Expecting a fair raft of Pardew stuff over the next few days, and feelings may well have changed towards him in the ten months since he left.
With that in mind, i thought it might be a helpful starting point to repost an article i wrote on the day he was sacked, looking back on his period with us:
Pardew’s failure to hit the headlines
“I will be doing everything in my power to inspire what we’ve got here. I’ve always been able to operate well without big money. I am very focused, my philosophy is very complicated with what I do and I need people who are good enough to be able to go along with that. It’s going to be about fighting, digging in, and winning games" – Alan Pardew, Dec 2006.
Richard Murray and his board of directors took a huge sigh of relief. A disastrous period of uncertainty had seen the reliable, well-drilled Charlton ship start to veer off course. Alan Pardew would emerge as the right appointment at the right time to lead that ship back into smoother waters. The much-heralded returning hero, the man Fergie was tipping to go on to great things, and seen by the Addickted and the wider football world as a managerial coup for little old Charlton.
If relegation from the Premiership was eventually to befall upon us, there was strong belief that we had the right man to stabilise our club and help us rebuild it correctly. Even come back stronger. None of those directors, or the 20,000 plus who continue to painfully file through The Valley turnstiles could have foreseen the mess that was to follow.
Relegation came and went. While Tottenham hammered the final nail into our Premiership coffin, there was no anger at The Valley. The supporters stood defiant as one, and proudly sang at noise levels that have not been repeated since. Pardew would rebuild. Of course it was accepted that high earners and better players would leave, but there was equal belief that so would under-performers and inconsistency that had let the club down. Pardew, with his solid track record, would lead us back as a leaner, hungrier side, playing organised, offensive high-tempo football.
Funds were provided, decent funds for a relegated side. Big money was spent on players such as Luke Varney, Zheng Zhi, Izale McLeod and Paddy McCarthy. Exciting young foreign imports such as Racon, Semedo and Moutuouakil we brought it to complete our high-tempo, quality approach. Punts were taken on the likes of Dickson and Sinclair, non-league rough diamonds simply in need of a good polish and a rub of Pardew magic. He was going to become the Championship Wenger, carving out an admired team that would blitz the division with the quality offensive approach Reading did in recent years.
Our huge squad and top-two budget guided us to second in the table by November, but performances were unconvincing. Promise had been shown, but the side had failed to gel, prompting frequent changes to the starting eleven. We accepted it was a new side, it would take time to reach its peak as individuals and team shape became fully acquainted. We would be a side that will grow stronger and dominant in the second half of the season as we become more organised.
In reality, the opposite occurred. Poor performances led to panic. Panic led to more team changes and questionable further arrivals, permanently or on short-term loans. The more changes made, the more erratic performances become. With our top-two budget, we wimpered into a pitiful eleventh place as the second half of the season fell apart. We ended the season not having a clue who our best formation, tactics or individuals were.
Pardew's ego was hugely dented we were told. The mistakes would make him a stronger, better manager. Yet everywhere we turned the same mistakes were repeated. Players were chopped and changed, more non-league gambles were brought in to no effect, and questionable loan signings continued to arrive in their droves.
We fell into the bottom three of the Championship, embarrassed by a Barnsley side lacking quality but huge in endeavour and determination. The decision should have arrived then but a stay of execution was granted, though the lack of public support from the top club showed the obvious split at board level; his job was being maintained on a thin thread.
After soul-searching, changing training, tactics, and once again individuals, the slide could not be arrested and we went on to concede ten goals in the next three games. The end of Pardew's reign shows a desperate side who won just nine of their last forty one games, five of their last twenty eight. A side that did not win two games in a row for 50 weeks and counting.
So where did Pardew go wrong ?
Lets state now that it is never easy for any manager that has to sell his best players. But Pardew was given more than adequate time and funds to get things right. Thirty five players arrived at The Valley in his short time, some have left already while few have shined. More worryingly, virtually none have improved in their time here.
The over-riding feeling for me is that at no stage did he get to grips with what the Championship is about. Success in this league is based on organisation, commitment and endeavour; resolute in defence, denying space and taking chances when they occur. Pardew appeared to have too much belief in his own ability, that he could carve out a young Premiership style side who would go straight to level three before they have learnt and mastered levels one and two. When this failed, he appeared bereft of ideas to correct the situation, and failed to learn from things that went wrong. Virtually all the gambles and changes he made spectacularly failed to come off.
Pardew did not become a bad manager overnight, and is likely to go on and be a success elsewhere. But there is no hiding the fact he got things stunningly wrong here, and a change was vital for all parties. As someone calling for his dismissal for the past few weeks, the end comes with no sense of relief or satisfaction. Just pure sadness at how far we have fallen so quickly, and how disorganised as a club we currently appear.
