Magpies appoint Pardew
Former West Ham boss Alan Pardew was on Thursday appointed the new coach of Newcastle, the Premier League club announced.
Pardew succeeds Chris Hughton, who was dismissed on Monday in the wake of last weekend's 3-1 loss to West Bromwich Albion which left the Magpies in 11th place in the table, four points above the relegation zone.
Pardew's first match in charge is a home fixture against Liverpool on Saturday.
The 49-year-old was the bookmakers' - if not the fans' - favourite to take over the St James' Park hotseat and he becomes Newcastle's ninth permanent manager in the last six years.
Hughton, 51, was axed by owner Mike Ashley despite having led the north-east outfit to promotion from the second-tier Championship last season.
As well as West Ham, where he guided them to the 2006 FA Cup final, Pardew has also been in charge of Reading, Charlton and Southampton.
Ashley has made it clear Pardew will have to do without funds for expensive new signings, having called a halt to major spending on players 18 months ago.
Despite their reputation as one of the 'big' clubs, it is more than 40 years since Newcastle won a major trophy - the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, a forerunner of the Europa League.
And the wait for domestic success has been even longer, with the last of Newcastle's six FA Cup triumphs coming in 1955 while it is 83 years since they were last crowned champions of England.
Comments