Pardew: I’ll take Baggies to the next level
NEW Albion boss Alan Pardew has targeted silverware and vowed to take the club to the next level.
The 56-year-old has signed a deal until 2020 after he replaced the sacked Tony Pulis with the Baggies two points above the Premier League relegation zone.
It ends 11 months out of management since he was axed by Crystal Palace, the team he faces in his first game in charge on Saturday.
Pardew was unveiled yesterday and, with Albion fans complaining about their previous style, he wants to inject some excitement and challenge for trophies.
He said: “My best teams play on the front foot and try and put teams under pressure. Sometimes they get a bloody nose doing that and that’s what I’ll deliver here at West Brom.
“And ultimately, hopefully along that line, we can get up to sort of 1.5 or 1.7 points a game. I’ve achieved that in the past at certain times at clubs and that’s what I hope to do here.
“I think the most important thing is, and it’s so difficult in the Premier League, to have ambitions to win the league, to win trophies, because you have six or seven clubs whose finances are way above the level we’re working at.
“They all compete for every trophy, so even the League Cup now has become dominated by the top clubs.
“It’s very difficult to break. We almost did it with Palace in the FA Cup so you have to have those ambitions to try and win a trophy, as difficult as it is, and I think that’s the point I’m trying to make.
“I’ve come close twice, very, close to winning the FA Cup, and one day I would like to do it. That’s the kind of ambition I’m talking about.”
Albion are winless in their last 12 league games having lost a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Newcastle on Tuesday and Pardew believes the scrap for survival is wide open.
He said: “When you look at the table it’s quite congested and it isn’t going to change.
“You might look at one or two, Watford and Burnley might have done enough to keep themselves away, but apart from that everyone else is going to be involved, if you’re not a top club.
“There’s a lot of experienced managers at the bottom of the league all chasing to get up the league. The immediate concern is to halt this run, get some points on the board and get very ourselves in a position where we can try to attack the top 10 if possible.” John Carver, who Pardew worked with at Newcastle, has joined the backroom staff with former assistant head coach Gary Megson leaving after his two-game caretaker spell and Pardew will assess the rest of the current staff. “I spoke to all the staff and told them the culture I want to see going forward and the disciplines I like around the training ground,’’ he said. “And things I think are important in any organisation – timekeeping, cleanliness, stuff like that. We’ve had those discussions and I hope they’re seen through.” Pardew revealed he will speak to Pulis ‘at some stage’ and also plans to phone Meg- son. “He’s somebody I know very well,” said Pardew when asked whether he had been in contact with Pulis.
“I think it would have been difficult for Gary with me bringing in John Carver and the way I work. I’ll be speaking to Gary, the club have spoken to him, but I will call him immediately after this.
“The discussions started around the first game so I kept a keen eye on that and I thought they did a super job at Spurs. Gary did a super job in everything he did.”
Pardew said he was disappointed to lose his job at Palace and revealed he had turned down other offers.
“It was important I got a club where I thought I could take it forward and an environment to give me a good chance,’’ he said.
“I was disappointed to lose my job at Palace, I felt I deserved more time but I didn’t get it. I wanted to make sure when I went back in it was an opportunity with people I really felt comfortable with.
“The chairman here and, of course, Nicky Hammond, who I worked with at Reading. I class him as not only a great professional but also a friend.’’
The new manager is also confident he has the players to drag Albion away from danger.
“I think we’ve got quality in a lot of areas, not just in wide areas,’’ he said. “I think the attacking part of this team needs a little bit of attention if I can just add something to that. It’s an area I’ve done well in in the past.
“Defensively this club has been strong for three years. At this moment they might not be as exact as they would like but I’m not going to doubt that.’’ The Birmingham Post newspaper is published by BPM Media (Midlands): Floor 6, Fort Dunlop, Birmingham B24 9FF, a subsidiary company of Trinity Mirror PLC: One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AP. Printed at The Fort, Wood Lane, Erdington, Birmingham B24 9PW. Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper.