Former West Ham United defender James Collins believes Alan Pardew’s time at the club is perhaps overlooked these days.
Pardew, of course, brought West Ham United back into the Premier League in 2005 and reached the FA Cup final in 2006.
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Still, Collins does not believe the work he did here in east London is remembered too fondly, despite its success.
Collins thinks Alan Pardew is forgotten at West Ham
Speaking alongside fellow former Hammer Bobby Zamora on the Clutch 9 Football podcast, Collins said: “Pards was good at that [knowing the individual strengths of players], like he doesn’t get mentioned a lot at West Ham Pards anymore for whatever reason.
“He was the first manager that coached me, if you like.
“I was playing lower leagues like really learned off Pards at centre-half. [As well as] Just managing games, knowing boys’ strengths and weaknesses – he was brilliant.”
While Pardew has been a successful manager at times, he’s certainly a divisive figure.
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He took charge of 160 games as West Ham United manager, winning 66, drawing 36 and losing 58.
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That gives him a win percentage of 41.25%.
Pardew’s tenure at West Ham crumbled after reaching the 2006 FA Cup final, with the Hammers dealt a painful defeat by Liverpool in what is commonly known at the “Steven Gerrard final”.
The fact he left so quickly after it perhaps explains why his name isn’t brought up all that often.
Had Pardew been able to build, things may well have been different.
Alan Pardew claps the West Ham United fans following their Premier League match with Everton in December 2005.
Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
The respect between the two is mutual.
Indeed, Pardew thinks Collins is one of his best-ever West Ham signings, and it’s easy to see why.
The Welshman was brilliant in his first spell between 2005 and 2009 and perhaps even better when he returned to the club in 2012 – a spell that lasted six years.
The pair proved a success together and it would have been interesting to see what may have happened had Pardew continued in his role.
He would go on to manage Newcastle well, while West Ham were set to enter a chaotic period.
After the Alan Curbishley era ended two years after Pardew’s departure, the club would slide down the Premier League table – which ultimately led to their relegation in 2011.
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