If Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace side beat Swansea at Selhurst Park on Sunday, the manager who started this campaign as the focal point of frustration for a vocal army of Newcastle supporters will have claimed 57 points from the 37 Premier League games he has taken charge of this season. It is a record that Pardew is rightfully proud to promote, and as he sat down with ESPN FC for an exclusive interview to reflect on a campaign that he describes as his best yet in a 16-year management career, one of the most talked-about figures in the game could reflect on a job well done.
Newcastle's struggles since his departure at the turn of the year have done little to suggest that the "Pardew Out" campaigners, who made his life in the North East so difficult in his final weeks in charge, were justified. Palace's impressive rise from the relegation zone to a comfortable midtable position under his watch only further illustrates that the blame for Newcastle's woe was misguided.
While they would never admit as much, those Geordie detractors may now be forced to appreciate that the man they hounded out of their club was, in fact, doing as good a job as the circumstances permitted. Yet the figure who was caught in in the eye of their storm does not bear a grudge or look back in anger at the treatment he received. Instead, Pardew reflects on the 2014-15 season as one that will end on a high when he takes charge of his 735th game as a manager this weekend.
It is not often that you get such a candid view into the mind of a football manager. But this is Alan Pardew: uncut, with his confidence shining through as he looks forward to a summer that he hopes will propel his beloved Palace to another level for the start of next season.
ESPN FC: How do you rate your season with both Newcastle and Palace?
Alan Pardew: I think it is my best season as a manager. I say that because I've had two such different challenges over the course of this campaign. At Newcastle, I had a team at the bottom of the table with a crowd that was very angry at what had gone on at the club for a period of time. I suspect it will be difficult for me to top this season in the future.
ESPN FC: What emotions will you feel if Newcastle are relegated from the Premier League on Sunday?
Pardew: I want them to stay up, of course I do. They are my players, my staff, a club that means a lot to me and always will. I hope they get the win they need and then they won't have to worry about any other result.
ESPN FC: Does it frustrate you that your five years at Newcastle are remembered by some for the wrong reasons?
Pardew: Amid all the negativity at Newcastle, we achieved some great things. Finishing fifth in the Premier League with a great team was a fine effort and we also got to the quarterfinals of the Europa League and nearly got past a Benfica side that went to the final. They were great days, great nights at St James' Park and I remember them with affection. Maybe they are forgotten too quickly.
ESPN FC: You still appear to have great affection for Newcastle despite the campaign by fans to get you out of the club. Is that fair to say?
Pardew: I didn't listen to half of the criticism I received. I just didn't let it enter my brain. It affects people around me, but it was my job to see through that. When you are in charge of a top club, where expectations are high you have to deal with that. I look at Rafa Benitez in his time at Liverpool, he had difficult periods and the same goes for Brendan Rodgers in the same job now. These difficult periods come and you have to accept that. I did as well as I could at Newcastle.
ESPN FC: Was there ever a time at Newcastle when you doubted yourself as a manager?
Pardew: No. If I doubted myself, we would never have gone on the run we did shortly before I left. You always have to have faith in your own abilities and that has to be evident to your players.
ESPN FC: What did you learn from what appeared to be a traumatic experience at Newcastle?
Pardew: It helped me to grow as a manager because there were a lot of games at Newcastle when I was the dominant force, the focus of attention. You don't have that kind of focus at a lot of clubs, so I learned how to ram that home. I also developed a habit of beating the top teams at Newcastle and thankfully, that has continued at Palace.
ESPN FC: Have you been given the credit you deserve over the course of your management career?
Pardew: That is for other people to say. All I can point to are the facts. If we win on Sunday, I will have collected 57 points from 37 games this season. That is a hell of a return over the two clubs given the resources I was working with. During my 18 games at Palace, we are the sixth best team in the league. The facts speak for themselves.
ESPN FC: Where do you want to take Crystal Palace during your time as the club's manager?
Pardew: There is a chance here in the next couple of years to have a real go at getting ourselves into a semifinal or a final of a cup competition and maybe even win a cup, that would be fantastic. We could get into Europe as well, of course we could.
ESPN FC: You were critical of the Europa League competition during your time at Newcastle, so would you want to be in that again with Palace?
Pardew: I would not want to be the Europa League in the current format, that's for sure. Thursday night games are difficult to contend with given the level of physicality we deal with in the Premier League. We struggled with it at Newcastle and we were not alone in that among the English clubs. Until that issue is addressed, no Premier League team wants to be in the Europa League. That's the reality, even if some don't want to admit it.
ESPN FC: Looking to this summer's transfer market, what teams do you see Palace competing with to sign players?
Pardew: Newcastle, Aston Villa, Everton and maybe even Spurs. While we cannot compete with some of those clubs in terms of budgets, we can look to attract the kind of players they are also in the market for. If we could add that kind of quality of player to this current group, then we have a chance to push on.
ESPN FC: There has been a lot of talk about agents and the tactics they use in recent days following Raheem Sterling's fallout with Liverpool. How do you deal with agents?
Pardew: I always ask two questions when we are closing in on a deal: What currency are we dealing in and how many people are expecting to get paid as part of this transfer? I have had situations in the past when you are close to signing a player and the money involved switches from euros to pounds to dollars. It is a difficult process, but one we have to work with.
ESPN FC: If you fall out with an agent, can you just cross them off your list and vow never to work with them again?
Pardew: Not really. If you've had a bad experience with an agent, you have to move past it. You are bound to want a player at some stage who is represented by this guy and you will have to try to work around the personality of the agent. You tend to work out what makes them tick, what they respond to. You have to have tactical plans to get a deal over the line. I have to be involved in negotiations because players have to buy into me and what I want from them if they join my club, so all managers need to be fully involved in transfers, that's for sure.