With the news that Alan Pardew is set to replace the unfortunate Chris Hughton at Newcastle United, my thoughts turn to the inevitable decision for those unhappy Chairmen at the league season’s half way point, to stick or twist?
Now I can’t help but make a point first, unlike most in this predicament, Newcastle United aren’t actually struggling, well not overall. A lofty 11th place standing, with a 5-1 win over rivals Sunderland means that the club are experiencing something of an impressive first season back in the ‘big time’. However, Mike Ashley is not most. He is, to be frank, an idiot (in footballing terms at least).
Whilst Newcastle fans might be crying in to their black and white shirts this evening, those supporting teams such as Wigan and Wolverhampton Wanderers will be rejoicing at almost certainly welcoming a new side to the ‘relegation pack’, the world of ‘six pointers’ and the general doom and gloom that comes with the lower end of the table.
In Mike Ashley’s case, unhappy or otherwise, there are no real gains to be made from hiring Alan Pardew, or even Jose Mourinho at this point. With no money to spend, and no realistic hope of climbing up the table with this squad, the only thing this appointment can do is risk pushing Newcastle down to the previously common state of instability that Chris Hughton had done so well to remove.
And that is the risk of mid season appointments. 23 years on from question marks over Alex Ferguson’s managerial aptitude, a cabinet full of trophies speaks volumes about staying loyal. Newcastle decided the grass was greener in 2004, sacking Bobby Robson less than a month in to the season, and we all know how that one worked out.
Yet a glance down this season’s league table will reveal Owen Coyle’s Bolton Wanderers enjoying the recently unfamiliar position of 6th. And beyond the standings, he has taken Gary Megson’s frustrating brand of long ball football and replaced it with flowing passing moves and an unrecognisably fearsome Johan Elmander.
Rumours persist over the futures Avram Grant, Roberto Martinez and Mick McCarthy, all of whom sit at different stages of their respective tenures.
In the case of Mick McCarthy, any truth to such rumours could be seen as ‘Hughtonesque’, given the transformation of Wolves over the last 4 years on a limited budget. McCarthy is in the position of having enjoyed huge success for Wolves, but faced with the increasingly difficult prospect of taking it to ‘the next level’.
For Martinez and Grant, little success has arrived during either period. Martinez’s Wigan have flattered to deceive on countless occasions, serving up brief excitement with wins over Tottenham and Arsenal. More regularly however they have conceding goals by the bucket load. Grant on the other hand has done nothing but struggle in his brief spell so far, a world he had grown all too familiar with during an ill fated at Portsmouth last season.
With no money to spend at either club, and an increasingly competitive league, I can’t believe West Ham or Wigan have much to gain from a rash case of the ‘sackings’. My inkling would be to say West Ham will yet come good; their squad is better than it has shown, as is their fan base.
For Wigan however; average gates of 15,000 and the inability to keep a squad together mean their Premier League future is precarious at best, with or without Roberto Martinez at the helm. What Martinez does have going for him is a great record outside of the Premier League, and a history of unearthing Championship gems. Whilst i’m not saying Wigan’s resistance would be futile, perhaps perspective is needed for Chairman looking at pulling the trigger finger.
