Alan Pardew admits he lost the stomach for the fight at Newcastle

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/08/alan-pardew-newcastle-crystal-palace

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There was a revealing moment during Alan Pardew’s presentation as the new Crystal Palace manager on Thursday when he admitted he knew what everybody was thinking. “I am under no illusions,” Pardew said. “I understand the football community have a slight concern about why that happened.”

He was referring to his decision, and he stressed it had been very much his decision, to leave Newcastle United – a club with a big fan-base, magnificent stadium, strong pedigree and a measure of security in this season’s table – for one that sits third from bottom and has only ever stayed up once in the Premier League.

Pardew has history with Palace, from his days as a blonde-streaked midfield hustler, who famously scored the FA Cup semi-final winner against Liverpool in 1990 but he is no romantic fool. “Steve [Parish, the co-chairman] didn’t try to twist me on that one,” Pardew said, on the notion of the emotional home-coming. “He needed to come up with some harder facts than that.”

So what were they? Or, more pertinently, why take what feels like a risky step down in order to drive himself back upwards? The questions framed his press conference and Pardew chose his words carefully in relation to Newcastle. After a while, he announced that he would not say anything further about his former club. That was about the time when he was asked whether he had been a mere puppet for the owner, Mike Ashley.

By then, however, the picture had formed around a quotation here and another one there. It was of a man who could not see a way forward at Newcastle and, after a four-year cycle, had reached the end of the line. He referenced his low net spend in the transfer market and the disappointment of losing certain players – particularly Yohan Cabaye to Paris Saint-Germain in January of last year – against the back-drop of disgruntled fans, the urge to fight on had gone.

“It is a club run on fairly tight finance margins,” Pardew said. “We had to work hard on transfers as the funds for a club of that size makes it difficult for the fans to understand that you need to have slow progress and build slowly. We did that in the four years I was there.

“For me personally and professionally, it was the right time [to move] and the right time for Newcastle, to be honest. I think that four years under that type of monetary situation, the fact that they are trying to push, the history, everything else – it is difficult for the manager.

“I think I proved at Newcastle I could handle a club in difficult circumstances and with a difficult agenda. I don’t think anyone at Newcastle would have an issue with me saying that. But, sometimes, you have to take a step that’s right for you personally and professionally to bring the best out of you. I think the challenge at Palace will do that.”

The high mark for Pardew at St James’ Park was the fifth-placed finish of 2011-12 – “In a way, you kind of won the league for a team like Newcastle,” he said – but he felt that the team which started last season was even better.

“When we had Rémy, Cabaye, Sissoko, Tioté, Coloccini, Krul – that team was a really, really strong team,” he said. “And I really was hurt that we never really got back to that. And I think [for] Newcastle fans – when that’s happened before – I think it starts to hurt.”

Pardew’s capture is a coup for Parish and Palace. He said that Parish had offered him assurances relating to the January signings that he feels are essential – the club have given a trial to the Genk midfielder Khaleem Hyland – and he intends to play up the attraction of London. “It gives you a massive power in terms of signing players and the quality of life you can offer,” he said.

Pardew intends to tweak Palace’s style, beginning against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. The Selhurst Park pitch has been relaid, and Pardew sounded nervous about how it would play but he plans to harness the vocal power of the home support. Palace must improve on their own turf.

“What I do know is that on day one in the tenure of this job, I am going to have the support of 99% of this stadium,” Pardew said. “That’s a great feeling. But it won’t last long unless I start winning some games.”

Pardew is excited and he believes that he has grown from the Newcastle experience. “My resilience and character have grown as a result of the nature of the club,” he said. “I’d be foolish to say everything was hunky-dory and I was happy-go-lucky. It’s serious business in Newcastle. Every day is important to Newcastle fans. You have to produce and deliver but I got used to the pressure of that.”