Southampton recorded back-to-back successes for the first time this season on Sunday, with a 2-0 victory over Newcastle enough to lift them out of the Premier League drop zone.
Saints skipper Adam Lallana and record signing Gaston Ramirez were on target at St Mary's, with the injury-plagued visitors unable to provide any kind of attacking threat.
Nigel Adkins' side looked the more likely to edge in front during a competitive first half, with Rickie Lambert crashing the angle of bar and post with one 25-yard free-kick.
Lallana went one better on 34 minutes, with Ramirez unselfishly squaring for him to roll into an empty net after Newcastle were left all over the place at the back.
The Saints then wrapped things up on the hour mark, with Tim Krul spilling a low cross from Jason Puncheon into the path of Ramirez to bundle home.
It could have been many more for the hosts, with the woodwork and match officials conspiring against them.
Puncheon thought he had grabbed the goal his lively display thoroughly deserved midway through the second half, but his low drive cannoned back off the base of the post.
Jose Fonte that hit the frame of the goal for a third time, with a towering header from the centre-half leaving Krul flapping at thin air.
Newcastle were offering little to suggest that Southampton would be made to pay for their inability to convert pressure into goals, with Pardew's side severely, and worryingly, lacking in spark.
The Magpies survived one more scare late on, with substitute Jay Rodriguez rattling into the back of the net only to see a marginal offside call go against him.
Victory for the Saints, and just a second clean sheet of the season, sees them climb into 17th and they will be looking to make the most of the upcoming festive period to pull further of trouble.
Newcastle, meanwhile, have now suffered three straight defeats to slip into 15th spot and Pardew needs to find a winning formula from somewhere if an alarming slump is to be halted and pressure is to be prevented from mounting on his shoulders.
Sexton led the Blues to FA Cup glory in 1970 and secured their first European success in the Cup Winners' Cup the following year.
His managerial career began at Leyton Orient and from there he moved on to Chelsea, before enjoying spells in charge of QPR, Manchester United, the England Under-21 team and Coventry.
The Football Association's director of football development Brooking said: "It is a sad day for English football.
"Anyone who was ever coached by Dave would be able to tell you what a good man he was, but not only that, what a great coach in particular he was.
"In the last 30-40 years Dave's name was up there with any of the top coaches we have produced in England - the likes of Terry Venables, Don Howe and Ron Greenwood. His coaching was revered."
Sexton had two stints in charge of England Under-21s, first leading the team to back-to-back European titles in 1982 and 1984 during a 13-year reign which ended in 1990 and then returning to the helm between 1994 and 1996.
A former player with Luton, West Ham, Leyton Orient, Brighton and Crystal Palace, Sexton was awarded an OBE in 2005 for services to football.
