It’s the eight-year Alan Pardew contract that keeps on giving, and now it’s waltzed away with a second prestigious comedy award in the space of just a few months.
The deal, hilarious, is to be upheld into next season after Newcastle United confirmed their intention to keep doing the exact opposite of everything their supporters say they should do.
With a Yohan Cabaye sale and a Joe Kinnear appointment/resignation double whammy amongst the off-pitch highlights of a campaign littered with unholy thrashings on it, the Pardew contract is to once again be honoured for services to British comedy having already received an award as recently as February.
Speaking exclusively to Football Burp, Michael Palin paid tribute to Newcastle for cracking a nation so consistently up.
He said: “The mark of a truly great comedian is the ability to make you laugh even when you know what’s coming.
“You can watch the dead parrot sketch or Del Boy falling through the bar over and over again, and they just keep getting funnier with age.
“Newcastle United make you laugh straight from the off – they play in black and white, as per the colour of television the last time they won anything of import – and they keep you guffawing really rather remorselessly.
“There’s no letup with them. I’m even thinking of buying a season ticket, they’re that much fun.
“I mean, come on, Shola Ameobi still gets a game – and they’ve even thrown his even-worse younger brother into the mix. It’s almost too much, I’m just gutted I didn’t think of it myself.
“They’ll be a big influence on the forthcoming Python reunion shows, for sure.”