Alan Pardew will have full control over transfers at Crystal Palace and a number of other things that came to frustrate him at Newcastle United, according to the London club’s coach, Keith Millen.
Pardew was never truly accepted by the Newcastle fans during his four years in managerial charge, which ended last weekend when he resigned in order to succeed Neil Warnock at Palace, but that will not be the case at Selhurst Park, where he became a cult figure during his playing days.
Millen also said Pardew’s good relationship with the Palace chairman, Steve Parish, would be a positive. Pardew clashed with the Newcastle owner, Mike Ashley, principally over transfer matters. Parish has no plans to sell any of Palace’s better players during the January transfer window.
Pardew spent Friday getting his teeth into his new job, as lawyers finalised the small print on his contract at Palace. It is understood that a compensation fee of around £3.5m has now been agreed with Newcastle. Pardew arrived at the club’s training ground in Beckenham at 8.30am and had meetings with the players and backroom staff. He discussed transfer targets for January and Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie at non-league Dover. He left the training session to Millen and the coach, Ben Garner.
“The board and chairman have never stopped a manager bringing in a player,” Millen said. “They’ll have their opinions and financially it’s got to be right for the club but it will be Alan’s decision on who he brings in. I don’t think that’s the reason he left [Newcastle] or the sole reason he’s come to Palace but I know at this club, he’ll have a big say on the players he wants.
“Newcastle is a fantastic club with a great stadium and training ground. The supporters are very passionate there but they are here as well. There’s a definite pull for Alan of this being his home-town team. He’s played here and it’s where he comes from. He knows the chairman as well and there’s a good relationship already.
“Whether the fans all accepted him when he went into Newcastle, I’m not sure. It didn’t look like it from the outside. For the job he’s done there, you’d expect him not to get so much criticism. I don’t know the reasons why the fans maybe didn’t quite all take to him. Maybe it was the Cockney mafia thing. He certainly hasn’t got that problem down here.”
Millen, who has been in caretaker charge since Warnock’s dismissal, confirmed he would stay on at the club in a backroom role but said he did not know whether Pardew would bring in any new members of staff.
Millen also talked about Pardew’s intention to add to the squad in January, and the emphasis will be on swift business. “The quicker they come in, the better,” Millen said. “We don’t want to leave it until the end of the month.”
Palace want to bring in two or three new faces, ideally a defender and at least one attacking player, who could offer a different option. Millen said the club’s forwards were all quite similar. Yaya Sanogo, the Arsenal striker, has been discussed – Arsène Wenger is ready to loan him out in the Premier League.
Palace have lost Mile Jedinak (Australia) to the Asian Cup and Yannick Bolasie (DR Congo) to the Africa Cup of Nations but Millen said several loan players had returned, including Glenn Murray, Jack Hunt and Adlène Guedioura from Reading, Nottingham Forest and Watford respectively.
Palace changed their manager last season, with Ian Holloway departing in late October and, after a caretaker stint from Millen, they replaced him with Tony Pulis, who kept the club up. Pardew must do the same.
“Alan’s experience is the most vital thing for me,” Millen said. “It was a real help when Tony came in last season – his knowledge of what wins matches at this level. Alan has a great record and he has worked at this level for a long time.”
