"We're looking to build on the success we had last season and these new contracts are aimed at keeping the Club progressing on and off the pitch, as we have done since returning to the Premier League in 2010.

"Alan has done a fantastic job over the last couple of years and has proved what a great Premier League manager he is. I have total respect for him in all football matters and have an excellent relationship with him which I think benefits the club enormously.

"Alan also has one of the best backroom teams in the country and I would like to thank John Carver, Steve Stone, and Andy Woodman for all their combined efforts.

"We hope this announcement will be great news for the fans, whose support and commitment to this club over the years has been fantastic."

Back in June 2012, Chief Scout Graham Carr, who has been instrumental in bringing a number of the current squad to the Club, was also rewarded with an eight-year contract.

So, bonanza time for the backroom boys, who even if they didn't cop for a significant pay rise now have job security of a level most folks in (or out of) football can only dream of.

Pardew was without a club when agreeing to join United in December 2010, signing a five and a half year contract which in effect has now been extended by four years.

Stone and Woodman were both recruited soon after that, with the former promoted internally from the club's academy and the latter joining from Charlton. 

Carver's latest spell at SJP began in early 2011 when he returned on a short-term basis and within weeks he had been handed a five and a half year deal. 

The call from SJP came after losing his job as Sheffield United coach, amid speculation that a role was waiting for him working with then-Wales boss, Gary Speed.

As to whether anything about the club's future can be deduced from this announcement, it's fair to assume that the asking price would be sufficient to render settlement figures on the contracts small change by comparison, if the new owners wanted rid of Pardew and the others.   

Were Mike Ashley to sell up and leave his successor with the dilemma of whether to continue with the incumbent manager or pay him off and recruit, it would partly mirror the situation he himself inherited in 2007.

One of Freddy Shepherd's final acts as club chairman was to recruit Sam Allardyce, with the ink still wet on his three year deal when Ashley acquired the club. Within seven months though, he was our ex-manager.      

PS: It's unclear whether or not any contingencies appear in the new contracts that would kick in were the club not to reach certain targets - or suffer relegation.

Our demotion in 2009 resulted in United having the largest wage bill in the Championship, a situation due in part to the lack of so-called "relegation clauses" in contracts awarded to players by the previous administration.  

PPS: One theory advanced that has a vague hint of credibility is maximising the club's return should the FA plump for Pardew to succeed Roy Hodgson as England manager, given that our man is arguably the prime English-born candidate at present.

Alan Pardew quotes:

"...There's always pressure when you are Newcastle manager. I am just privileged to be the manager, really, and proud to be the manager of this football club.

"To be given an eight-year contract - it hasn't quite sunk in, if I am honest, but my focus, ever since I entered this game, was to win. 

"I came pretty close at West Ham and I won what you might call a minor trophy at Southampton, but I want to win. I have won a couple of promotions, I want to win silverware.

"When it was first suggested by Mike (Ashley), eight years, I was a bit shocked myself. To try to foresee what's going to happen in the next eight years is difficult.

"On the other side of the coin, when I looked at my career so far, this is probably the best chance I have got of winning a trophy, and that's really what I want to do.

"Sometimes I have put my own personal ambition in front of what's best, maybe, for the club I was at, but you get older and wiser.

"But I want to win a trophy and I think this club gives me a great opportunity to do that. We have a great team, great players, great staff - and I am glad they have got the same reward, which I thought was very important.

"It was no good just making sure that the manager was okay, everybody was looked after in terms of that length of time, and now we move on and try to secure that first trophy, which has been some time coming.

"The playing field becomes a little bit more even than it is with Manchester City at the minute, who just have buying power way beyond our dreams.

"I have entered contracts in the past and I haven't seen them out, so I can't say I have been totally loyal on that front. But as I say, you do get wiser and I would like to say I will see the contract out. In Mike's mind, it is, "You are going to see it out, and you had better do well.

"It would be great for the club if that was the case because that means I would have brought success of some type.

"Looking at it realistically, if I want to win a trophy, if I am going to win a trophy what better opportunities am I 
going to have as a manager?

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't have a belief in the group. I think they can. I think they can win a trophy this year, but you still need a bit of luck here and there.

"It might put an added pressure on myself but really and truly if you are not in this game to handle the pressure then you shouldn't be in it. The percentage chance of me winning a trophy at Manchester United will be a lot higher than here but that doesn't mean I can't do it.

"The Champions League, is like winning a trophy for us, that's how much that's moved, and in the past, it was probably easier to break into the top four than it is now with the money that's being thrown around at some of those top clubs.

"I look at this football club and in my opinion it is the best supported football club in the country. It has a fan base and a home power that gives us and advantage and the UEFA Fair Play will swing it our way a bit. Whereas to a big degree it has been out of kilter in the last four or five years.

"I love it here. I have not enjoyed football on the management side as much as I have enjoyed it here. After the circumstances I arrived in I would not have assumed it has gone as well as it has gone and I want to make sure it continues.

"We are not going to win the league three times in the next eight years but can we win a trophy, can we get into the Champions League? I think we can or I wouldn't be here."

Derek Llambias quotes: 

"What we believe, is that for one we have the right manager and he has ambition and it is all about stability and we believe Newcastle needs to have this to go forward and have success.

"There is no coincidence that Manchester United with Sir Alex has been there over 25 years and has created stability and with that has come success, and along with Arsene Wenger stability has come success.

"What we have achieved over the last five years has been tremendous, we have put a lot into the model, financially we are stable and that will continue and now it's all about stability on the pitch, and having the right managing and coaching staff and chief scout. It is a fantastic move for us and those individuals.

"The long-term contracts with the players and the manager can only make things better going forward. Alan is delighted. He loves the job, he loves the North East and has a real drive to bring a trophy to us and hopefully we will get there in the coming years.

"You can't keep changing your manager because you have a bad a run. David Moyes for instance has done a fantastic job at Everton - they are going to be right up there, so we are looking for that sort of stability and so to give Alan the eight years is the right thing to do.

"We are pleased, very pleased we are doing something different in football, this eight-year deal is something different in football and it shows our commitment to where we believe we should be.

"Our model is not rocket science; other Premier League clubs do the same but over a four-year period we have taken them from a very bad financial position to a very good position which will only get better, and we will continue to strive to make football affordable for our fans and to fill that stadium and by having entertaining football is the way of doing it.

"I would like us to challenge for Europe year on year, and win a trophy. Last year we had a tremendous season - our goal this season is eighth and above but Alan wants to do better than fifth and our players want to do better than fifth.