If somebody was hired to infiltrate and bring down Newcastle United Football Club from the inside they couldn’t do a better job that what their current owners are doing at the moment.

Their favourite hobby of sacking a manager then replacing him with the most bizarre and inexplicable appointment has engulfed Mike Ashley and Co again but this time it’s getting beyond a joke.

Chris Hughton lasted four months in the Premier League, which is actually quite good for Newcastle considering what goes on inside the mind of their average board member consists of funny shapes, bright colours and the occasional noise.

Their reasons for getting rid of Hughton were down to his lack of experience and the need to bring in a bigger name in order to take them forward. Martin Jol and Martin O’Neill were mentioned early on, so you could imagine the collective gasp on Tyneside when…wait for it…Alan Pardew was installed as favourite to land the post.

He’s got experience alright. At getting relegated and struggling in the lower divisions of English football. Okay so may be the situations at West Ham and Southampton weren’t completely his fault but what makes Ashley so sure he can do a better job than Hughton?

When Newcastle talk about going places it would be interesting to know where too. If it’s the Champions League they can forget it under the current regime. They’re not going to finish above United, Chelsea and Arsenal next season so that means they will have to finish above Spurs and/or Man City.

That’s no going to happen because, first of all you need continuity, which is virtually impossible at Newcastle, and secondly you need players and a manager who are good enough to get you there.

If the players and managers who match that criteria have any sense they will stay well away from Newcastle until real owners are in charge - and not ones who sit in the office counting down the minutes until they get to sack the next manager.

They could have allowed Hughton the chance to consolidate their position in the Premier League first, thanked him and announced their intention to get a big name in at the end of the season. That would probably still have been unfair but it’s a bit more respectable.

But trust Newcastle to sink lower than that by going back on their word to give Hughton until the end of the year by replacing him with Pardew now.

And if by some miracle Pardew is able to turn the Magpies into a force to be reckoned with then it won’t make any difference - he’ll probably get sacked for his reward.