Where now for Charlton is a debate for tomorrow. For now, the sad legacy of Pardew's reign and our decline is that his dismissal won't even make the back page of the Sunday papers.
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Comments
In general footballers like things to be simple. Give them a job and they do it, give them a "very complicated" philosophy and they get confused.
And Pards to get roundly booed at the final whistle from his fans
Milli Vanilli pretended to sing that song when i was a kid.
the problem with Pardew is that deep down you always knew that line would be (girl you know it's) true,
I remeber seeing him outside his first game at home with NLJR. NLJR said to him my dad said Xmas came a day early cos weve got you
the response
"really"
signed his programme and went in, i didnt want to chat his head off just say welcome do your best really looking forward to this season now.
I put it down as to he was in a hurray,but really he didnt think we were worthy of him IMO i think he thought he could do better than us, i think he wanted to show some teams what they had missed out on and i think had we stayed up he would have thrown his hat in to every available job that came up,
When he started to get it wrong it was his arrogance that failed him, his refusual to look for help to listen to others after all Fergie had him destined for greatness why should he listen
One gamein our first season back in the chumpionship i was sat in the DB for and we were shocking really shocking and there was a fella in the west bit of a gob on him started shouting at Pardew, Then he turnt on Muzza sort it out this is shite,
parky was sitting in the directors seat, Bob W and muzza said something to Parky he sloped down the stairs and said something to Pardew, the look Pardew gave back towards Muzza and Bob W i will remember for ever it was a look of contempt and refusal to aknowledge, pardew then turned back to Parky and shook his head and told PP to stay with him,
Muzza walked upstairs before HT ( i had not seen him do this before) Bob W stood staring Pardew for the remainder of the half.
You just knew that there was a lack of respect in the air and that the contempt Pardew held of everyone who dare ask a question or indeed perhaps the odd comment of this is not acceptable sort it out and do so now (i can only imagine it was a line of that fact from Muzza)
I dont think that i ever will be let more down in football than i felt with him, I watched those teams he had with Envy under Curbs, the football they played the free flowing exciting teams even getting Wetspam to an Fa Cup final and nearly winning it he was a dream choice one taht i would say honestly united everyone, The 4 nil demolition of wet spam the way we played had me dreaming and believing...
Then the reality, the excuses the everyone to blame, denial...
Saying we were too nice to Deano and others the constant refrences to Wetspam .
The arrogance to not walk away and the conseated way he finished his time here speaks volumes of the bloke.
I liked him as a player, i remember being walked around the Mad Stad by a member stadium team at Reading saying when Curbs goes i would love him to come to us, You wont say that iif he did was the reply i got i thought he was just being bitter after Pardew had left them. That was until i spoke to him during the worst run of results i can remember and he reminded me of what i said.
The more i hear about him the more i dislike him my only hope is that he does not get the chance to spend the fella at Southamptons millions. Because should earn the success and this man has earnt nothing but dirty money .
I thought that as a player who straddled the return to The Valley he would understand Charlton and what it means. Sailor and one or two others were perceptive enough to express their reservations at his appointment but I was all in favour, thinking he would be like Curbs and that Kins and Sir Chris could learn from him and eventually succeed him when he went to a top 6 club.
I think the bloke changed from his playing days and had his head turned by the "Premiership lifestyle" although he allegedly made a derisory comment about Charlton when at Reading after an interviewer asked him if he would like to succeed Curbs. Maybe we should have remembered that. Easy to be wise after the event though.
But I only think about that now. I was as pleased as everybody else when we got him. Bu then some of the off field stuff that is commonly discussed, but can't be here, indicates that he is a ****.
I think there will be a real edge to the game on Saturday and I think that will help us, because if we were just playing an "ordinary' bottom of the table team at this stage it could be a classic banana skin. I think Parky will fire them up.
But, I spoke to my West Ham supporting mate for his perspective. He spoke of the year or so after Pardew went to the Hamsters of players being played out of position, chopping and changing, not knowing what his best team was, he spoke of bulls*it press interviews and such like. Given this appraisal by somebody who generally has a similar view on things as me, I was very cautious.
I remember some, on here maybe, or on other forums saying that we had done much better with the "swap" of managers between us and West Ham. At the time, I think, we had just thumped them 4-0 so maybe it was understandable. I took a different view. I remember saying to my West Ham mate, who was naturally down after that game, that I thought Curbs would keep them up and I hoped it would not be at our expense.
