Football
ESPN staff 7y

Alan Pardew: Transfers to blame for Palace axe, not my 'win percentage'

Alan Pardew has told The Times that his "win percentage" during his time in charge of Crystal Palace and Newcastle was "healthy," adding that he was let down by the transfer dealings at both clubs.

Pardew was sacked by Palace in December following eight defeats in 10 Premier League matches and with the club sitting 17th in the table.

The 55-year-old had started life at Palace strongly before the decline, leading the side to last season's FA Cup final, with his time in charge of Newcastle following a similar trajectory.

However, Pardew insists his spells with both clubs came to a disappointing end due to not being backed in the transfer market properly, rather than his record out on the pitch.

"It gets documented that my first year is a great success then it kind of fades away. That's what people say about me. I could have arguments against that," Pardew said.

"I thought I had come back well at Newcastle with the second team I built there. I was unfortunate to lose that team to transfers, big players like Loic Remy, Yohan Cabaye, Demba Ba.

"My win percentage in the Premier League, when you consider the clubs I've been at and the budgets I've had, I know it's healthy. With buying and selling, I think I was in credit at Newcastle, not that the fans want to hear that.

"At Palace we were never going to spend fortunes. To get [Christian] Benteke, the books had to be balanced."

Pardew added: "Looking back, I sat down with [Palace chairman] Steve [Parish] in the summer and we decided we wanted to take the club forward. We made changes but I definitely have the view we didn't change the squad enough. We brought players in but I think we should have done more."

Pardew also spoke about the day he was dismissed by Parish in December, saying he believed he was attending a meeting regarding transfers rather than one bringing an end to his time at the club.

"I was thinking about training for the next day, changing the team, 'Who do I buy in January?'" he said. "When I went to see Steve I thought I was going to talk transfers.

"Did I think there was a chance it was ending? I'm not daft. It was maybe a 35 percent chance in my mind. But I didn't think it would happen. It was not an unusual meeting. But then I walked through the door and I knew."

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