Pardew: I’ll get on front foot to save West Brom
Alan Pardew has vowed to change west Brom’s playing style and guide the Premier league strugglers to safety. The 56-year- old is back in the dugout after 11 months and he appeared invigorated yesterday. He promised to ditch the tactics that turned fans against former manager Tony Pulis, but said moving away from the bottom three was his main goal.
Pardew has signed a deal until 2020 and takes over with west Brom 16th in the table, two points above the drop zone and without a win since august. His first match is at home to former club Crystal Palace on Saturday.
‘The most important fact is to win games,’ Pardew said. ‘Tony does that very well, but he does it in a different manner to me.
‘My best teams play on the front foot and put teams under pressure. They sometimes get a bloody nose in doing that. That’s what I’ll deliver at west Brom.
‘There’s enough experience in that dressing room, people who have played at higher clubs than I’ve managed, to change our style a little bit and have success.
‘Hopefully somewhere along that line we can get up to 1.5 or 1.7 points a game. I’ve achieved that in the past at certain times.’ Pardew’s appointment has been greeted with dismay by some, with Troy Townsend, father of Palace winger andros, tweeting: ‘The man wins six games in a calendar year and gets another job in the Prem. I just don’t get it.’
Pardew, who signed andros Townsend in 2016, was dismissed on december 22 after Palace took 26 points from the 36 Premier league matches that year.
But Pardew felt he deserved more time from chairman Steve Parish and american owners Josh Harris and david Blitzer. ‘I did feel a little bit harshly done by,’ said Pardew. ‘You can justify it by saying on that run I had to go, but sometimes as a manager with the relationship you have, I felt I had a bit more trust than that.
‘we had finished 10th and got to the Fa Cup final. I felt I deserved more time but I didn’t get it.’
west Brom have appointed Pardew based on his earlier successes at Palace, as well as strong starts at west Ham and newcastle. He said his record — and those of the similarly maligned Sam allardyce and david Moyes — stand up to scrutiny.
‘when you look at our records, I average 1.3 points per game and Sam and david are similar,’ he said. ‘ I took Palace from the relegation zone to 10th, so these things have to come into account.’
Pardew said he could have ended his time out sooner, but he filled it by expanding his knowledge. ‘I did have a couple of offers,’ he said.
‘I’m not going to sit here and say I haven’t made mistakes. It’s about how you go forward, picking up different things. (england rugby coach) eddie Jones came to visit me at Palace and I have been over to Pennyhill. There are things he did on the training ground that I will definitely introduce here.’
Pardew has brought in John Carver as his assistant at west Brom. Gary Megson and Mark O’Connor have left the club.