In the Championship, I thought he started to get things right on occasions. After Reid was sold and around the time of the Palarse home game, I thought playing a basic 4-4-2 would serve us well and I really thought we would go on to play offs and maybe beyond. Sadly the tinkerman struck again and that was the end of that. I started to lose any faith in him and gradually we just fell apart.
I wonder now, whether he does really know what he's doing or whether is all bulls*it?
I just want Parky to fire them up on Saturday and we give Pardew and all his bullsh*t a footballing lesson.
And then I can go home knowing that justice was done on the pitch even if he shafted us when he took money from the club that IMO he never earned or was worth.
The start was promising, but if we're honest the seeds of his failure were already bearing shoots at the start of that final Premiership season, after the initial 'new manger effect' wore off. As the Championship campaigns wore on I became increasingly disillusioned with him and more and more of my initial misgivings were shown to be right. I remember criticising West Ham fans who booed him when they were in a play-off position, but having seen him first hand in the championship I could see exactly where they were coming from. I never got as far as booing as it's just not my way, but I was pleased when he was sacked which felt strange as even when Dowie and Reed left I felt more dissappointed that it had had to come to that, than anything else.
We all got far too excited far too early about Alan Pardew, calling him Super Al before he'd even won a game and whilst there were good signs to begin with it soon emerged that it was all built on sand and bullsh*t.
I've said many times that his face never fitted, maybe he was the right man but we were the wrong place by which I mean we just weren't right for each other so he was never going to be a long term sucess. On the flip side Parky has always felt like a Charlton type - humble, understanding of the limits which our club works in and most of all homest and straight talking, I guess you could say he is much more like Curbs than he is like Pardew or Dowie and because of that I've always liked him and felt he had a fighting chance to sort us out. It's taken a long time to rebuild us and the job is far from finished yet but perhaps, because there have been no quick fixes or buck passing, Parky's success will prove to be built on soild foundations - here's hoping anyway.
Onwards, upwards and Up The Addicks!
For us his gambles failed spectacularly and he lost the shirt on OUR back. If things don't improve for Southampton soon he'll be sent packing with another hefty pay-off.
"MY f***ing team", I .thought what an arrogant git, and clearly clueless about managing and team building.
As a comparison, a recent interview with Parky, was full of "our team" "we" and "us" and he came across like he really meant it.
I know football is a strange cosseted "other world", but I know which management style would bring the better out of me.
We formed the impression of a deeply unintelligent man with an inadequate personality. He needed fame and fortune to compensate, he needed to be a celebrity and had mastered the use of bluster and cliche. I truly believe that had an older woman been on the interview panel, she would have seen though him straight away. His type is somewhat familiar, small personality, big ego, useless in bed. Women everywhere would have had a lot of laughter when discussing him.
In other circumstances, I might even feel sorry for him and his delusions of fame. He nearly wrecked Charlton completely, but I am also mindful that it was the board which allowed him to.
Thats a great post CA. Just one thought, I have just watched The Damned Utd for the third time and the late, great Brian Clough refers all the time to "my captain" and "my team". (I realise its a film but it's well observed of the great man).
I think that charisma with a bit of arrogance can be OK, if it is used to build up a feeling of strength in the team. In Cloughs case he presented an arrogant super-confident exterior which rubbed off on his team, but behind the scenes that arrogance was tempered with a fatherly kindness, sometimes hard, sometimes benevolent and an ablity to put the right mix of players on the pitch. He and Taylor had the happy knack of being able to spot quality and then shape them into a team. It all added up to brilliant team building and man management excellence. It must have because he (and Taylor) turned two shabby, faded clubs into major winners.
I see the sometimes arrogant Mourinho as the modern day Clough. Both used their supreme confidence (arrogance on occasions) to spot the right mix of players and create teams which played in the image of their manager. Part of their success was in building a group of players and a formation and tactics which they all understood and a stable teams/squad which were hard for fringe players to break into. That demostrated the faith that the manager had in his key players.
How little faith did Pardew show in his squad in the Championship first season, when he brought in two loaned right backs when he had already signed one on a permanent deal, and when already mob-handed with strikers he takes on loan a half-fit Lita and players him from the start?
To me that is arrogance which undermines team morale, whereas the Clough and Mourino variety of arrogant self- confidence enhances team spirit.
Have not seen the film yet as I live in Spain, but read the book and loved every page of it.
What you say about Cloughie and Taylor is absolutley true, particularly the fatherly element. I would add that when Cloughie said "my team", he seemed to say it in an inclusive, cheerful, witty, one big family kind of way. Pardew on the other hand, from his tone and body language came across pretty much as StillAddicted analysed. Incidently loved & believed the older woman theory.
