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There has been very little media coverage of this so you may not have heard, but Fabio Capello has ended the highly scripted and publicly performed exit strategy in which the FA and Mr. Capello have saved as much mutual face as could be possible. Never mind that this face that has allegedly been saved really hasn't been... but that's not important right now. What is important is that a high profile job has opened, and the early favorite to be named new England National Team boss is (conveniently recently cleared of tax evasion accusations) one Harry Redknapp. Why does this matter to us, a blog that cares only about Newcastle United? I'm glad you asked.
There are two ways that a potential Redknapp to England appointment could come down:
- 'arry is appointed caretaker England manager and performs double-duty as England and Tottenham Hotspur boss.
- 'arry is appointed with immediate effect to the England job on a permanent basis, creating an opening at Tottenham Hotspur with immediate effect.
That's all well and good, you might say. Then you would restate your question: Why does this matter to us, a blog that cares only about Newcastle United? The reason why it matters to us is that the name being connected to the Spurs job in the eventuality of #2 occurring is one Alan Pardew.
Alan's image is on the uptick on the back of his performance as Newcastle United manager (he is 4th favorite for the England job itself), and much like our playing assets, it seems our coaching assets are going to be rumored for every vacancy at a club positioned higher than the league than ourselves. There are reasons to think that these early rumors are a case of #pipedownsillybollox. Pardew is on a long-term contract and there may be other business matters between himself and Mike Ashley (that I have no way to confirm or deny) that may further preclude a move. Also, it would seem that Pardew is genuinely happy in Newcastle.
If it comes to a point at which this situation hinges on a decision from Alan Pardew to stay or to go, it is going to speak volumes about what is really going on at the board level with our club. If things are good, relationships good and the direction of the club truly heading where it appears to be, I would think it hard for Alan to walk away from what he is building here. One way or the other, the rumors are out there, so we start PardsWatch 2012™.