11:40am Friday 17th July 2009
By Adam Leitch
THE appointment of Alan Pardew as Saints’ first manager under Markus Liebherr signals a clear statement of intent.
Both from the new owner and the team’s latest boss himself.
That statement is quite simple – we believe we can get this club back to the top flight and are in this for the long haul.
Pardew’s track record shows promotions from both the Championship and League One with West Ham and Reading respectively.
Add to that other play-off heartaches – one each with the Hammers and the Royals – and it is clear the man knows what it takes to build a team that can compete in the lower divisions over a long and hard season.
But he has also tasted the high life as well, managing in the Premier League and even guiding West Ham to an FA Cup final.
He was just seconds away from lifting the FA Cup in 2006 when Steven Gerrard lashed in a spectacular late equaliser for Liverpool, who went on to win a penalty shoot-out.
The fact that Saints have attracted Pardew and he has taken on the job says a lot about both the hirer and their new employee.
From the point of view of Saints’ new board, well they pretty much could have appointed anybody as manager – save perhaps Rupert Lowe – and got away with it.
The new owner and his men are the people who saved the club, their stock is high and – as such – whoever they appointed would have been given a fair crack.
In some cases it would take less of a bad spell than others for the grumbles to start reverberating round St Mary’s, but nonetheless the way was clear.
But by going for Pardew they have trodden a careful path that is between a high profile manager whose name will attract players to follow him and a guy who also has the nous and experience necessary at that level.
With Lieberhrr’s cash behind them, the board could have got in any number of big names. But Pardew is a neat balancing act between the leadership and orangisation required to turn around Saints’ fortunes and a man who, further down the line, is capable of managing at the top level if he can get them back there.
It is an appointment that makes sense.
There have been a few managers who have felt League One is a bit beneath them, even at a massive club like Saints.
Pardew, who probably would have got a job in a higher league given time, clearly does not believe that.
He must see the potential.
This is as close to a no lose situation as you get in football.
First season you have few expectations to manage due to the ten point deduction.
Though obviously success in the first campaign would be great, the most important thing is for progress to be made.
That gives you the breathing space of a year, and three transfer windows, to build a squad ready to get promoted in season two.
Few jobs can match that for time in which to work.
Then you have the money – not only the personal package, which will no doubt be decent, but the cash that will be committed in the transfer market.
Even with sensible spending, promised to be at ‘the appropriate level’, it should help oil the wheels of success.
Saints is a club that now cannot fall any further and so the only way is up.
Even though a manager should achieve success in these circumstances, another promotion on the CV is great.
Then, assuming Liebherr’s long term commitment remains in place, you have the chance to take the club all the way back to the Premier League with more money to get to the top flight.
That is all in the future.
But it just underlines that it is a long term job because you are highly likely to need to spend two seasons in League One.
The fact Pardew has committed to that, and the new board have asked him to, shows this is not a plan for a year or two.
Instead it’s much further in the future.
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