Newcastle United chairman, Mike Ashley, has confirmed the mutual termination of manager Alan Pardew's contract at St James' Park, following the 52-year-old boss' reluctance to stay following Joe Kinnear's reign as Director of Football at the club. Kinnear has since had his contract terminated by The Magpies, but Pardew has told media sources that he was furious with how he was treated by the board while Kinnear had been with the club. Kinnear was largely responsible for selling Newcastle's star French midfielder Yohan Cabaye recently, with a promise of signing a replacement in Clément Grenier. However, Kinnear failed to live up to this promise, and fans grew increasingly unhappy with their former manager.
Pardew has stated that the reason for his sudden departure was mainly because of Kinnear, and has told BBC Sport that he didn't feel it right that the 67-year-old Irishman sold potentially the clubs' best player, and then walked out.
"Ever since Joe arrived at the ground to meet the team, I just knew there would be confusion down the line. He didn't seem to have a clue what he was doing, and to be honest, I felt sorry for him. I put all of my effort into working alongside him, despite feeling undermined by his role at the club. Mike Ashley continuously made me feel inadequate and kept forcing new rules on me about Joe and his position here. At the end of the day, I think that I should have had more of a part to play in the decision to keep or sell Yohan [Cabaye]. Ultimately, I must admit that I felt forced out of the club, and if Ashley sticks around there, the next manager and the manager after that will feel the same. I can assure you".
-Pardew speaking to BBC Sport about Kinnear and his decision to leave the club.
