The appointment of Alan Pardew was a controversial and bizarre one in December 2010.
Newcastle's week began in turmoil when news broke that Chris Hughton had been sacked the day after a 3-1 defeat at West Brom. It was still a huge shock for many fans that Hughton was sacked, he managed to guide the club to an immediate promotion back to the Premier League earlier that year as well as achieving wins against Aston Villa, Sunderland and away at Arsenal. Despite a difficult run of form, the club were still in 11th place in the Premier League
A few days later, Alan Pardew was appointed as the new manager, a few months after getting sacked at League One Southampton. His tenure in charge of the club got off to the perfect start in a shock win over Roy Hodgson's Liverpool under the lights at St. James' Park.
Liverpool (h), Premier League, 11/12/2010: Won 3-1
Tim Krul: The 2010/11 season was perhaps Krul's breakthrough Premier League season where he provided back up for Steve Harper who adopted a fair few injuries that season. Krul became the first team goalkeeper in August 2011 under Pardew and was later given the number one shirt. His time at Newcastle sadly ended in disappointment; he picked up a season-ending injury in October 2015 and was sadly never favoured by Rafa Benitez.
Since that injury in 2015, Krul has found regular football hard to come by. He had loan spells at Ajax and AZ before becoming Brighton's back up goalkeeper to Mat Ryan for a season. However, his career began to pick up in 2018 when he moved to Norwich City where he helped achieve promotion back to the Premier League with the Canaries. He has continued to be ever-present for them this season.
Danny Simpson: Simpson was a mainstay in the Newcastle defence for a few years before the arrival of Mathieu Debuchy in January 2013. In 2013/14, he left Tyneside to join QPR, who had just been relegated from the Premier League and he helped them achieve an immediate return to the Premier League before joining Leicester.
Simpson was part of the Claudio Ranieri Leicester City side that overcame being favourites for relegation to winning the Premier League title in 2015/16. He remained at the Foxes until 2019, losing his Right back place to Ricardo Pereira. Now at the age of 33, he is now playing at Huddersfield Town in the Championship.
Steven Taylor: Taylor was a mainstay in the Newcastle backline for a number of years and was a breath of fresh air when he performed well in the position that was once occupied by Titus Bramble and Jean Alain Boumsong.
In January 2015, Taylor scored his last Newcastle goal against Burnley in a 3-3 draw, that goal was enough to make him the club's highest scoring defender in the Premier League, overtaking Steve Watson and Robbie Elliott. After Newcastle's 2016 relegation, Taylor, at the age of 30, left to have a brief spell in the MLS with Portland Timbers. He later returned to English football to play for Ipswich and Peterborough. Since July 2018, he has been playing for A-League side, Wellington Phoenix.
Sol Campbell: The signing of Campbell in summer 2010 proved to be the England international's last move of his playing career. He spent just the one season on Tyneside with a small handful of appearances and was subsequently released.
He announced his retirement a year later in 2012 and has now been in management for 18 months. After a rather unsuccessful spell at Macclesfield Town, he has now been at League One strugglers, Southend United since October.
Jose Enrique: Enrique was halfway through his first season on Tyneside when Keegan returned. He found his first couple of years in England rather tough but massively improved during the 2009/10 Championship promotion season. He managed to take the confidence he gained from that season into the Premier League where his impressive performances earned him a move to Liverpool in summer 2011, he cited the club's lack of ambition as a way of wanting to leave Newcastle.
On his return to St James' Park, in a Liverpool shirt, he was forced to take up the gloves after Pepe Reina was sent off for violent conduct after the Reds had used up their substitutions. On a serious note, Enrique was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour soon after retiring at the age of 31. Thankfully, he received the all clear back in April 2019 and we all wish him well.
Joey Barton: Barton was a key player under Alan Pardew in the 2010/11 season. However the midfield man was sold to QPR the following summer. At the time and in his autobiography, he has been less than complimentary of owner, Mike Ashley's running of the club and handling of the situation at St. James' Park.
He spent four years at QPR which included a season long loan at Marseille. He made himself a hero during his first season at Burnley in helping Sean Dyche's side immediately return to the Premier League. His playing career then ended in controversy. His time at Rangers was short-lived followed by a brief return to Burnley which suddenly concluded after he was charged by the FA for breaching betting rules.
Kevin Nolan: Nolan, similar to Barton, was a key figure at Newcastle under Pardew and left the club the following summer which was very much against the will of the fans.
He left Newcastle to reunite himself with former manager, Sam Allardyce at West Ham and left the club soon after Allardyce left the club after his contract was not renewed. The midfield man went straight into management and had two player-manager roles at Leyton Orient and then Notts County. He is now a coach back at West Ham.
Cheick Tiote: Tiote was key player for Newcastle in the midfield for several years and is most well known for scoring the equalising goal against Arsenal in February 2011 to make the score 4-4 in the late stages of the game, it was an exquisite volley on his weaker left foot from 25-yards out. Sadly, this became the last goal of his life.
He went on to make 156 appearances for the Magpies. His time at the club sadly seemed to fizzle out and, with the club in the Championship, they wanted to reduce the wage bill as much as possible. In February 2017, he was sold to Beijing Enterprises in China's second tier. Tiote sadly died suddenly in June 2017, after suffering a cardiac arrest during a training session, at the age of 30.
Jonas Gutierrez: The Argentine midfielder was a fan favourite at Newcastle and was a regular in the first team before undergoing treatment for testicular cancer. His first appearance after being given the all clear was in March 2015 where he was given a hero's welcome by the St. James' Park crowd when he came off the bench against Man United.
He ended his time at Newcastle in style by scoring the second and final goal in the all important 2-0 win over West Ham in May 2015 to keep Newcastle in the Premier League, his first goal since his cancer treatment. However, he was later told by then manager John Carver over the phone that his and Ryan Taylor's contracts were not getting renewed.
The Argentine midfielder is still playing, now at the age of 36. He is currently at Argentine side, Banfield after having spells at Deportivo La Coruna, Defensa y Justicia and Independiente.
Andy Carroll: Andy Carroll was a piece of hot property in the Premier League when Pardew arrived at the club. The striker was forced out of the door to Liverpool on deadline day at the end of the January 2011 transfer window. His time at Liverpool was hampered by injuries, as well as much of his career.
After struggling to settle at Liverpool, he was reunited with his former teammate and close friend, Kevin Nolan at West Ham in 2012, a loan move that went on to become permanent. He made 142 appearances for the Hammers in seven seasons there before being released in 2019 which enabled Newcastle to snap up the striker for the prodigal son to return.
Shola Ameobi: The big brother of the Ameobi family became a fan favourite partly because of how he was able to play his best football on derby day against Sunderland. His 19 years at Newcastle ended in 2014, he even scored at the Gallowgate end in his final home game for the club. He netted four goals in 11 appearance for Turkish second tier side Gaziantep. He abruptly ended his time in Turkey to come back to England. In 2015, he was reunited with his former boss, Alan Pardew at Crystal Palace soon after the manager made the switch to South London.
He had brief spells at Bolton and Fleetwood before spending the last two years of his career playing for the Magpies (Notts County). Ameobi has since become a patron of the NUFC Foundation.