Crystal Palace sack Alan Pardew

Crystal Palace have today announced the sacking of manager Alan Pardew after eight defeats in ten Premier League matches.

A 1-0 home loss to Chelsea last Saturday leaves the Eagles in 17th place, just one point above the relegation zone.

Palace have endured a dismal 2016 in the Premier League, winning only six of their 36 matches, picking up just 26 points.

Pardew led Palace to their first FA Cup final in 26 years in May. He departs the club with 18 months left to run on his contract.

“I would just like to take the opportunity to thank everybody at Crystal Palace for their fantastic support. In particular a big thanks to the players who gave me absolutely everything and Steve Parish and his board,” Pardew said in a statement released on the club’s website.

“Personally I have a lot of good feelings for this football club and am sad that my time there has ended.

“I feel that I have a special bond with the club and hope that hasn’t been affected, I wish everybody associated with the club the best of luck in the future including of course the fans who have been magnificent.”

Pardew’s position has been in doubt for a number of weeks.

Palace chairman Steve Parish added: “I would like to put on record our sincere gratitude for the tremendous service Alan has given us, both in his time here as manager and previously as a player.

“Following a fantastic second half of 2014/15, the 2015/16 season culminated in only narrowly missing out on winning the FA Cup as well as securing our Premier League place for a record breaking fourth time.

“During his tenure Alan’s hard work and dedication were without question, he has improved so many areas of the club and we wish him the very best for the future.”

Pardew left Newcastle United in January 2015 to take over at Palace, the club where he spent four years as a player between 1987 and 1991.

He signed a three-and-a-half-year deal to succeed Neil Warnock as manager at Selhurst Park and inspired an immediate turnaround in Palace’s fortunes, guiding them away from the relegation zone to a 10th place finish.

It marked Palace’s first top-ten finish in the top flight since 1992, but they were unable to maintain the same league form during the 2015-16 season, ending the campaign in 15th.

Palace did however enjoy more success in the FA Cup and booked their place in the final for the first time since 1990 with a 2-1 win over Watford in April.

They were beaten 2-1 in the final by Manchester United despite taking the lead through Jason Puncheon with only 12 minutes remaining.

Pardew also broke the club’s transfer record twice during his 18-month reign, firstly on French midfielder Yohan Cabaye (£13m) in the summer of 2015 and then on Belgian forward Christian Benteke (£32.5m) this summer.

With games now coming thick and fast over the festive period the club are hoping to put someone in place as quickly as possible but have nothing to say about a replacement at this time.

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