Alan Pardew interview: “I want to threaten the top ten”.
Posted on January 18th, 2011 | 96 Comments |
In the interview, Pardew speaks on how he had to take the job, but only after making sure that it was right for him. He also spoke on how he hopes to threaten the top ten in the fullness of time, how he see it as imperative that Newcastle keep their current key players as well as build for the future, on the role of agents in the modern game, how he hasn’t quite got the hang of the Geordie accent yet and more.
We previously published some brief selections from this interview in a recent ‘blog. However, below is a full transcript of the interview in it’s entirety.
Danny Mills: “Did you have any apprehensions about taking the job?”
Alan Pardew: “When you get a chance to manage what I think is in the top five clubs in the country, you’ve got to take it, and you’ve got to make sure that it’s right for you, and that’s all I was doing really in the negotiations, making sure that I had a platform that I could achieve success, and I think I’ve got that.
“And I hope that’s proven over the next sort of couple of years as we progress as a club and progress as a team, and not only stabilise ourselves as a Premiership club but start threatening the top ten, and I think it’s possible and if we can keep our best young players. It’s possible.
“Unless we keep the likes of Andy Carroll and the Nolans of this world, if we don’t keep those type of players then we’re never going to get there.
“So if you keep shipping ’em out how are you ever going to be one of the top clubs?
“So my view with the board here, as I’ve tried to prove since I’ve been here, is to secure the one’s we’ve got, the good’uns that we’ve got as best I can.
“You can’t do it 100% because somewhere along the line one of the players will want to go from here, and he’ll give me the attitude that he has to go and we both know that as professionals that that happens.
“From what I’ve seen on the training ground so far, I’ve not had that from any individual player. So far, so good, and now we’ve got to add to it as best we can and make it stronger”
Looking back at his career at previous clubs for a moment, Pardew spoke of learning from previous mistakes at his previous clubs such as Charlton and West Ham. On this, Pardew continued:
“There’s times, you know, as a manager, that you make mistakes.
“I think at West Ham, I made some errors at West Ham in terms of my preparation of the group and my handling of the team, and, you know, I’ve reflected on that.
“At Charlton it was a different scenario. Once we got relegated there was no money.”
Danny Mills: “Don’t blame me for that!”
Alan Pardew: “I know, you took a fair chunk of it!”
“Another scenario is, as a manager, you go to a different club, Southampton I went to which is a completely different philosophy to the other two and all that time you’re gaining experience, gaining knowledge and what you must do of course is understand where players are now.
“Players change and the one beauty, the one gift that the great managers have is they change as the trends in players change.
“Alex Ferguson I spoke to at length about how he’s changed over the years. He tells a story of Roy Keane coming to his office, banging on his door saying: “You’ve changed gaffer! You’ve changed gaffer!” and he said “Of course I’ve changed!”.
“You’ve got to change, and I’ve changed.
“I think I have a better understanding of senior players.
“I think I’m still in touch with that younger group that you can’t lose touch with, because if you lose touch with them you can’t progress any club.
Danny Mills: “This is obviously the biggest club you’ve been at so far. Does it get harder as obviously players become bigger, earn more money, egos get bigger? Does it get harder and harder to try and control that elite group?”
Alan Pardew: “Yeah, I think the biggest change that I’ve noticed at this football club is the politics of people around the game.
“When I talk about around the game I’m talking about agents and people who want to make money out of players who they may not even be representing; ie getting in the middle of a deal or trying to create a deal and therefore you’re unsettling players all the time.
“While there’s this, the way the contracts are at the moment, where you’re not allowed to talk to a player unless he’s out of contract of course you’re going to have agents, you’re going to have middlemen.
“That is the big problem because suddenly there’s a deal going on and you’re not even party to it until the very last minute and it’s almost done.
“That side of it is very, very frustrating, trying to keep players on an even keel when they’re getting these people in their ears telling them they’re this, they’re that, they can get them a move here, there and everywhere and that’s right through the club at the very, very top, and at the very, very bottom with the young players.
“The young players need to learn their trade before they start. They need to understand what this game’s all about before they start looking at the greener grass elsewhere.”
Danny Mills: “So you’re obviously prepared to speak your mind, tell players as it is even if it’s not always what they want to hear?”
Alan Pardew: “No, and you’ve got to do it in the right manner because, you know, some of the performers, I’m not going to go in the press and criticise my players ever.
“You know, there’s times where you get pushed into a corner by the press to say anything critical, and you have to be very very careful when you’re on eggshells at times with the press.
“There are players, even this weekend, I want to talk to. I want to know why they did a certain thing in the game. Why did they do that? Why did that happen, why did you go that? That knowledge is important to me.”
Danny Mills: “Alot of the fans weren’t happy with the way Chris Hughton was sacked. Alot of the fans, and some of the playersdidn’t seem particularly happy. How did you feel? Was there added pressure?
Alan Pardew: “No, I just wanted to, quickly as I could, gain the respect of the players.
“The fans is going to take alot longer [sic], I know that.”
“But you know, when you work with a group of players, you know that yourself, you can get the group, you can get the respect of the group quite quickly if you’ve got the tools to do that, and I believe I have.”
“Fortunately on that day, I thought we played well, we had a good tactical gameplan that worked for us, and that brought me, of course, respect in the dressing room straight away so that helped.”
“But I’m under no illusions about the fanbase, you know, obviously, I’m from London, I’m not from the North East. But, you know, all I can assure the Newcastle public is that, you know, I have a real passion for the game and I have a real knowledge of the game, and that I hope they see that over the period of time.”
Danny Mills: “I suppose being a proper Southerner, you’re happy to move up?”
Alan Pardew: “You keep mentioning that.”
Danny Mills: “I am, yeah, well, gotta be thrown in. Language barrier’s not been a problem?”
Alan Pardew: “The Geordies here speak so fast, that I do struggle to get it, I have to get them to slow down. But mostly, no, I get it. You know, what I get is this, that the fans want their team to win. That’s what they want.”
Danny Mills: “Brilliant, good luck!”
Alan Pardew: “Cheers Danny. Always lovely to see ya!”
There’s certainly some food for thought there, but what do you think? Do you think that Alan Pardew can achieve his aim of thretening the top ten?
Please vote in our poll and leave your comments below.
if he gets a good winger in jan Yes!! if he gets no1 then Nope!! he really needs 2 buy