As a manager sacked three times in four years, Alan Pardew has had plenty to do in restoring his reputation.
|||London - As a manager sacked three times in four years and then regularly abused by his next club's supporters, Alan Pardew has had plenty to do in restoring his reputation.
He has achieved that in a matter of months since returning to his first professional club, Crystal Palace, lifting them from the Premier League's bottom three on his arrival in January to a mid-table finish last season and now the top six.
Clean sheets have been rare but by fielding a team blessed with pace Palace have been particularly effective on the counter-attack, which has led to an outstanding away record.
Sunday's 1-0 success at Watford meant that in 12 matches on the road in this calendar year they have won nine times.
It was a first clean sheet of the season, which particularly pleased Pardew.
“The back four were terrific and the goalie,” he told Sky Sports. “They didn't really give Watford much daylight at all.
“It wasn't a classic but sometimes as a manager you want a performance that lifts you and that really lifted me, because the concentration levels were really, really high.”
Pundits agreed that the manager had got his tactics and team selection just right, picking Dwight Gayle as the main striker after a hat-trick in a midweek League Cup tie and using all three of his speedy wingers at some stage to attack Watford's vulnerable fullbacks.
One of those wide players, Wilfried Zaha, won the crucial penalty that Yohan Cabaye converted to win the game.
In a difficult period for Pardew between 2006-10, West Ham United, Charlton Athletic and Southampton all dismissed the former Palace midfielder.
He was therefore an unpopular choice to take charge at Newcastle United, with only five percent voting for him in a poll of the club's supporters.
But after steering them to 12th place, he earned European football as they finished fifth in his first full season.
An eight-year contract followed but spending restrictions imposed by owner Mike Ashley meant the team failed to live up to the raised expectations of demanding fans.
By the end of the 2013-14 season he was receiving regular abuse at matches and a “Sack Pardew” website was set up.
Although Ashley would not dismiss him, it was a convenient opportunity for both men when Palace approached Pardew to take their vacant manager's job at the start of this year.
Delighted to return to the club where he became a hero by scoring the winner in an FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool, Pardew led an immediate revival, winning 10 of the remaining 18 league games. He has built on that improvement this term.
One more remarkable statistic from Pardew's return to Selhurst Park is that of 30 league and cup matches, only one - at home to Newcastle in February - has been drawn.
A healthy proportion of wins from the rest has ensured the rehabilitation of a man now proving his qualities again in one of sport's most demanding professions. – Reuters
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