Alan Pardew future: Stoke defeat will NOT cost Pardew his Newcastle job as Mike Ashley continues to stick by his manager

Ashley joked to The Independent that Pardew would lose his job if the Magpies lost on Monday, but Pardew will be in charge this weekend for the trip to Swansea

Banter: Alan Pardew has played down Mike Ashley comments (AP)

The 1-0 defeat to Stoke was the final straw. The writing was on the wall, Mike Ashley had ‘joked’ that if Newcastle lost on Monday night, Alan Pardew would be gone – “dead” is what he told The Independent – and even the manager himself knew following the loss at the Britannia Stadium that a “serious chat” would take place this week. We know what this means – Pardew was getting the boot.

Or so we thought. Less than 24 hours after Pardew expressed his own concern for his job, news broke that not only would he be in charge of the Newcastle side that travels to Swansea on Saturday, he won’t even face this “serious chat” that he mentioned would take place.

Pardew has overseen a dismal run for Newcastle that stretches back to the beginning of the year. They sit joint-bottom of the Premier League table with a miserable three points from six matches, relegation from to say the least. But when you look beyond the current season it gets a whole lot worse for Pardew and any hopes he has of seeing out the eight-year contract he signed just two years ago.

Since 1 January, the Magpies have won just five of their 26 Premier League matches, drawing five and losing a worrying 17 games that has seen them plummet down the league table. This season has seen one victory come in the Capital One Cup against Gillingham, while they needed extra-time to overcome Crystal Palace in the third round last week.

Yet even more surprisingly is that reports claim Pardew’s job will still be save even if the Magpies lose at the Liberty Stadium this weekend, even though they could be a concerning four points adrift of survival should results go against them.

While Pardew’s stay of execution is somewhat surprising, there may be other motives behind Ashley’s reluctance to make-do with the 53-year-old and seek a new man to install at the helm in a bid to improve performances on the pitch.

No fewer than nine new faces arrived at St James’ Park this summer as the Newcastle squad went through a major reconstruction. The likes of Daryl Janmaat, Remy Cabella and Emmanuel Riviere have struggled to settle in on Tyneside, while new midfielder Siem De Jong has been ruled out with a long-term injury, hampering Pardew’s options in terms of pure goalscoring ability.

Mike Ashley and Alan Pardew (Getty Images)

There is also the consideration that Pardew has very little say in transfer proceedings, and his want for new players with Premier League experience fell on deaf ears as Jack Colback was the only addition who had featured in the English top flight before. Pardew accepted that buying home-grown players cost more money, and the mantra that has been developed at the north-east club in recent years is one of buying cheap, foreign-based players whose potential sees them move on for a significant profit – the likes of Matieu Debuchy and Yohan Cabaye are prime examples.