COLUMNIST Alex White on why he is delighted with the appointment of Alan Pardew....
THE appointment of Alan Pardew isn't a cheap one but could turn out to be a shrewd one from the Palace board - and a real statement of intent.
A lot of people have raised their eyebrows at Pardew leaving Newcastle whilst they're in a comfortable league position to come to relegation scrapping Palace, but it makes perfect sense to me.
From day one Pardew was unwelcome in the north east and the fans didn't support him. The fans expected a lot from their side and I personally think Pardew worked wonders under the pressure, under the owner and ultimately with the squad that he had to deal with and proved his worth and ability at this level.
Most fans will be delighted with the news of Super Al's imminent return to Selhurst Park. The biggest worry back in the summer when Tony Pulis left was that there were not many ideal replacements for us to approach. That was evident in the appointment of Neil Warnock in the first place.
Right now I believe the Palace post to be an attractive job - the club has fantastic potential. As long as Alan feels he can keep us up this season he will know he has a very exciting long-term prospect on his hands.
Pardew will have the freedom to put his own identity on the team and have the full support of fans and owners alike. If we back Alan in this January window we will stay up with ease - as a squad we are more than good enough. It wouldn't be a massive struggle to think of 5/6 worse teams in this divisio,n we just need to add bulk and options to the side to ensure survival.
Pardew seems the perfect fit for us. If you take the last four managers of this club, there has been a certain type of manager who has been successful and certain type of manager who isn't.
Holloway and Warnock are similar in their approach; in and around the camp they enjoy personal relationships and like to be a player's best mate. Like Freedman, Pulis was assertive and expected a certain standard from his players. The players didn't particularly like Tony but they feared him and bought into his philosophy and that's what made him successful into turning us into a force.
Pulis knew exactly what we were good at and worked towards our strengths rather than trying to turn us into something we're not. Pardew seems to lean towards the Pulis mould as opposed to the Holloway/Warnock mould and that is what we need to get the best out of these players. Ultimately, the difference in standard from Warnock and Pardew is that they are leagues apart and their records prove that.
Super Al's Red 'n' Blue Army!
