Former Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew has blamed ‘loyalty’ to players that kept the club in the Premier League and reached the FA Cup final as a reason to why he was sacked.
The 55-year-old who was sacked in December following a run that saw the Eagles win on four occasions within the space of 17 games, leaving Palace just a single point above the relegation zone and in grave danger of being thrown deep into the relegation battle.
Speaking to the Times about his time at the club, the former Newcastle boss said that he has to accept that mistakes were made during his time at Selhurst Park and he needs to make sure he learns from them and doesn’t make it again.
“There’s no point me saying, ‘I didn’t make a mistake.’ Or, ‘It was the wrong decision.’ I have to accept it and make sure next time I go in I don’t make the same mistakes.
“I say this to other managers who have had the sack, it’s important, you mustn’t wear it or you can forget the next job. My family, friends, fans might say it’s wrong but I think ‘it’s done, we move on’.
“Looking back, I sat down with Steve in the summer and we decided we wanted to take the club forward,” he says. “We made changes but I definitely have the view we didn’t change the squad enough.
“We brought players in but I think we should have done more. That was compounded when we thought we had good cover at left back, not thinking Pape Souaré would be in a car crash. That was a big mistake not getting cover in one or two areas.
“Sometimes as manager you do get loyal to players. They kept us up, we got to the cup final. I couldn’t fault their attitude but we didn’t have a balanced team.
“The players I’ve had, I think I’ve largely got the maximum out of them but maybe you can’t keep going for maximum. Maybe my loyalty gets in the way a little bit. I have been loyal to a fault with some. That’s just a trait I have. Something I have to keep an eye on.”
Prior to the recent international break, Sam Allardyce has led the Eagles out of the relegation zone after three successive victories ahead of what is expected to be a challenging finish to the Premier League season.
The former England manager has never been relegated from the Premier League and aims to keep that record intact at Selhurst Park with Palace.
