Pardew for England?

The former ‘Boro boss is held in high regard at FA Headquarters and works with Trevor Brooking with the aim of trying to improve all aspects of the English game. He believes that his former Crystal Palace team-mate should be considered for the role which Fabio Capello will vacate in the summer.

Harry Redknapp has long been considered a shoe in for the role, but with a court case for alleged tax evasion due to start next week his appointment could court controversy. Roy Hodgson is another candidate although his copybook will have been blotted by a failed spell at Liverpool where he looked out of his depth if truth be told.

This leaves Alan Pardew as the only other realistic appointment when you consider that the FA are looking for a manager who is English and knows the English game. He has impressed over the last 12 months at Newcastle and could have had us 9th but for a final day collapse against West Brom last season, and he has us sat in 7th place this season whilst working in sever budget restraints imposed on him from above. He is also significantly younger than both Hodgson and Redknapp.

“I know how meticulous Alan is in terms of preparation,” Southgate told the Sunday Express. “When he has not been in a job, he has been travelling and has put his time in studying different methods of training. It’s been a great education for him.”

“He’s served his apprenticeship. He was at Reading, did a superb job at West Ham, then went to Charlton and was doing a good job at Southampton, where they had a massive points deduction for going into administration.”

Whether Southgate’s purring is enough for the FA to consider Pardew as a realistic contender for the international job remains to be seen, but if he continues to impress his stock will continue to rise in the eyes of the national media and fans around the country. Southgate is clearly impressed with the job Pardew has done and to be honest I think most of us are, especially when you look back at how his appointment was received just over 14 months ago.

It’s not the first time Pardew has been linked with the England job either. Back at the start of November he effectively ruled himself out of the running and insisted that Harry Redknapp should get it.

“It’s nice to hear your name mentioned with things like that, but in terms of the England job, it’s not for me at this time,” Pardew said on November 4th.

“There’s someone in hospital at the moment, Harry Redknapp, who could definitely do the job though. I think he’s at the right age and he’s had the right experience in his career.”

“When it comes to the England job, I think the most important thing about the position is that the general public need to buy in to whoever the manager is. I think they would willingly buy in to Harry Redknapp, and I think that’s very important. He would definitely be my choice.”

Perhaps Pardew’s stance hasn’t changed and he’s still not interested in the national job? Perhaps his stance has softened and he realises that not many managers have the chance of managing England? I hope it’s the former.

Whilst Pardew still isn’t liked by a section of fans I happen to think we’ve fortunately fallen on our feet with him. He’s doing a grand job which can’t be easy under Laurel and Hardy above him. He’s already said that it can be difficult working for the pair, but he seems to just get along with it and gets us results which is all, as a fan, I’m really bothered about.

For that reason, I hope this is mere speculation on the part of Gareth Southgate and the media.

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