Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has had plenty to smile about since his arrival as Eagles boss
When Alan Pardew agreed to join former-club Crystal Palace as boss there were many wondering why he would swap a prospective comfortable midtable finish with Newcastle for a relegation battle with the Eagles?
However, at Newcastle the former-West Ham Pardew always looked like he was under-pressure.
At Palace he seems to be a different man. He is all smiles again after an excellent start to his career with Palace.
Form
Palace have won four out of four since their former-midfielders appointment, including a 2-1 win at Selhurst Park over Champions League chasing Tottenham.
Pardew also guided the Eagles into the fifth round of the FA Cup, despite being handed a tough away day at high-flying Southampton.
Attacking
Pardew was criticised by a minority of Newcastle fans for the style of football his team played. However, a lot of the time his tactics were dictated by the players available to him and the fact that he was often managing with one hand tied behind his back because of Mike Ashley’s dislike of spending money.
Since Pardew joined Palace he has been nothing but positive in his approach to the game. The Eagles have scored 12 goals in his four games in charge, after failing to score in their previous two matches prior to his arrival.
Pardew’s line-up against Southampton in the FA Cup proved that he wants to play positive football with the Eagles. He not only picked three strikers in Fraizer Campbell, Yaya Sanogo and Marouane Chamakh, but also played winger Wilfried Zaha.
It is not rocket science to realise that if you play more attacking players you will be more attacking and depending the quality of players should score more goals.
Loanee
Arsenal loanee Yaya Sanogo struggled for goals at Arsenal, scoring just once in the Champions League. The 22-year-old has played just twice for the Eagles and already scored a goal. Maybe the move to Palace and regular first team football will bring the best out of the youngster.
He did appear to have potential at Arsenal, but he seemed to be lacking confidence because of the lack of goals. Arsenal is a big club and the pressure on Sanogo to succeed seemed to be massive. There will be slightly less pressure and media attention on him at Palace.
Yaya Sanogo could be an inspired signing by Pardew, who is reportedly looking at bringing in former-Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi as extra striking cover. Pardew is familiar with the striker from their time together on Tyneside. Ameobi is a free agent after a short unsuccessful spell in Turkish football.
Close
Crystal Palace are now just four points behind Pardew’s old club Newcastle in the Premier League table. The Magpies have suffered three defeats and drawn one of their games since Pardew left for Palace.
With the two clubs in wildly contrasting form it does not look impossible that the Eagles could fly above the Magpies in the next couple of weeks, which would please Pardew immensely I would imagine.
Newcastle has just appointed Pardew’s former-assistant John Carver as caretaker until the end of the season. The teams form under Carver so far suggests the Magpies may be in for a difficult finish to the season.
Opportunity
On Saturday Palace have a chance to continue their good form when out-of-sorts Everton arrive at Selhurst Park. The Toffees have drawn their last four games in all competitions (if you count the FA Cup penalty defeat to West Ham) and have won just once in their last 14 games in all competitions.
At the moment the Eagles will be highly confident of claiming their fifth consecutive victory under their revitalised boss. Alan Pardew has a smile back on his face and at the moment I would not be betting against that smile being there after the game against Everton.
Can Palace pick-up their fifth straight win against Everton?
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