Try telling Alan Pardew that you should never go back. It is two wins from two for the former Crystal Palace player-now-turned-manager, with this game one he will never forget: a second Selhurst Park debut, this time in the dugout, and in which the 53-year-old saw his team earn three points in wholehearted fashion and heard the crowd chant his name in similar style. Little wonder Pardew was blowing kisses by the end. He is home and the feelingis sweet.
Emotions are one thing, reality another, and Pardew was quick to recognise that after this match. Beating Tottenham Hotspur, the manager made clear, has not changed his immediate plans, specifically the need to bolster a squad who have climbed out of the relegation zone but remain in danger. “We still need one or two,” he said. “That is progressing and we hope to have news this week that will help us.”
A striker is Pardew’s priority and having gone back in time once it is perhaps no surprise he has done so again in this regard. An inquiry was made to Liverpool over the availability of Rickie Lambert, a player Pardew managed with great success during his time at Southampton, only to be told that the 32-year-old is unlikely to depart from Anfield this month despite his struggles at his boyhood club.
“I had a conversation with Brendan [Rodgers, the Liverpool manager] but I don’t think Rickie is going anywhere,” Pardew said. “Rickie wants to stay there to try to win his position. I have no doubt he can do that.”
“We are monitoring strikers and my pool of strikers don’t have a problem with that. They know competition is coming in. Hopefully there will be one or two arriving.”
One of those may be Jermain Defoe; the 32-year-old former England man is training alongside Spurs’ development squad as he seeks a return to England from Toronto. The veteran is another player he knows well having managed him at West Ham, and there was a somewhat suggestive response when he was asked about the possibility of Defoe moving to Palace this month. “I know what he can do and it will be interesting to see if he comes on the market,” Pardew said. “He will probably have a couple of choices.”
Even if a striker does not arrive in the coming weeks there is no need for major panic at Palace. They are by no means the lowest scorers in the Premier League – six other teams have secured fewer goals – and have already seen their forward resource strengthened by the return of Glenn Murray from a loan spell at Reading.
As Pardew said, what the side are perhaps lacking most is a “maverick” element, that willingness to be bold and take risks, something that Palace showed to the full here having been stirred into action by Harry Kane’s opener for Spurs on 49 minutes.
Their attacking play become more aggressive, sustained and penetrative, much of that coming from Wilfried Zaha after he came on in the 74th minute. The winger was an electrifying presence on the left, playing a crucial role in Jason Puncheon’s winning goal after Dwight Gayle had equalised for Palace from the penalty spot on 69 minutes, and rousing a crowd already in fervent mood.
“I have always liked him [Zaha],” Pardew said, “I inquired about him when I was Newcastle manager and could not get him. If he plays like that for 90 minutes he will get in this team every week.”
There were other eye-catching displays by players in red and blue, which bodes well for Palace as they look to again secure Premier League safety. Pardew has a job on his hands but unlike at St James’ Park, his supporters are loud, proud and visible.
For Spurs this was a dispiriting result following a run of seven games without defeat, the most recent being that excellent 5-3 victory over Chelsea. “We have been very stupid dropping these points,” said the defender Jan Vertonghen. “Once again we have failed to jump to fourth place.”
Man of the match James McArthur (Crystal Palace)
