Former Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has dismissed suggestions that he feels quite relieved to be away from the north-east club and into Crystal Palace. Pardew joined Crystal Palace at the start of 2015 and this has been beneficial to both parties.
The London club were involved in a relegation fight when Pardew came to the club. Since then, they have won several matches and have moved into a position where even a top-10 finish remains a possibility. Pardew was one of the longest serving manager in English football prior to joining Palace. He had been at Newcastle for four years.
During this period, Pardew faced a number of ups and downs. After coming very close to sealing a Champions League spot in the 2011-12 season, the manager faced a lot of criticism from his own supporters on a number of occasions. This was very evident even at the start of the season. Pardew has revealed that his biggest regret will come in the fact that he did not get enough results in the Tyne-Wear derby. Pardew became the first Newcastle manager to lose four consecutive matches against Sunderland. However, the former boss has praised the support received by Newcastle and says that it remains one of the best clubs he has coached.
“The support is such, that it’s intense. They want their team to win.If I was to be critical of my management there, I didn’t win the derbies and didn’t do well enough in the cups, and unfortunately they’re emotive games for Newcastle fans.It’s a real regret of my management there, but I’m proud of everything else I achieved and I sincerely hope in the summer they have a good window, buy well, and get that place rocking like it was in that second half [against Arsenal],” said Pardew.