The Beginning Of A Beautiful Friendship
“Thorn flicked it on and it has gone in …… PARDEW!! 4-3 Palace!”
Everyone of a certain age will remember those immortal words of John Motson as Alan Pardew sent us into the 1990 FA Cup final. It was the moment that Alan Pardew was written into Crystal Palace folklore.
I have very fond memories of Crystal Palace in the early nineties. I was young and just getting into football in a big way. I was learning the pain of losing and the euphoria of winning.
We had a great team, we were getting to cup finals, we were winning cup finals (yes the Zenith Data Systems Cup counts and yes that was a thing!) We finished third in the top flight,yes, THIRD! I cannot imagine a Crystal Palace team being that successful again and I am glad I was there to see it.
Super Alan Pardew was part of a team that created so many great memories, so it is no surprise he has been welcomed back to the club with open arms. The prodigal son has returned. After all he is one of our own.
When his name was mentioned for our vacant managers position, my instant reaction was that it would not happen. Despite his turbulent relationship with the Geordie faithful at Newcastle United, they are a massive club. Tempting any boss away from a club of that size would be a task. So to say I was surprised that we got our man was an understatement.
After Super Al’s appointment it occurred to me that we at Crystal Palace are a nostalgic lot. In the time that I have been supporting the club including on a caretaker basis, we have employed nine former Crystal Palace players as managers.
Attilio Lombardo (caretaker), Terry Venables, Steve Kember, Kit Symons (caretaker) Peter Taylor, Iain Dowie, Dougie Freedman, Curtis Fleming (caretaker) and now Alan Pardew. That is a heck of a lot of former players.
Why are we drawn to our former players? Do we like a familiar face? Is it an overall sense of nostalgia or were they the right men for the job?
I suppose the answer is and always should be they were the right man for the job, but I cannott help but think we sometimes let our hearts rule our heads. Clearly some of the people in that list are pretty questionable, some were ill advised options.
Some brought us limited success, for example Dowie got us into the Premier League but did not quite have the ability to keep us up there. Dougie promoted youth and got the best out our limited squad, but did not quite finish the job, opting to leave SE25 for a a so called bigger club.
Being a popular player at a club does not guarantee the transition into management will be plain sailing. Even if a player was held in high esteem, if things go wrong when you are at the helm your previous good reputation goes out the window.
I personally hate that. All of the good memories of them as a player can be soured by their ineptitude or ‘betrayal‘ as a manager. I do not know if I will ever get over Dougie. I am sure there is a good reason for him leaving in the manner he did but it just still does not sit well. I try hard to keep the memories of him as a player and as a manager separate, but it is hard.
I would hate the good memories that I have of Alan Pardew to be flushed down the drain if it does not work out back at SE25.
I hope it does not happen. I am positive about this appointment. I am more positive than when we appointed Tony Pulis. When we appointed Pulis not everyone wanted him. I was one of those gladly proved wrong. Briefly anyway.
I like all Palace fans hope this is the beginning of something special, something more permanent. We desperately need some stability back at the club.
Hopefully Super Al’s appointment is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
C’MON YOU PALACE!
