Pardew: Win was for Hughton

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew dedicated his side’s 3-1 win over Liverpool on Saturday to his players and former boss Chris Hughton.

Hughton was surprisingly sacked on Monday after a winless streak of five games saw the newly promoted side drop into the bottom half of the English Premier League table.

The decision from owner Mike Ashley has been highly criticized, with fans protesting before the game to signal their disappointment with Ashley’s decision.

Pardew – who last managed at League One side Southampton – was appointed on Thursday and took just the one training session before the thrilling victory over Liverpool.

“I have worked with Chris and he can feel very, very unfortunate that he is not sitting here now,” Pardew told ESPN.

“But we all know this game is not easy and can be cruel at times. I had a very similar issue at Southampton. I was conscious that when I left Southampton, they lost three games, so I really wanted to focus the team today.”

”It was very, very important, whoever the manager was, that they represented themselves and the club in the right manner, and they did that and more.”

With Ashley once again the focus of the club’s fans and the nation’s media, Pardew said the club’s owner could have at least found some solace in the win over the Reds.

”I popped up to see him to say hello. He was obviously pleased with the result because it’s not been probably the best week he has ever had,” Pardew said, before paying tribute to his squad.

“The win today was really about the players because they showed their spirit and their unity out there and they made it easy for me just to add a couple of things.”

”But a lot of the good things that went on today was stuff that has been going on here all year.”

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson was visibly furious with his side’s performance on the touchline and admitted as much afterwards.

”That’s a major setback and it’s a major blow because we have had a couple of good games recently and we were on a good run,” Hodgson said after his side dropped to ninth on the table.

“The way the first half went and getting the equaliser, I had high hopes that we would continue to play at the level we have played.”

”But we didn’t, we let Newcastle back into the game and furthermore, we conceded a second goal the like of which you don’t really want to see when you are a coach.”