Why an eight-year contract for Pards proved to be a very bad deal for United

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IT is six years since Alan Pardew penned an extraordinary longterm deal at Newcastle United.

As the current regime struggles to offer Rafa Benitez an extension to his soon-to-end contract, you do wonder if Toon chiefs would admit now handing Pardew such a long project was a big mistake.

Even back in 2012, signing an eight-year contract appeared to be a strange move by the Magpies, Pardew struggling to maintain the good results he had picked up the season before.

True, he had collected two Manager of the Year awards in 2011/12 but the game which preceded the announcement was a scrappy 1-0 victory against Norwich and was United’s first win in four games.

It was quite clear the Magpies were not going to match the achievements of the previous year.

So how did the long-deal come about and why was it so long?

The longevity theme had started months earlier when Mike Ashley invited chief scout Graham Carr to his villa in Majorca and told him how much he valued him.

Carr boarded a speedboat to get to Ashley’s holiday home and thought he was heading out for a general meeting.

Cocktails on the patio soon turned into a bumper deal for the veteran talent-spotter - and in fairness nobody could argue back then.

Carr emerged from the meeting to say: “I thought it would be just a general chit-chat about players.

“Derek Llambias turned up and said: ‘We want to offer you a longterm contract.’”

Players like Hatem Ben Arfa, Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse - all Carr’s picks and not choices of Pardew - had provided the attacking force which delivered a top-five place in the Premier League.

So, while Pardew was expecting a reward for getting Newcastle into Europe, instead he was left irked by the fact his chief scout had effectively been given most of the credit. The lack of a long-term extension had caused some anger behind the scenes and within Pardew’s back-room. Ashley listened to the feelings of his manager but made it clear he wanted consistency and results. The deal was struck and it would be announced the day after the club’s League Cup exit at Man United.

The news did not go down too well with fans at the time as Newcastle were struggling for results.

It is understood Pardew and his press officer did not want to hand the exclusive to any of the local media because he was hurt by some of the criticism whch had come his way after poor earlyseason results.

In fairness to Pardew he could be affable when he wanted to be but all too often his overconfidence drifted over the line to arrogance and he lost respect from some people.

Then managing-director Derek Llambias said he hoped Newcastle could use bigger clubs as an inspiration after news of the proposed longer-term project. He said: “If you look at clubs like Manchester United and Arsenal, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have shown stability which gives you the best platform to achieve success and that is the model we wish to emulate here.”

However, it did not work out that way and no sooner had Pardew got his feet under the table as boss than results grew progressively worse.

He was furious after a 2-1 defeat at Fulham when it was suggested his backroom team had put their feet in it after signing long-term deals - but the club was sinking towards a relegation battle.

Pardew did not seem to cope with Europe and the rigours of the Premier League and it took a win on the penultimate day of the season against QPR to seal survival.

After three awful seasons he eventually left for Palace.

The long-term project had proved to be a disaster and only heaped pressure on the manager and the club.

Behind the scenes, Pardew never had the same views as Carr when it came to recruitment.

In the end, nobody really got what they wanted.

Pardew’s contract would still have two years to run had he stayed on.

However, after becoming a serial loser in Tyne-Wear derbies and trying to go along with the club’s ridiculous policy in the cups he had lost the respect of the fans long before he eventually resigned to join Crystal Palace.

Behind the scenes, Pardew never had the same views as Carr when it came to recruitment