Pardew on a mission to rescue West Brom with style

NEW West Brom boss Alan Pardew has vowed to change the team’s playing style and guide the Premier League strugglers to safety. The 56-year-old, who is back in the dugout after 11 months out of the game, promised to ditch the tactics that turned fans against 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,’ said Pardew. ‘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 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, however, 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 in December after Palace took 26 points from the 36 Premier League matches that year.