Pardew not fearing for his job at Crystal Palace
Alan Pardew is not worried about being sacked, but acknowledges that Crystal Palace are now in a relegation battle.
Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has no fears of being sacked, despite an alarming slump in form which has drawn them closer to the relegation battle.
Palace are without a win in 10 Premier League matches and have slid down to 14th place in the table, eight points clear of the bottom three.
They face second-bottom Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday and Pardew concedes they are now in a battle against the drop, even if he does not think their slide should have him worried about his job.
"I don't fear for my job at this football club," Pardew said at his pre-match media conference.
"The pressure is to win games in the Premier League and it's the normal pressure of a manager at this level. I understand when results are not what they should be that the finger quite rightly turns to me.
"I should deliver victories for this team. I don't care how it comes. Of course I put that pressure on my players but you have to put a pressure on them that delivers the right kind of performance.
"Yes, of course we are [in a relegation fight]. We keep losing and there is no talk of Europe in this camp. The talk is focusing on what Crystal Palace needs to deliver in these next 10 games.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
"If we are tired and stressful on Tuesday, we are not going to win. We need to have the balance of being committed to the game and a level of composure, which we showed in the second half at West Brom.
"We have a fantastic opportunity in the FA Cup which is great. That is running alongside the league form, which unfortunately has not been good enough for me, the fans and the players. We need to put it right straight away."
‘After Manchester City’s recent form, maybe they’re the underdogs against Manchester United!’ Former Red Devils defender on this weekend’s derby
‘Arteta, Alonso, Emery, me… none of us were physical players – we needed the understanding of the game. That probably helped us move into management’: Premier League boss reveals reasons for natural career progression