For some, the news that Alan Pardew is joining Crystal Palace is just the spark for further worry: who will do better, who would work for Ashley and how do we find a manager who doesn't want to win? All are partly worthwhile concerns, but they are all based on exaggerations of the facts: Ashey's objective is not mid-table, the minimum is 10th place (those two are not the same thing), and they were set specifically with Pardew in mind. And why would anyone be concerned to work for an owner who bankrolled £37m in investment in the first team in the summer?
For everyone else, the departure is a blessing a long time in the making. Pardew had lost his way by over-achieving and leading the Magpies to fifth in the league. Since then his overall record has been abject, punctuated by surprising moments of excellence. The fact that the majority of the media tends to focus on those flashes, and not the fact that he oversaw the highest number of defeats in the last three years tells its own story: his win percentage might have been 38%, but his loss rate was 42.4%. Both of those matter.
That's why it's appropriate to run through the best AND the worst moments of Pardew's career at Newcastle. His was a tenure of contradiction, and while Crystal Palace might take pleasure in reliving the scalps and sucker punches, Newcastle fans should be happy to be free of the derby record, the cup losses and the disappointments...
18. Newcastle vs Sunderland, December 2014
Rating: 0-1
Three time's the charm, though thankfully not another 3-0 victory. Even with Jack Colback - Sunderland's inspiration for two years - in the side, Newcastle again went down to a home loss. It was more closely fought, but Pardew's decisions were hugely flawed, and once more talents were underused or abused in pursuit of an inferior game plan.