Alan Pardew: Crystal Palace sack manager with club 17th in Premier League

Alan Pardew was dismissed after a run of one victory in 11 games.

CRYSTAL Palace have sacked manager Alan Pardew with the club 17th in the Premier League.

Pardew was appointed on a three-and-a-half-year deal in January 2015 but the 55-year-old has been dismissed after a run of one victory in 11 games.

Palace have taken just 26 points from the 36 Premier League matches they have played in 2016 and are only one point above the relegation zone.

Former England boss Sam Allardyce is the bookmakers’ favourite to take over.

Chairman Steve Parish told BBC Sport: “We all bought into the decision to play a more expansive style of football. We all believed in it. That hasn’t worked. It’s no-one’s fault. The players have been running their socks off for Alan, the spirit is good.

“But now we’re going to wind the dial back the other way.

“We’re talking to a number of people to make sure we get this right. Nothing has been agreed.”

In a statement, Pardew said: “Personally I have a lot of good feelings for this football club and am sad that my time there has ended.

“I feel that I have a special bond with the club and hope that hasn’t been affected,” added the manager, who made more than 100 appearances for Palace as a player between 1987 and 1991 and led them to the FA Cup final last season.

Parish, who co-owns the club with American investors Josh Harris and David Blitzer, added: “I’m not going to blame other people [the American co-owners]. Relegation is so costly and I feel with no blame attached we got ourselves in a rut and need a change.”

Palace have yet to confirm who will take charge of the team for their league fixture at Watford on Boxing Day.

2016 – a year to forget

• A points per game tally of 0.72 was the second worst in a calendar year in their history (beaten only by 0.71 in 1973, when teams received two points for a win)
• Their form for the year is the worst of all 92 Premier League and EFL clubs
• A total of six Premier League wins is the second worst total over one calendar year in the competition’s history
• Palace conceded 67 goals (1.86 per game) in 2016, the third worst total over one year in Premier League history

As recently as 3 December, after the club’s 3-0 win over Southampton, Pardew thanked Palace chairman Parish for his support.

After the third goal, Pardew gave a thumbs-up gesture to Parish, who responded in a similar fashion.

Following the game, Pardew said: “We have a lot of serious investors at the club who perhaps don’t know a lot about football so the chairman has been defending me this week, so I just wanted to say thanks.”

Eagles initially soared under Pardew

Pardew left Newcastle to take over at Selhurst Park after Neil Warnock was sacked with Palace in the relegation zone.

His appointment was a popular one with supporters and results improved as Palace went on to avoid the drop comfortably by finishing 10th, their best final position in the Premier League era.

It meant he became the first manager of a Premier League club to secure a top-half finish after being in the relegation places at Christmas.

FA Cup final sugar coated struggles

Palace started the 2015-16 season with impressive victories over Liverpool and Chelsea which prompted talk of qualifying for Europe.

However, Palace then endured a 14-game winless run in the Premier League between 19 December and 9 April and they finished 15th.

Those struggles were offset as Palace reached the FA Cup final for only the second time in their history, facing Manchester United at Wembley.

Palace took the lead through Jason Puncheon in the 78th minute, but goals from Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard saw United win 2-1.

Pardew in Premier League stats

• He had a 34.3% Premier League win percentage at Palace – less than at Newcastle (37.4%) and West Ham (36.4%), but more than at Charlton (26.3%)
• His overall Premier League win percentage in his management career is 35.8%
• Only Tony Pulis (42.3%) has a better Premier League win percentage as Palace manager than Pardew
• At 302 games, Pardew is the 10th most experienced Premier League manager in history

Analysis

BBC Sport chief football writer Phil McNulty

Alan Pardew’s managerial career has always had an element of “boom and bust” – and his last 12 months at Crystal Palace have fallen into the latter category.

While club chairman Steve Parish was recently able to persuade Palace’s American owners to give Pardew time, home defeats by Manchester United and Chelsea, albeit by narrow margins, meant they could keep faith no longer.

Pardew guided Palace to the FA Cup final in May, and even though he lost talisman Yannick Bolasie to Everton in a £25m deal last summer, he had to deliver once he was allowed to re-invest expensively on players such as Christian Benteke and Andros Townsend.

He has failed to do so, and with Palace lying only one point above the relegation places, the increasingly likelihood of Palace being dragged further into a fight to stay up means he has paid the price for his failings.

Where now for Pardew?

After 18 years in management, which has included stints at Reading, West Ham, Charlton, Southampton and Newcastle as well as Palace, Pardew finds himself out of work.

His career has not been without controversy. As long ago as 2006, while in charge of West Ham, he was involved in a confrontation with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

In January 2006, he was involved in a heated incident with Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini. Two months later, he was fined £100,000 and given a formal warning for headbutting Hull City midfielder David Meyler.

As recently as September, Pardew was talked of as a potential England manager and despite his recent struggles with Palace, he is likely to be linked with vacancies in the Premier League or Championship.

Who might be Palace’s next boss?

• Sam Allardyce, 62. Out of a job since September, when his 67-day stint in charge of England ended. Helped Sunderland escape relegation last season.
• Chris Coleman, 46. Could be tempted back to club management following impressive achievements with Wales, who he led to the Euro 2016 semi-finals.
• Gary Rowett, 42. Stock has risen despite being surprisingly sacked by Championship side Birmingham earlier this month.
• Roy Hodgson, 69. Experienced manager currently available. Guided Fulham to top-flight safety in 2008.
• Roberto Mancini, 52. Won the Premier League win Manchester City. Left Inter Milan in August after a difficult second spell with the Serie A side. bbc.com
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