Source: Northern_Echo
Saturday Spotlight: Another fresh start in Pardew’s chequered career
Four years to the day since he lost his job at West Ham United, Alan Pardew will take charge of his first Newcastle United match today. Chief Football Writer Paul Fraser reflects on the rise, fall and rise again of the former glazier from Wimbledon.[LNB] IF you consider the soap opera Alan Pardew had to endure in the final months of his three-year reign at West Ham United, it goes a long way to explaining his decision to take over at Newcastle United.[LNB] He might be faced with the unwanted task of having to win over a fanatical support still smarting from the way his predecessor, Chris Hughton, was treated, but he can at least be safe in the knowledge he has the backing of those above him.[LNB] Pardew's three years at West Ham were extraordinary. After leaving Reading, he went about transforming the fortunes of a club very much on the way down. He guided the Hammers to promotion and up to ninth in the Premier League, despite having limited budgets and having to build a squad, largely from players he plucked from the lower leagues.[LNB] If that was not enough, he also led West Ham to an FA Cup final, reuniting a club that had been through the mill following relegation from the top-flight and the sale of promising talents groomed by their Academy.[LNB] But then the new owner, Eggert Magnusson, took over.[LNB] The Icelandic chairman was unimpressed by Pardew's style after starting the campaign with the club's worst run of defeats in almost 70 years.[LNB] Then, in the build up to Christmas and four years to the day he is due to take charge of his first match as Newcastle boss, he was sacked for losing three more matches in a row.[LNB] In the circumstances, with on-off takeover sagas, rows over Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano and serious injuries to key players, it is now understandable to think Pardew soon lost his job under Magnusson's rule, with Alan Curbishley taking his place.[LNB] Such an experience could quite easily have left him thinking about a future away from front-line football management. Instead, though, and perhaps predictably for someone who gains inspiration from Vince Lombardi, the legendary former head coach of the Green Bay Packers, he was keen to bounce back.[LNB] Forty-eight months later, enduring further torment and frustration during spells in charge of Charlton and Southampton outside the Premier League, Pardew has been handed his chance. He is quite clearly not the choice Newcastle supporters had in mind, but he feels with more than five years left to run on his lengthy contract that this is his time to shine again.[LNB] HE has a history of bouncing back and most of the time he has succeeded. Even in his younger days, though, he never had it easy and he thought that his aspirations to play professionally had gone.[LNB] Pardew grew up on the Argyll Estate in Wimbledon, where he would be followed game in, game out by his football loving father, Harry, during his junior days playing for Wandsworth Borough.[LNB] Despite possessing the talent as a gutsy midfielder, he was ignored by clubs and was soon the' 16-year-old playing for Whyteleafe in the old Athenian League.[LNB] He moved on to Epson & Ewell in the same league, earning a semi-professional wage, while also playing Sunday morning football in Surrey with his friends for Morden Nomads.[LNB] As the years passed, he topped up his football earnings with his day and night job. He was an apprentice glazier working with his dad and brother, while he also turned to driving the cabs. His days as a young man were certainly not straightforward.[LNB] Eventually, though, his big break came. At the age of 25 just three months before the death of his father Pardew signed his first contract at Crystal Palace, who had agreed to pay Dulwich Hamlet £4,000 for his services after watching him play for the England semi-pro team.[LNB] It was at Crystal Palace where he made his name. He was an instrumental part of the team that rose up from the old Division Two and then famously scored the winner against Liverpool in the 4-3 FA Cup semi-final victory at Villa Park in 1990. On two occasions in that encounter, Palace trailed.[LNB] He went on to Charlton, where he was the leading scorer, after one more season at Palace, played four times on loan at Tottenham before taking his first steps in coaching at Barnet when he rejected the opportunity to move to Hong Kong to extend his playing days.[LNB] IT was at Underhill, where manager Terry Bullivant witnessed enough from him as a coach to take him with him to Reading two years later as reserve team boss. Ironically, Bullivant only lasted until the March and when his successor, Tommy Burns, left, Pardew was handed his first managerial position after impressing as caretaker boss.[LNB] His five years in charge of Reading were not without controversy. His burning ambition to succeed in the game he entered late was always evident from his early days, which annoyed more senior counterparts in the game. He was, though, liked by the Royals players.[LNB] There's no secret format in football and Alan hasn't discovered something new in terms of preparing a team for a game, said Phil Parkinson, who worked under Pardew at Reading and Charlton. He just does the right things well and is thorough in his preparation.[LNB] By the time he had followed up promotion to the Championship in 2002 with a play-off place the following year, Pardew's reputation had reached great heights. He was being touted as a future England boss along with the likes of Steve McClaren.[LNB] But while his managerial ability has always been respected, there have always been question marks over an attitude which has been frequently interpreted as harmful over-confidence.[LNB] I wouldn't say that's me,[LNB] said Pardew on Thursday, speaking after being asked to compare his style to Chris Hughton's. I would just say I have a different way of dealing with situations.[LNB] The first time his character was seriously questioned was when he resigned from his post at Reading, who in turn attempted to create an injunction in the High Court to prevent him taking over at West Ham.[LNB] Initially his stance seemed worthwhile, further raising a reputation that had been noted across the country by his success at Upton Park.[LNB] But what went on with Magnusson, being criticised for favouring the likes of Marlon Harewood and Hayden Mullins over Tevez and Mascherano, reduced his worth even if it only took him 13 days to return to management after leaving.[LNB] When he was appointed at Charlton, they were 19th in the Premier League. He improved the Addicks' fight against the drop during the remaining five months of the season, but ultimately he failed to keep them up.[LNB] He was also unable to lead an immediate revival in the Championship like Hughton did at St James' Park last season when the sale of Darren Bent to Tottenham proved disastrous for him and for the club.[LNB] At that stage there appeared to be few options. But he was handed the opportunity to revive Southampton's fortunes in League One. Again, a relationship breakdown with executive chairman Nicola Cortese proved crucial.[LNB] After narrowly failing to reach the play-offs last season after recovering from a -10 points start for falling into administration, he was sacked in August when there appeared to be little way back for a manager who had lost his job at a third tier club.[LNB] If you look at my career,[LNB] Pardew once said. I've never shirked a challenge. I don't mind that scenario. I'm not a miracle worker, that's for sure.[LNB] But I've always believed that what I do is the right way to approach things and the right way to play.[LNB] With that outlook, Pardew is due to start again. This time at St James', where Newcastle United are relying on him rekindling the early magic he had in his own career by making the Magpies a top ten team again.[LNB] Many believed the man he replaced was well on course to achieve that, the difference is that Hughton would have been given more time to deliver that from the fans.[LNB] Tyneside folk will be demanding instant success from Pardew, who accepts the timing of his return to the Premier League could have been far greater.[LNB] Up in the boardroom, however, the truth is that a manager who has often been at loggerheads with many of his superiors in the past, has been given more time to deliver than he has ever been afforded before.[LNB] Whether that will eventually be to Newcastle's gain remains doubtful.[LNB] Pardew, though, is intent on making sure his latest recovery is completed in style.[LNB]
