Crystal Palace have dispensed with the services of boss Alan Pardew after a poor run of form in 2016
Some sackings of managers are hard to work out, like Gary Rowett being sacked by Birmingham recently.
However, Crystal Palace dispensing with the services of boss Alan Pardew on Thursday was pretty easy to understand.
Palace have simply not been good enough in 2016, never mind this season.
The Palace hierarchy deserve credit for sticking with the former Newcastle boss for the length of time they have, although the new investors in the club may have had a big say Pardew’ departure.
The numbers don’t lie
Pardew actually enjoyed a good start to his Palace career. He took over the Eagles in January 2015 when they were 18th in the table and guided them to a tenth-place finish. However, towards the end of last year, the Eagles form dipped.
The second half of last season was poor in terms of results in the Premier League and the London club finished 15th in the table. The one plus point from the second half of the campaign was reaching the FA Cup final where they were beaten 2-1 in extra-time by Manchester United.
Despite the trip to Wembley, the Eagles poor form continued into this season and they managed just six league wins in the year 2016. In fact, Pardew’s side had the worst record of any of the teams in the top four tiers in 2016.
Palace’s collapse was not the first time a Pardew team’s fortunes have nose-dived. At Newcastle Pardew’s team went from finishing fifth-place in season 2011/12 to struggling against the drop the next season and finishing in a lowly 16th position.
Pardew seems to rate his ability more than anybody else does
Granted Alan Pardew seems to do a decent job when he first arrives at a club. However, he seems to be his own biggest fan. He comes across as smarmy and arrogant in his interviews. It also seems that he believes that he is actually a very good manager when in fact, he is average at his job nothing more.
Unfortunately, he is one of those managers that will probably be part of the Premier League managerial merry-go-round for years to come. The same old recycled names, as top-flight clubs seek just to survive in the Premier League due to the money attached to the league.
Pardew’s managerial ability should maybe be assessed by the fact that he has not been able to get the best out of a decent squad of players. Palace have been highly ambitious by their modest standards in their spending in the last few windows.
How many teams in the bottom half of the table have a striker that cost the club £30million? Only champions Leicester, but theirs is a completely unique situation.
Pardew’s career has been strange, as he seems to be doing everything right at a club, only to then mess things up inexplicably.
Big Sam favourite to be Pardew’s replacement
Speculation is rife that Palace have already agreed in principle a contract with former England boss Sam Allardyce, who is the resounding favourite at odds of 1/10 to get the job. The likes of Chris Coleman, Roberto Mancini and Roy Hodgson have also been mooted as potential targets.
However, Sam Allardyce has a track record of keeping teams in the Premier League. His off-the-field misdemeanours aside he looks like a logical choice for a top-flight club that wishes to stay in the Premier League.
Palace have arguably a better squad than a lot that Allardyce has worked with at club-level. He will do a decent job with the resources available at Selhurst Park. His style may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but the Eagles will certainly be harder to beat than under Pardew.
At the end of the day, Alan Pardew lost his job because Palace have just not been good enough this season or this year. For me, the sacking is completely justified and the Eagles will benefit from the decision in the short term and the long term.
Did Alan Pardew deserve to be sacked by Crystal Palace?
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