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Alan Pardew has defended the "outstanding" Quique Sanchez Flores' record at Watford amid increasing speculation about the manager's position. In his first season in England, Spaniard Sanchez Flores has impressively organised an overhauled squad which has he inspired to the brink of another season of Premier League football and led to the semifinals of the FA Cup, where they will on Sunday meet Pardew's Crystal Palace at Wembley. A run of just three league victories in 2016, however, has proved disappointing considering they were previously challenging for the top six, and speculation continues to grow that the Pozzo family, Watford's owners, are ready to make another managerial change. "He's an outstanding manager and for what he has done as a foreign manager in his first season in the Premier League, it's an outstanding job," said Pardew of Sanchez Flores, who became Watford's fifth manager in a year upon his appointment in June 2015. "They should give him a pat on the back and a bumper new deal. And I'm sure they will. "There's an argument to certain boards [taking managers for granted] but if you look at the managerial records it does show you who the best are. If you look at [Sanchez] Flores' record that stands out even before Watford. "What I really admire about him, more so than other European coaches that come in, is that he's embraced the English game. He hasn't tried to force that Watford team to do something they're not used to doing. "They play with a British [style]. One of their forwards [Troy Deeney] is British, but they play a British way, they're good at it, he's stuck with it and not tried to alter it, and that's been their strength. You have to take your hat off to him for that." Much of Pardew's sympathy towards Sanchez Flores may stem from the fact that, like the Spaniard, he oversaw an impressive opening half to the season until a similarly disappointing run left Palace at risk of relegation until their recent improvement. Before their decline began in December, Pardew was widely being spoken of as a potential successor to England manager Roy Hodgson and he revealed he intends to demonstrate his motivational abilities by showing his squad a video clip to prepare them for Sunday's game, a tactic Rafa Benitez used when leading Liverpool to the 2005 Champions League. "We will certainly use something motivational for the team," said the 54-year-old. "We have some ideas on a couple of little funnies we might break in there, and a couple of little things that might embarrass one or two staff members. Really and truly, you want to get your team in the right place. "If it's a light-hearted moment or something serious, it's about getting the guys in the right place for the game; and that motivation and adrenalin all in the right zones, not listening to all the noise that's going on."
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