6 Questions Mike Ashley Must Answer About Alan Pardew

3. Is Compensation Not Better Than Losing Premier League Payments?

Whether you choose to believe it or not, there is a very real suggestion that Alan Pardew only has a job now because Mike Ashley refuses to pay compensation when he could watch his manager walk away of his own accord without paying a penny. That would at least partially explain why Pardew has been allowed to remain in his job despite a terrible run of form that has put Newcastle at the bottom of the form table for teams playing in the Premier League for all of 2014. But you really have to question whether that perceived attempt to keep his compensation money at the club will ultimately back-fire to a far richer note. It would seem like the club attempting a short-term gain that might throw long-term survival under a bus.