Pardew Naive?

Last updated : 21 December 2013 By Footy Mad - Editor

Alan Pardew: "Footballers are winners and the money doesn't have too much impact, really, once you are in the dressing room.

"It's actually getting to the dressing room, from Monday to Friday, that their lives are different, great big houses and great big cars and God knows what else.

"But actually when you go into the dressing room, it's still a competitive nature and players who want to win and money doesn't - or shouldn't - come into it.

"I gained great experience in that non-league of how to win games and the grind of non-league football, working and then really coming to the professional world and thinking, 'Well, this is an easy life'.

"But it isn't that easy after a while. It took me a while to break in, but when I broke in, I was lucky to have two great strikers in the team and we had a great run.

"We reached the cup final and finished third in the league the last year I was at Palace. It was a phenomenal team that Steve put together there."

"Tony Pulis plays a brand of football that's tough to play against - physical, demanding and at times, direct and you need to be able to stand up and be counted in that manner.

"All his teams have tested better teams than us on that level and won. But for us, it's about how we are playing, and we are playing really well at the minute.

"We need to bring that to Selhurst Park and if we can do that, then they won't get it all their own way and hopefully we can get three points."