Ranking every Newcastle manager of the Ashley era by their PL record

The Mike Ashley era is officially over at Newcastle United and so too is Steve Bruce’s reign as manager at St. James’ Park. 

Bruce held on to take charge of his 1000th game as a coach in the first match of the Public Investment Fund’s ownership of the club, but a poor performance and 3-2 defeat to Tottenham left the fans chanting for his dismissal once more.

And sure enough, the 60-year-old has departed the club – but how does his record in charge compare to the seven other full-time managers during Ashley’s 14 years as owner? We’ve ranked them purely in terms of their results in the Premier League.

We’ve left interim and caretaker appointments out of the overall ranking but, for reference, their Premier League win percentages are as follows: Nigel Pearson, 0%; Alan Shearer, 12.5%; and John Carver, 15%.

8. Steve McClaren

Games: 28
Wins: 6
Draws: 6
Losses: 16

Goals Per Game: 1.00
Goals Against Per Game: 1.89
Win Percentage: 21.43%
Points Per Game: 0.86

7. Chris Hughton

Games: 21
Wins: 5
Draws: 5
Losses: 11

Goals Per Game: 1.33
Goals Against Per Game: 1.66
Win Percentage: 23.81%
Points Per Game: 0.95

6. Joe Kinnear

Games: 22
Wins: 5
Draws: 9
Losses: 8

Goals Per Game: 1.36
Goals Against Per Game: 1.59
Win Percentage: 22.73%
Points Per Game: 1.09

Quiz question 2/5

In this shortened down clip, #NUFC boss Joe Kinnear swore how many times in this infamous press conference? pic.twitter.com/rp2vTu7Bcw

— Newcastle Fans TV (@NewcastleFansTV) June 13, 2019

5. Kevin Keegan

Games: 19
Wins: 5
Draws: 6
Losses: 8

Goals Per Game: 1.05
Goals Against Per Game: 1.57
Win Percentage: 26.32%
Points Per Game: 1.10

READ: The story of Keegan’s second spell at Newcastle: ‘We were a laughing stock’

4. Steve Bruce

Games: 84
Wins: 23
Draws: 23
Losses: 38

Goals Per Game: 1.11
Goals Against Per Game: 1.65
Win Percentage: 27.38%
Points Per Game: 1.10

3. Rafael Benitez

Games: 86
Wins: 27
Draws: 21
Losses: 38

Goals Per Game: 1.12
Goals Against Per Game: 1.24
Win Percentage: 31.4%
Points Per Game: 1.19

Rafa Benitez on a potential return to #NUFC pic.twitter.com/a2YS2H5ESR

— NUFC360 (@NUFC360) November 19, 2020

2. Sam Allardyce

Games: 21
Wins: 7
Draws: 5
Losses: 9

Goals Per Game: 1.28
Goals Against Per Game: 1.57
Win Percentage: 33.33%
Points Per Game: 1.24

1. Alan Pardew

Games: 154
Wins: 58
Draws: 34
Losses: 62

Goals Per Game: 1.28
Goals Against Per Game: 1.53
Win Percentage: 37.66%
Points Per Game: 1.35