English Premier League club Newcastle United confirmed Thursday the appointment of Alan Pardew as its new manager on a deal until the summer of 2016.
Pardew quickly emerged as the man expected to take charge at St. James’ Park following Chris Hughton’s surprise dismissal Monday.
The former West Ham boss was available after being fired from his role in the third-tier of English soccer with Southampton in the early weeks of the 20010/11 season.
The decision to hand him a five-and-a-half year contract came with little endorsement from the Newcastle supporters, though, with only five percent of the 38,000 fans polled on SkySports.com backing him as Hughton’s replacement.
Former Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill was the preferred choice, while the recently-departed Ajax manager Martin Jol and club legend Alan Shearer also gained more support than Pardew.
The 49-year-old started his managerial career at Reading and has previous experience of the Premier League from his spells at West Ham and Charlton Athletic.
