EPL:Coaches Face Uncertainty

*Ole

As the Premier League season reaches a giddy conclusion, a number of coaches will be regularly checking their backs for knives or their phones to see if they’ve been sacked via text message. But surprisingly Alan Pardew will not be among them.

Due to go before an FA disciplinary commission this week for his headline-grabbing player headbutt during the game against Hull, the Newcastle boss has received the backing of Toon owner Mike Ashley.

The Mirror suggests Pardew could face a total ban from football for his behaviour but that Ashley has promised to stand by his man. And that is a solid-gold, 100 per cent guarantee of job safety …

Two men who are definitely safe are Arsene Wenger and Brendan Rodgers, with both set to receive new contracts at their respective clubs.

Wenger is set to argue for the final say on all transfers at the Emirates, as discussions over a long-term deal continue with Arsenal’s majority shareholder Stan Kroenke.

Meanwhile, Rodgers will receive backing to the tune of a $110m transfer kitty by Liverpool owner John W Henry. The Daily Mail reports the Anfield hierarchy will also look at an improved contract for the 41-year-old Northern Irishman, despite his $3.5m-a-year contract not expiring until 2015.

Meanwhile, interim Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood is cleverly laying the groundwork for his future at the club.

With rumours rife that Netherland coach Louis van Gaal will move to White Hart Lane after the World Cup, Sherwood has gamely put the ball in the Spurs’ boardroom, even angling for the technical director’s gig, a role currently filled by Franco Baldini.

“The silence is deafening isn’t it?” said Sherwood when asked about his future after the loss to Chelsea.

“It’s up to the club to make that decision. One thing I guarantee people is that no one cares more than me.

“I never want to be a No.2. I’d be no good; I’m too opinionated. I wouldn’t want to do the job.

“But I do think there is a place for a technical director. I’m someone who sees the club from the bottom to the top on the training field. There’s a definite place for that.”