Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace fire Alan Pardew after disastrous run puts them in relegation race

Published Dec. 22, 2016 11:25 a.m. ET

Ryan Rosenblatt

Alan Pardew was seen as a hero when he took over Crystal Palace. He was a former player who had managed for years in the Premier League and had come back to rescue the club as it flirted with relegation. But things didn't exactly go according to plan and now Pardew has been fired.

Palace's recent form doomed Pardew, as the club won just one of their last 11 Premier League games. That's left them just one point out of the relegation zone and the club thought it had to make a change to avoid the drop.

Pardew's time at Palace actually started pretty magnificently. He was hired midway through the 2014/15 season with the club in serious danger of being relegated, but turned them around and they finished an astonishing 10th. Even last season, he got Palace to the FA Cup final. It looked like Pardew, the beloved player, was going to be a smashing success as the Crystal Palace manager.

But while Palace made it to the FA Cup final, they also fell apart in the league, winning just two of their last 21 matches. That form carried over to this season, despite Pardew being given the backing to spend £27 million buying Christian Benteke and another £13 million on Andros Townsend.

The club only announced the Pardew had been asked to step down, not who would replace him. Palace didn't even name an interim manager, so it's not clear who is going to lead the team through the heavy holiday fixtures. That could be because they have a permanent successor lined up, or they may just be scrambling. Either way, it's not good for Palace, who had to sack someone they so badly wanted to be their leader, and are now mired in a relegation fight they figured they would be well clear of.

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