Alan Pardew: Why would I leave Palace for England?

Omnisports

October 21, 2016 12:02 AM

Premier League: Alan Pardew insists he would not leave Crystal Palace for the England job and wants to create "a legacy" at Selhurst Park.

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Alan Pardew insists he would not leave Crystal Palace for the England job and wants to create "a legacy" at Selhurst Park.

With Roy Hodgson and then Sam Allardyce leaving the Three Lions manager's post in recent months, Pardew is one name to have been repeatedly linked with the role.

However, having settled at Palace, the former Newcastle United boss claims to have no interest in the job.

"When people ask me about England ... well, if I was still at Newcastle, I'd be pretty keen on that England job," he told The Guardian.

"But, with all this here [at Palace], I'm left thinking: 'Why would I really want to leave this club now?'

"Obviously I'd like to win trophies and that's very difficult even if we did come ever so close last season. But that isn't the only way to measure success.

"Success can be a legacy. Maybe I can create one here so that, one day, people look back and say: 'When Pardew was there, that was a great period for the club.'

"I remember the chief executive at Southampton, Nicola Cortese, thanking me for the platform I left them. That recognition is always nice. That's like winning a trophy for me."

Pardew now believes if he can keep his current group of players together at Palace – and add further recruits – he can push the club on, with European football an ambition.

"Trying to make radical changes to the team's style is risky, I know," he continued. "But it's not a risk without reward: a fifth year in the top flight, the most this club has ever had in one stretch, and another bonus in terms of the money to take the team forward.

"Playing as we did would get us 14th, 15th all being well. Now, we could still finish 14th, but we would still have taken the club forward [in terms of the style].

"It becomes more about keeping this group together. If I can do that for two years, and add to it in January and the summer, we'll have a great chance of Europe.

"It's about whether I can keep them fit, and whether or not, for example, a Paris Saint-Germain comes knocking for Christian [Benteke] if he scores 20 goals. If that happens he's gone and I've got to find another player within our budget. Those things can happen.

"But, at the moment, we've built a good ship and it's steaming in the right direction."

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