Alan Pardew a Great Fit For Crystal Palace
By Nick Burgess
@NickBurgess92
Getty Images
Strange news has been breaking all over the place this week. First it’s Gareth Bale greenlighting a transfer to Manchester United, then it’s the Fernando Torres transfer saga and now it’s Alan Pardew heading to Selhurst Park to take over for Neil Warnock.
The whole thing is a bit ironic. At the start of the season, thanks to Newcastle United‘s tough first few weeks, the crowd jumped on Pardew and called for his sacking. Since then, though, Pardew has put together a good run of games including a famous win against league leaders Chelsea. Now that the fans are back on his side, he decides to head for pastures new in London.
Palace need someone like Pardew. His first few seasons at Newcastle saved the club, and he is used to working on a great business, but terrible football, model of selling the best players and finding diamonds in the rough. He also has a history at the club, famously scoring the winning goal in the 1999 FA Cup Semifinal.
Looking at the past several seasons, the manager who did the best job at Crystal Palace was Tony Pulis. Pulis took the reigns halfway through last season and saved the club from relegation. Pardew can do exactly the same thing, but he can be in it for the long haul.
The only thing Pardew won’t be able to do with the club is take them to the next level. He is absolutely the definition of a mid-table manager. He once reached fifth, but that was a one-off season and he hasn’t been able to replicate it since. With the current talent at Palace, it doesn’t look like he’ll be able to take them to the next level. All in all, this is a safe hire and the one that they needed, but it’s probably not the one that they wanted.
Nick Burgess is a soccer columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickBurgess92, “Like” him on Facebook and connect with him on Google.
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