Leicester prove clubs like Palace can dream
Alan Pardew knows all about Cup heartache but says...
AS SOMEONE who once trained as a glazier you would expect Alan Pardew to recognise a glass ceiling when he sees one — but he is ready to admit he may have been wrong.
If it was ever there, Leicester have smashed it by confirming a place in next season’s Champions League.
Crystal Palace and Watford, meanwhile, go to Wembley in the FA Cup tomorrow searching for their own slice of glory while conscious of a future with soaring expectations for clubs of their status.
‘We all assumed there was a glass ceiling and Leicester may prove that there isn’t,’ said Palace boss Pardew. ‘It will have repercussions on a lot of clubs, and some of them negative because the expectation on us, Everton, West Ham and Spurs will change. If Leicester win it, everything in the league will change. Why can’t we do a Leicester? That will be what chairmen and directors will quite rightly put at your door.
‘Why can’t we put that in process? (Leicester) haven’t spent the money Newcastle have. Or maybe even Bournemouth. We’re all expecting a backlash. Two clubs have gone out and hired two of the best coaches in the world in Antonio Conte and Pep Guardiola to put it right. Man United, we’ll wait and see.
‘But this middle tier of clubs is as strong as it’s ever been. You could see the signs early on this season. We were up there, Watford were, West Ham have stayed there. Leicester, amazingly, have looked the best team for almost all the season.
‘It’s a phenomenal job, and the Community Shield could have a very unusual look. Palace or Watford against Leicester? On paper, the other side of the FA Cup looks stronger but whoever gets through from us and Watford will have a great chance.’
Pardew has a rich history in the FA Cup, twice coming agonisingly close to getting his hands on the trophy.
As a Palace player, in 1990, he was seven minutes from victory in a final against Manchester United when Mark Hughes made it 3-3 and United won the replay.
As manager of West Ham in 2006, his team were again 3-2 up until Steven Gerrard equalised with a screamer in stoppage-time and Liverpool won on penalties.
‘I could not have come any closer,’ said the 54-year- old, who first sampled the FA Cup as a non-League footballer at Whyteleafe. ‘But this is another opportunity.’ Pardew played as an amateur for Corinthian Casuals as they reached the first round proper in 1983 and held Bristol City to a goalless draw. ‘We played at Dulwich Hamlet and the place was rocking,’ he said.
Casuals lost the replay 4-0, but his industrious midfield performances were noted and he was soon at Yeovil Town, combining a better level of non-League football with his work as an apprentice glazier.
‘I was working on Sea Containers House at the time, on the south bank of the Thames,’ said Pardew. ‘I’d get in there early to make sure I was finished by three o’clock and drive to Yeovil for a midweek game, drive home and then get up and go to work. That is a day’s work.’
Crystal Palace paid Yeovil £4,000 to bring him back to south London in 1987, and three years later the FA Cup catapulted him into the wider public consciousness as he appeared at the back post to grab an extra-time winner in a thrilling 4-3 semi-final win over Liverpool.
‘It looked a one-horse race at halftime and suddenly the game just came alive like only a football match can,’ he said. ‘We sensed it on the pitch. Even when Liverpool went 3-2 up I didn’t think it was over. Noone thought, “Well, that’s it then”. We sensed something else was going on. I was just lucky to get on the end of a good flick-on from Andy Thorn. ‘It was a fabulous day. I wouldn’t say it changed my life but it changed a lot of things for me. It changed how I was remembered. It became a focal point for so many people who still tell me it was the greatest day.’
He heard similar stories of West Ham’s adventure in 2006.
‘That, too, really captured the imagination,’ said Pardew. ‘We had a terrific quarter-final and semi-final and played really well. We had a strong team. West Ham fans love the FA Cup and their younger generation constantly tell me that was their best day.
‘ They sold out every limo in London. I know because I tried to hire one for some friends! They’d all gone to Cardiff. I don’t think losing a cup final is a good feeling even when you’ve played well but I’m glad we didn’t let the fans down.’ Despite the heartache, Pardew has seen the FA Cup breathe new life into football clubs. ‘It happened to Palace the last time we got there,’ he said. ‘It generated an incredible level of support for this club. When I first arrived, we were in the second tier, getting seven or eight thousand fans. Then promotion and the FA Cup kicked in and suddenly our fanbase went up and up. ‘You gain a core of fans you might never lose, young people who might go to Arsenal or Man City at a pivotal age will come and watch the semi-final and be drawn in. I hope they are.’ He saw at close quarters how it saved Sir Alex Ferguson and launched a triumphant era at Manchester United. ‘I remember going down the tunnel after we’d drawn in the final and he was there waiting for his players,’ said Pardew. ‘I looked at him and thought he looked a really, really relieved man. He knew he needed that. ‘Alex Ferguson would have gone if he didn’t beat Crystal Palace in that final. He made a bold decision to change his goalkeeper in the replay (Les Sealey replaced Jim Leighton) and it worked for him. He went on a run of those good decisions and the legacy he put in place was propelled from that time.
‘It’s ironic really because I look at Louis van Gaal and think there’s a possibility he could still be Man United manager next season.’
Palace could use a boost as they take on Watford in a re-run of the 2013 Championship play-off final.
The south London club were fifth in the Premier League when they hit the doldrums in mid-December and there have been positive signs despite Wednesday’s defeat at Old Trafford, as Pardew rotated his squad ahead of the semi-final.
‘Sometimes you need to take a step back to take a step forward,’ said Pardew. ‘Maybe that’s what we’ve done. Maybe we were over-achieving. At the time, I didn’t think we were. But maybe we were.
‘Maybe we need to adjust in the summer and look at the depth of our squad and make sure we’re stronger next season. The injuries hurt us in the second half of the season.
‘Our home form has been bemusing at times but our away record is good. We have a great bond between the players, and it was probably forged in that Watford play-off final.
‘A lot of these players were promoted together. They have that bond and will fight to the end and that’s why we won’t be fazed at Wembley.’
Fergie looked a relieved man. He’d have gone if Palace won