What is going on at Newcastle United?

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is under immense pressure after chief ally Derek Llambias quit the club

I have to state my admiration for Newcastle United fans.

The Toon Army have had to put up with a lot of rubbish over the years, but Magpies chairman Mike Ashley seems to love to stir things up at the club and cause drama.

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The latest drama surrounds managing director Derek Llambias quitting the club. Llambias quit just days after Joe Kinnear was appointed as director of football.

It seems that Llambias divided opinion amongst the fans.

One important fact is that Llambias was a close ally of Magpies boss Alan Pardew. With Llambias gone, the former-West Ham boss now looks very vulnerable.

Boss

I have not always been the biggest fan of Alan Pardew. He has always struck me as a man that had more confidence than his managerial ability deserved. He will never be a great football manager, but he has done a decent job at St James Park.

I do however now feel sorry for Pardew. The Newcastle boss’ authority has been undermined at every turn by Newcastle owner and chairman Mike Ashley, a man it seems with a love of everything dramatic.

Pardew has stated he is staying at the club and has no plans to quit, despite being undermined and losing his key ally in Llambias. Many fans suspect that the sacking of Llambias was designed to help Pardew out the St James Park exit door.

Pardew still has seven years to run on his eight contract. The Newcastle board were criticised for giving Pardew such a long-contract in the first place and it seems that they now regret the decision and are trying to force him out of the club.

Ridiculous

Mike Ashley’s decision to appoint Joe Kinnear as director of football is starting to look more and more ridiculous every time Kinnear opens his mouth. The former-Wimbledon boss conducted an interview were he got people’s names wrong, including calling French midfielder Yohan Cabaye, ‘Yohan kebab’.

That would have been laughable if it was not so serious for fans of Newcastle. Kinnear has already given Magpies fans a rod to beat him with by saying he is more intelligent than them.

That shows his lack of intelligence. Coming out with a silly statement like that and he has only just started the job. In football, attack is not the best form of defence when it comes to fans taking a dislike to you.

Kinnear has made himself even more unpopular than he already was, if that was possible with his interviews so far. The 66-year-old now needs to tread very carefully, with what else he says in future interviews.

Record

Joe Kinnear claims to have won the Manager of the Year award three times, when in fact it was just once, and when he says he has travelled the world he means that he had unsuccessful spells as manager of the national teams of India and Nepal in the 1980’s. Not exactly inspiring stuff Joe.

Disaster

The whole situation only looks like it is going to end in disaster. Boss Alan Pardew was already going to be under immense pressure after last season’s poor campaign, it now seems he is in an untenable position.

Newcastle could quite easily have gone down last season, when a mixture of injuries, lack of form and complacency saw the Magpies finish 16^th in the Premier League table.

Fans

It is never dull for fans of Newcastle United Football Club. However, I am sure the Geordies fans would be willing to settle for a few years of stability. Whether they are going to get that wish with the current hierarchy at the club is very doubtful.

I just hope for the sake of the people that pay the wages at Newcastle that the club starts to find some stability soon, or the Toon Army could be watching their team facing another fight for survival next season.

What is going on at Newcastle United?