John Salako Exclusive: Ex-Crystal Palace Star on Alan Pardew, the Club's Future

Crystal Palace have had their ups and downs but are in the Premier League once again and have a new, but familiar face in charge.

Former player John Salako is confident that Alan Pardew will do well, but he has concerns for the club’s well-being.

“What we achieved under Steve Coppell, (finishing third in the old First Division in 1991 and reaching the 1990 FA Cup final), was just incredible, with a bunch of players who cost less than £200,000 each. Together we were very strong-minded and hungry in that dressing room. It was a special team."

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Salako continues: 

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Nowadays I’d say that players do deserve their big wages but they get it all too early and are spoilt, which must dent their hunger. I actually think the last two administrations at Palace have killed the club over the last 10-15 years. From the Academy upwards we’re not producing the players any more. I coached at the Palace academy for three years and parents can see that the facilities aren’t great, so young players are looking to get away to Tottenham, Arsenal, West Ham, and even Reading and Brighton for example.

Crystal Palace used to use the league pyramid really well…Brighty (Mark Bright) came from Stoke, John Pemberton and Geoff Thomas came from Crewe, Andy Gray from Dulwich Hamlet…we had a great network and infrastructure of people, teachers and taxi drivers for instance, who worked the Sunday Leagues and the Non-Leagues and used to bring those players to Palace.

I really hope that we can get that back, but Steve Parrish needs to invest heavily in the infrastructure, the training ground and the Academy. I do think that Alan Pardew is perfect for the job and we’re so lucky to have got him. He just wanted to come home and he’s got a chance to make himself a legend as a manager at Palace because he understands the club, from the tea lady to the board, He signed me at Reading and he’s a fantastic manager. He knows players and is tactically astute.

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And what about Alan Pardew’s reputation for being a bit cocky and saying the wrong thing sometimes? Salako is unequivocal and sympathetic to his old teammate:

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Alan came from non-league. He didn’t have a stellar playing career. So when he came into management he had to take on a persona. He had to believe that he deserved to be there, that he had what it takes to manage at the highest level, and sometimes that spilled over into arrogance. But I’m sure he has learnt from his rows with Arsene Wenger and Manuel Pellegrini, and the headbutt incident with David Meyler in that Hull game. I’ve got no doubt that he’ll keep Palace up and I think he’ll take them forward in the future. We want Palace to be a Stoke, to do what Wigan did over a number of years. I think Palace need a run in the Premier League to get that infrastructure to become the club they’ve always threatened to be.

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