Pardew proving himself

Since Alan Pardew’s somewhat surprising move from Newcastle to the club he once played for Crystal Palace he has proven what a quality manager he is. His magnificent record has even seen him force his way into the running for manager of the year.

His record since taking over at Crystal Palace is nothing short of amazing,  in his eleven Premier League games in charge, Palace have won 7, drawn 1 and lost 3. That’s a win percentage of 64%, picking up 22 points from a possible 33 in his time in charge.

Pardew has turned the struggling side from relegation battlers to a comfortable mid-table side, upon taken over the Selhurst Park based side were 18th with just 16 points, while Newcastle who he left were in 10th on 26 points. Eyebrows were raised when Newcastle were willing to let Pardew go so easily and they've been made regret that decision.

Fast forward to now and after 30 games, Crystal Palace have moved up to 12th place 1 point ahead of Newcastle in 13th who have struggled under Pardew’s short term replacement John Carver.

This spell as Crystal Palace manager is once again proving Pardew’s credentials as one of the top English managers. It may be a distant memory now but when Brendan Rodgers was given the Liverpool job, one of his fellow candidates was the then Newcastle manager Pardew.

The decision by the Newcastle board to leave Pardew go is questionable, Pardew did not have the greatest relationship with the fans and that ultimately led to him being so easy to see walk away. To say he was underappreciated would be fair, in his time as Newcastle boss they've been inconsistent but never in danger of the drop, who can forget the season he led them to a 5th placed finish.

Sure Newcastle fans expect to be competing for European positions every season but realistically that just isn't possible at this moment in time.

Once again Crystal Palace have reaped the benefits of a mid-season managerial change with Tony Pulis doing a similar job to Pardew towards the end of last season. This summer however they will be hoping to keep hold of Alan Pardew, something they couldn't manage with Pulis.