Pardew looks set to be heading to Selhurst Park.
Crystal Palace have held preliminary talks with Newcastle United over the prospect of Magpies manager Alan Pardew moving from St. James’ Park to south London, report the BBC, news that is the clearest indication yet that Pardew is the leading serious contender to replace Neil Warnock as manager at Palace.
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The prospect of former Charlton Athletic and West Ham United manager Pardew moving to Crystal Palace is a surprising one, with the Eagles currently floundering in the Premier League relegation zone whilst Newcastle sit in ninth, but his relationship with the club’s supporters has been extremely strained at times this season, whilst Pardew also enjoyed a successful spell as a player at Selhurst Park during his career.
One stumbling block to the potential move could be the size of the compensation package that Palace will have to pay to the Tyneside club, with Pardew having signed a long term contract in 2012 to keep him at Newcastle for eight years, but the report suggests that talk of a £2 million compensation package are not correct.
Warnock, who only replaced Tony Pulis at the start of the season after the Welshman chose to walk away from Palace, was sacked after a home defeat to Southampton on Boxing Day, with his side falling into the relegation zone on the back of their dismal form on home turf.