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Alan Pardew has stressed that he did not agree to become manager at Newcastle before Chris Hughton lost his job.

Hughton was sacked by the club on Monday whilst Pardew was unveiled as his replacement on Thursday.

However, this three day delay has done little to douse rumours that Pardew had been lined up before Hughton had got the boot.

Speaking after the Magpies' 3-1 success against Liverpool on Saturday, Pardew insisted that this was not the case.

"That was never true," he explained.

"In terms of myself, I never really had any contact about this job or any other job. It's a weird situation."

In the wake of owner Mike Ashley's shock decision to replace Hughton, Joey Barton admitted that the managerial upheaval was a 'shame'.

This is something which Pardew admits he understands.

He said:"One hundred per cent, and we talked about it afterwards. I have worked with Chris and he can feel very, very unfortunate that he is not sitting here now.

"But we all know this game is not easy and can be cruel at times. I had a very similar issue at Southampton."

Pardew got off to a perfect start by beating Liverpool but this will do little to stop critics from scrutinising his performance at the club.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email