He’s become the bookies favourite for the Crystal Palace job. Is Alan Pardew the man to save the South-Londoners & why could he possibly want to leave Newcastle United?
Paddy Power have him at 2/5 (or 1.4 returns for those of you not familiar with fractions) to take the Neil Warnock shaped hole at Crystal Palace. They are a club still suffering from the loss of solidity, consistency that Tony Pulis brought to the club.
Pulis’ reputation seems to be growing more and more since he left Crystal Palace given the implosion that Warnock oversaw. Steve Parish and the board have panicked though and pushed the button, signalling and end to the annual managerial sack race. Now the hunt begins again for another manager, Pulis came in under similar circumstances last year and turned them around. Could Pardew do the same?
First off, why go for Pardew? Well, considering the second favourite for the job is Tim Sherwood there is clearly a large dearth of talent Crystal Palace could actually attract.
Pardew is of course an Ex-Palace player too which should go down well with the fans. He helped them gain promotion to the old First Division and played more games for Palace than any of the other clubs he played for.
So Pardew should have the support of the fans. He also brings with him some Premier League pedigree. He’s a former Manager of the Year. How much weight that carries depends really. Pulis is a former winner along with Mourinho, Ferguson and Wenger. However so is Harry Redknapp, so there you go.
Alan Pardew’s stock is at record highs right now. He’s still basking in the glow of some fantastic early season form that seems to have now petered out but isn’t yet a distant memory. That form was impressive of course, but it did come off the bout of an equally impressive (for the wrong reasons) losing streak that nearly culminated in his sacking.
Perhaps that’s why Pardew is reportedly keen on the job?
Hearing Pardew + #cpfc pretty much agreed. Guess there could be odd glitch tmrw but seems it will happen. More on mailonline
— Rob Draper (@draper_rob) December 28, 2014
Despite the great run and the Manager of the Year award, many Newcastle fans despise Alan Pardew. He had little support when he got the job but admittedly fought to win the respect of the St James’ faithful. But he is still seen as the very public figurehead of the Mike Ashley Regime. Fans hate Ashley. Pardew works for and defends Ashley. It’s not hard to join the dots.
For Alan, this is finally a chance to get away from the North-East. He’d return to Palace’s open arms with the opportunity to turn their fortunes around and nail himself into the folklore of the club. He’s had a good run with Newcastle, but it has to end one way. Under Ashley they will never compete for honours. Ashley is just not ambitious enough and is more than happy to make a profit.
As long as that happens, Pardew will bare the brunt of the fans’ scorn towards the higher powers. It’s a move that strangely makes sense for everyone. Whether Pardew can actually deliver results remains to be seen. He may emulate Pulis at Palace but he isn’t exactly known for consistency.
If they are to be saved Crystal Palace fans should expect a bumpy ride under Alan Parder, that much you can be sure.
Sean Curtin, Pundit Arena
By Brian Minkoff-London Pixels (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons.