget your sheikh’s and oil multi billionaires as they don;t know what means of the club are.

This club has to work within it’s means, meaning it has to be sustainable on it’s own..create it’s own revenue, which creates transfer funds in time.
We have not long ago broke even, so we will reap the rewards of a well run club soon enough, plus we have the majority of players at this club that are worth far far more than what we paid, which means the quality is building, not declining.

We don’t buy players for the sake of it and Pardew knows what he bought into, which is a structure and blueprint to work from.
I’d imagine he’s signed an 8 year deal, along with the coaches and scouts because he and they can see the progress the club is making.

Ashley doesn’t work on a shoestring budget…he works on a budget that is fully sustainable and is tough enough along with Llambias to see that it’s not stretched or broken.

It’s sound financial management from top to bottom and any fan should be over the moon with what’s happening.
Those fans that are not satisfied will never be satisfied no matter what manager we had and what players we had.

NUFC_JOSH, NUFC-forum…

Now to get Shola signed up on a similar sort of contract!