I have had a lot of experience working against "manipulating style" psychology and Pardew always came across as being from this camp. Some times this style works, otherwise people wouldn't use it.
As things start go pear shaped, you go through stages
Stage One - Blind Loyality "I am totally made up with his appointment. He's one of ours and a great track record. I really like his honesty and openesss. A far cry it is from the monosyllabic boring comments of the dour Curbs. OK today wasn't good it'll take him some time to turn things around but we've still got half a season. APRAWA (WASU)"
Stage Two - Re-affirmation. "Things haven't quite worked out but I am certain that he will get things right. He's got what it takes to get us promoted next season" APRAWA (WAGU)"
Stage Three - Denial. "I thought the team didn't play too badly myself today, we were just a bit unlucky. I am sure he has learnt from his mistakes from last season. It's plays offs for us minimum this season. APRAWA"
Stage Four - Puzzled Questioning. "Why did he take off Varney and bring on Gray when anybody could see that Varney was our most effective forward? Still nobody gets it right all the time and I suppose he had his reasons".
Stage Five - Losing it Completely. "The guy doesn't have a clue, the team are hoofing the ball forwards, can't string two passes together, none of the forwards he has signed can hit a cows arse with a banjo. Why does he insist in playing Ambrose out of position? And what the hells the point of playing Crainie when we have a perfectly able right back in Moo2 sitting on the bench gathering splinters in his arse!!" "Sacked in the morning your getting sacked in the morning".
Stage Six - Revisionism. "I always said he was full of crap and clueless and his track record was extremely patchy. Why the hell the board fell for his arrogant self-serving smug bullsh*t I'll never fathom? The guy has wrecked our club. He is the biggest tool this side of the Zambesi!!" Down with the Pardew, you're going down with the Pardew! WATOTLSWATOTL! PPRAWA (WAGU)"
1) You support your club, you want to back the team and manager. You're a supporter, right?
2) But when it all slowly begins to unravel, then seeds of doubt germinate.
3) Then there comes a point when all doubt is removed, and the dawning truth..... the bloke is a tool.
Was never Pardew's biggest fan - this was put down to my like for Les Reed by my brothers -and neither I'm a big hater of him now.
Never liked him as a person, unlike Les Reed and Parky, and was less than impressed with his record but I backed him when he was here. Pardew always talked "to" you. Reed and Parky talk "with" you. Dowie just talked bollocks but that is another tale.
He did have a big and very quick impact on the squad when he came in and he could have kept us in the Prem.
I wouldn't write Pardew off as a manager. Parky started well at Col U but was poor at Hull and at Charlton. Maybe now he's getting his mojo back. Pardew might do the same. Pardew would be a perfect manager at Crystal Palace. They would love his flash ways and how he talks things up. A marriage made in heaven.
First club and all that, the one that gave him his big break from non-League, semi-final winner scored against Liverpool, FA Cup Final v Man U.
Pardew's glory days as a player.
I''d be great for Pardew if he achieved an ambition to manage Palace.
It'd be great for us too .....if he fecked up.
;o)
Nothing annoys me more than seeing people reach elevated positions through something other than merit or hard work. He, I'm afraid, is one such person.
At the time I was posting on the other site and although I was willing 100% to get behind him and give him his chance a la 'the King is dead..." I couldn't understand why others were so over the moon at the time.
Maybe it's because my family are Hammers so I had a bit of a head's up as to his management style and lack of substance but in hindsight (what a wonderful thing!) the evidence was there for us all to see - he'd just been sacked for taking the Hammers into a relegation fight with what was on the face of it a better squad than he would have available to him at CAFC. West Ham at that time had only had a handful of managers in their history and were hardly a hiring and firing club so there was something not quite right about the bloke.
Don't get me wrong, a couple of year previous to that I was telling anyone that would listen that he was the ideal replacement for Curbs when he went, but on this occasion I think the Board and a lot of fans couldn't see the beyond his spin and reputation gained at Reading. Oh how we've paid for that since...
you got me thinking there about Pardew's sacking from West Ham. I'm thinking about the Icelandic biscuit man and his ugly remark about removing a cancer. At the time I thought this was a symptom of West ham falling into the wrong hands but maybe not. Maybe the Icelandic guy was right.
After all it wasn't him who did the dodgy Tevez deal, he inherited it. Maybe he saw through Pardew
as a person.
Not sure if I've read that right. Are you saying it was Pardew or the Icelander who did the dodgy Tevez deal?