Newcastle United have sacked Chris Hughton from his position as manager. The club have put reserve team boss and ex-Magpies striker Peter Beardsley in charge of first team affairs. Hughton's departure came a day after Newcastle lost 3-1 at West Brom, a result which left them 11th in the Premier League table. The 51-year-old guided Newcastle back into the top flight last season but the club said it was looking for someone "with more managerial experience". A statement added: "The board would like to place on record their thanks to Chris for his considerable efforts during the club's transition from Championship to Premier League club. "Chris has shown exceptional character and commitment since being appointed manager in October 2009. The club wishes him well in the future. "The task of appointing a new manager now begins." Newcastle defender Sol Campbell criticised the decision. "This will hit the players hard," he told ESPN Soccernet. "The players admired him and liked him and won't be happy now he's gone like this. "It makes no sense. Here is a guy who has done an unbelievable job. He got the club back into the Premier League and any manager would have been rewarded for that with a new contract, but Chris wasn't. "The players are sure to be asking themselves 'what the hell is going on?', that is only natural. "When we left training this morning none of the players had a clue this was coming. Yes, it has come as a shock, and it will affect the dressing room there is no doubt about that." Former Magpies defender John Anderson, who is now a summariser for BBC Radio Newcastle, said: "This is something that's been going on for a while, they've known for a whole that they want to get rid of him. "You just wish he would get angry and come out and say what he feels, but he won't." Former West Ham manager Alan Pardew was installed as the bookmakers' favourite for the job, but Anderson feels it is difficult to predict what the club will do next. "Grab a name from anywhere - it could be anybody, it could be Curbishley, it could be Pardew," he told BBC Radio Newcastle. "I don't think it'll be Martin O'Neill because he will want too many assurances that they won't be able to give them." The Newcastle-born Beardsley, who played over 300 games for the club during two spells, has been reserve team manager since the start of the season. The club say he will take charge of the first team with immediate effect and be supported by ex-Nottingham Forest winger Steve Stone, who has been his assistant reserve team manager. Newcastle are next in action when they host Liverpool, one of Beardsley's former clubs, on Saturday. Speculation has been growing for weeks regarding Hughton's future, although the club stated in October they would be looking to extend his contract in the new year. The defeat at The Hawthorns, after which Hughton kept his players in the dressing room for an hour, was the Magpies' seventh of a season in a campaign in which they have won only two games at home. However, these were a 5-1 victory over local rivals Sunderland in October and a 6-0 triumph against Aston Villa back in August. They have registered wins at Everton and Arsenal this season under Hughton, but have picked up only two points from a possible 15 since the victory at the Emirates on 7 November. Those results have led to Hughton becoming the first Premier League manager to be sacked this season. Hughton, who has been working without an assistant manager since Colin Calderwood joined Hibernian in October, is followed out of St James' Park by goalkeeping coach Paul Barron. Former Tottenham player and assistant manager Hughton arrived at Newcastle from White Hart Lane in February 2008 as coach to then Magpies boss Kevin Keegan. He served as caretaker manager when Keegan left in September 2008, before reverting to assistant boss when Joe Kinnear was appointed manager on a temporary basis. When Kinnear fell ill the following February, Hughton again stepped in, before assisting Iain Dowie and Alan Shearer as Newcastle were relegated. Hughton was once again placed in caretaker charge in the summer of 2009, as owner Mike Ashley sought to sell the club, but the team started the Championship season so well he was given the role on a permanent basis in October 2009. He went on to guide Newcastle to the Championship title with two games to spare. Source: BBC