Alan Pardew has admitted his position as Crystal Palace’s manager remains under scrutiny before the team’s trip to Hull City on Saturday, but he continues to plan for the long-term at the club with targets identified for next month’s transfer window.
Palace ended a run of six successive defeats with a timely victory over Southampton last weekend but still travel to the KCom stadium only three points ahead of their hosts, who languish 19th in the division. Pardew’s side will host Manchester United and Chelsea in their last two games before Christmas, placing even greater onus on the fixture at Hull to offer breathing space, with the manager having suggested the result of this fixture will “define the first half of our season”.
The club’s manager of almost two years has relied heavily on the backing of his chairman, Steve Parish, over recent weeks as results deteriorated to spread alarm among Palace’s other shareholders. Parish had suggested in midweek that the 55-year-old’s position was “totally safe” in that every manager is under pressure and needs to win football matches‚ “Look, it’s not absolutely safe,” said Pardew when asked about those comments. “I love this job, I really do, and I love this club. The chairman and the board have been brilliant for me, so no one’s more committed to trying to get it right here and make us stronger.
“We are stronger on paper but we are not delivering the points that we need to deliver, and that’s what I need to address. And then, hopefully, my job will become a bit more secure. But you’ve always got to understand that pressure will kick back in quite quickly if we lose another three games on the trot.”
There is a clear need to strengthen at left-back next month given the career-threatening injuries sustained by Pape Souaré in a car crash earlier this season. Palace have scouted the likes of Charlie Taylor at Leeds and Celtic’s Kieran Tierney, and will enquire as to the availability of Ben Davies at Tottenham Hotspur, Paul Dummett at Newcastle and Swansea’s Neil Taylor as they seek to reinforce.
“I think we have the facility to have a look at the squad,” Pardew said. “We’ve got areas that are weak. The Pape injury has really been a problem for us, more so than I envisaged if I’m honest. That’s something I want to address if I can, and the finance … well, we’ll have to wait and see what kind of targets are going to be possible for us. Sometimes the market will dictate who is available and of course, in January, it really is a seller’s market.”
Just as significant will be the ability to attract a forward to back-up Christian Benteke, who boasts seven goals this season, with Connor Wickham having been ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering cruciate knee ligament damage. Palace had hoped Loïc Rémy might play a major role at the club this term, but the Chelsea loanee’s impact was nullified from the outset after he suffered a thigh injury in his first week of training at his new club.
The former France international, who joined on a 12 month loan for a fee of £3m with a view to a permanent deal, has spent most of his rehabilitation back at his parent club and then, having returned to Palace in October, suffered a calf strain which means he is still up to three weeks even from rejoining full training.
Pardew is still hopeful a forward who flourished under his management at Newcastle will prove his pedigree in the new year, but will return to the market to find cover. It is unclear whether Palace inserted a mid-season break clause in the 29-year-old’s loan move. Another player lent last season by Chelsea, Patrick Bamford, had such an arrangement and chose to trigger his return to Stamford Bridge in January.
