Alan Pardew believes Crystal Palace’s first appearance in an FA Cup semi-final in more than 20 years will provide their major shareholders, Josh Harris and David Blitzer, with first-hand evidence of the potential on offer at the club.
The American businessmen each bought an 18% stake in Palace in mid-December, at a cost of about £100m between them, and witnessed the team win 2-1 at Stoke City a few days later, a victory which left them level with fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the table. Yet Palace have won only once in 18 Premier League matches since, a slump which left the chairman, Steve Parish, admitting this month he felt “dreadful” for the investors and “anxious to deliver victories for them to show their faith was well-founded”.
Yet that league form has not been reflected in the FA Cup with Palace, nine points clear of the relegation zone, firmly focused on only the fourth semi-final in the club’s 111-year history, and their first since 1995 when Manchester United prevailed in a replay at Villa Park. Their sole appearance in the final came in 1990, when Pardew was an industrious component of Steve Coppell’s midfield and scored the winner against Liverpool in the semi-final before United won the final, again at the second attempt.
“The board members who were in place taking the club out of receivership can take a lot of pride their side are running out at Wembley on Sunday as a Premier League team,” the manager said, reflecting the role played by Parish, Stephen Browett, Martin Long and Jeremy Hosking in hoisting the club, then of the second tier, out of administration six years ago. “We haven’t mathematically secured that top-flight status for next season quite yet, which we would have liked to have done by now, but it’s almost there.
“But those guys can still relax and enjoy the occasion. For our new owners, though, it will be an eye-opener to the potential this football club has. We’ll have 32,500 fans at Wembley, and we could have had a lot more. It will be good for them to see that we could be a bigger club.” Harris, the owner of the New Jersey Devils in the NHL and Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA, and his business partner Blitzer will be in attendance.
Sunday’s tie is a rerun of the 2013 Championship play-off final against Watford, when Wilfried Zaha earned a penalty from Marco Cassetti’s lunge in extra-time, and Kevin Phillips scored to propel Palace back into the Premier League. Pardew, who steered West Ham to the 2006 FA Cup final as a manager, has a number of survivors from the 2013 Palace team in his squad, with Mile Jedinak, Damien Delaney, Zaha, Yannick Bolasie – an unused substitute that day – and Joel Ward expected to start.
The right-back Ward described that occasion as “a turning point for the club and a great step forward” but, while there was arguably more pressure on the team in the play-offs given victory in effect guaranteed an influx of revenues worth at least £145m, Pardew is seeking to ease the burden of expectation this time. The manager has sought the input of the former England off-spinner and respected sports psychologist Jeremy Snape as part of the preparations, with further motivational presentations planned for the squad before the 4pm kick-off.
“We’ve talked about a couple of things that will stay private but about what we think might work for us,” Pardew, who has worked extensively with Snape over recent years said. “Jeremy did a little presentation on penalties that was interesting because it was delivered from a different point of view, given he’s not from a football background. It’s just about stimulation with Jeremy. Psychology is important in football but it’s been used poorly on occasion. You can overemphasise it.
“It’s important to just select what works for you as a manager. Jeremy works closely with me because that’s who he needs to understand. He needs to get my message across [to the players], not his. So I speak with him more than he speaks to any of the players or other staff members. But we will certainly use something motivational for the team in terms of meetings and presentations we’re putting together. You want to get your players in the right place for the game, and make sure all that motivation and adrenaline is going into the right zones to make sure they produce their best performance.”
He will benefit from a near fully fit squad, with James McArthur – the only FA Cup winner at Palace – among the substitutes and the experienced fringe player Brede Hangeland involved in the matchday environment. “We will bring all the squad, and we’ll lean heavily on all the obvious candidates in that dressing room: Mile, [Scott] Dann, [Jason] Puncheon, and Brede too,” Pardew said. “Even the smallest bit of experience will be important. In a big match your ‘game intelligence’ can go left-field and then you’re playing by adrenalin and human nature. That ain’t always the best thing to do. So it’s about getting that right balance out on the pitch.”
