6 Questions Mike Ashley Must Answer About Alan Pardew

6. What In His Record Proves He Can Turn The Tide?

Persistence with a manager is to be commended in some respects: it helps build a culture of stability, and shows not only faith in the reasons the manager was chosen in the first place, but also spirit in the face of adversity. Or at least that's the case when that manager has shown enough to suggest that he has the fight in him to drag the club away from that adversity. Everton persisted with David Moyes in the dark times and he proved them right, Man Utd persisted with Sir Alex Ferguson when he couldn't win, and he proved them right, but both had shown tenacity before. Unfortunately for Newcastle, for all of the bluster surrounding his show of spirt in standing and receiving the crowd's ire against Hull, and his applauding the hostile fans against Stoke, the size of the fight in Pardew is up for serious question. In the past he has crumbled, and been sacked twice, and left Charlton by mutual consent after prolonged periods of disappointment that make his current Newcastle run look like eons. Where in there is the hint that he's ever going to be able to bring Newcastle back?