Since taking over at Palace the former midfield schemer has dramatically changed the fortunes of the club. Under Neil Warnock Palace were on the slippery slope, but Pardew has come in and fired the club up the table and out of sight of the bottom three.
It is a very similar case to what Tony Pulis done last season – the Eagles were certainly destined for the drop under Ian Holloway but his 11 wins out of 24 games ensured we stayed in the Premier League for the first time in our history.
So with talk of Pardew potentially being named manager of the year – let’s have a look at the stats.
We all know how Pulis liked to set-out his teams, at times it wasn’t pretty but it was effective. This was his record during his brief tenure at Selhurst Park:
It is pretty impressive reading. There is no doubt what a great manager Pulis is. And I have no qualms in saying that if it didn’t turn sour at the beginning of this year we would be placed exactly where we are now under Pardew.
Pulis built from the back; he turned us into a solid unit that rarely gave away sloppy goals like we did under Holloway. Last year he thoroughly deserved his award. Nobody expected Palace to survive in the league. Pulis banished the term ‘yo-yo’ club and has helped turn us into what
will hopefully be an established league club for the coming years.
Now Pardew has taken over we have seen a shift in our style of play – it is more attack focused which I think is great – watching our flair players do their stuff is a real pleasure to watch.
Again is there a genuine argument for Pardew being named manager of the year? Well the stats are kind.
Since the former Newcastle manager took over he has won eight out of 13 games which included one draw and four losses. Also during his brief spell we have scored 22 goals, one more than the entirety of Pulis’s reign.
36 points from 30 games at this stage in the season is Palace’s best record since 1991/92. Progress is certainly being made.
Under Pulis we knew a possession game wasn’t going to be the focus – it was more about getting results and being direct and making sure we hurt teams when they were on the ropes.
That way of playing hasn’t disappeared just yet under Pardew. We still are direct and we still go for the jugular but I feel it has been done in a more measured way. Our possession this season was 36.7% under Warnock but since Pardew has entered the building it has gone up to 44.7%.
Whatever happens come the end of the season Pardew will be in the running but I do feel this time it might be out of reach. There have been other managers that have turned around their respective clubs fortunes this season.
Look at Ronald Koeman, what he has done on the South Coast with Southampton has been marvellous. Then Brendan Rodgers has also shown his qualities after a stuttering start for Liverpool, they are now in the hunt for the Champions League places.
There are plenty managers out there which deserve the accolade, but we will just have to wait in anticipation to see if Super Al can indeed claim the crown.
