Pardew's Best Christmas

Alan Pardew celebrated his best Christmas ever as he landed a £7.5million present. Pards signed a £4m deal to become Charlton’s new boss after the struggling Addicks axed Les Reed. And West Ham gave him £3.5m in compensation following his sacking as manager two weeks ago.

Pardew had penned a new £20,000-a-week contract under the old Upton Park regime which still had 3½ years to run. When new owner Eggert Magnusson took over it was agreed he would be paid up within two weeks if given the boot. That deadline arrived — along with £3½m — at the weekend.

Then late on Christmas Eve Pardew, 45, hit the jackpot again when he was amazingly unveiled as Reed’s replacement at Charlton.

After just 13 days out of a job, he signed a 3½-year contract worth £3.5m plus bonuses. He becomes the third manager in six weeks at The Valley following the departures of Reed and Iain Dowie.

Reed, nicknamed Les Miserables, was in charge for just 41 days — the shortest tenure in Premiership history. He recorded just one win from his eight games in charge. Addicks chairman Richard Murray said: “Les has Charlton in his blood but this decision’s best for the club.”

£1M BONUS IF PARDEW CAN SAVE ADDICKS

ALAN PARDEW will be handed a £1million bonus if he rescues Charlton from Premiership oblivion after the ruthless Christmas sacking of Les Reed. And Pardew, the Addicks' third manager this season, will raid his old club West Ham with a £3m bid for midfielder Hayden Mullins after signing a three-and a- half-year contract at The Valley.

Charlton made a swift U-turn in appointing 45-year-old Pardew, on the scrapheap himself just a fortnight ago when he was sacked by the Hammers. They brutally axed Reed, 53, late on Christmas Eve after just 41 days, the shortest managerial reign in Premiership history, and his pay-off is thought to be only £250,000.

Murray claimed: "We are very fortunate a manager of Alan Pardew's calibre is available and we have moved very, very quickly to secure his services. Les has Charlton in his blood, but this decision is best."

Pardew, who spent four years as a player at Charlton, opens his reign with tomorrow night's home derby with Fulham. He has been given a £6million transfer war chest to keep Charlton in the Premiership.

Aston Villa 0-3 Man Utd

Wunderkid Cristiano Ronaldo put in a virtuoso performance by scoring a brace and a superb strike from Paul Scholes helped put Manchester United's Premiership title challenge back on track with a 3-0 win at Aston Villa.

The first half was a boring affair as United looked laggard and could hardly string their passes together. However, they bounced back in the second half to establish their championship credentials and maintain their pole position. In the 59th minute, Ronaldo capped a magnificent display by scoring the opener in the 59th minute and after Scholes volleyed home from 25 yards five minutes later, he wrapped up the points in the closing stages.

Villa continued their poor record against United as they have failed to beat them in the league for more than 11 years. They have now gone seven games without a win and for all their endeavours, it is evident they require an injection of quality in the January transfer window.

This is no doubt a big result after last week's disappointment against West Ham when United controlled the game,and should have won. But in this match, Fergie's men showed great determination to overcome Villa who lost their shape after the first goal.

Alex Ferguson must be counting his lucky stars as he kept faith with Ronaldo despite him becoming England's top public enemy after the World Cup. Right now, Ronaldo is the toast of the team and his incredible form this season showed that he is slowly maturing into a world class player.

With Henrik Larsson coming on board, Soccer Pundit believes that United has a more than decent chance of being crowned as the champions...