:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/44322802/459843074.0.jpg)
Earlier today's Life After Arsene profiled Rudi Garcia, who is an actual possible candidate for the Arsenal job after Arsene Wenger departs. But now, because he said something interesting, we're going to talk about a person we all used to kind of hate but might not anymore. As far as I know, he has no chance at the Arsenal job. None. NONE.
Brief managerial background: Alan Pardew has been with Newcastle United since 2010, and managed four other teams in England before that including West Ham and Southampton. He was famously given an eight-year contract extension in 2012 after winning the Premier League Manager of the Year, and has since proceeded to almost get fired several times (only to be saved by the aforementioned contract).
Is there an Arsenal connection? Not one that I want to remember.
Does he have a connection to Arsene Wenger? Yeah, kind of, actually.
Pros: Seems to have the ability to let bygones be bygones. Ahead of Newcastle's trip to the Emirates Stadium this weekend, Pardew has said that the stadium ought to be dedicated in Wenger's honor.
This is a guy who has done an unbelievable job and the stadium should have been named after him. When they moved houses they couldn’t have competed in the Champions League without him being so astute in the transfer market. Bearing in mind the debt they had when they first moved in, he has done an absolutely marvelous job.
He’s had a couple of difficult results recently, but Arsène will get through it as every manager does. His treatment at the train station after the Stoke game was one of total disrespect. I’m sure every Arsenal fan was ashamed of what happened and they will be looking for their team to put it right on Saturday.
Cons: Too committed to buying French players, and might disrupt Arsenal's British core as well as the development of the English national team.
Overall assessment: I don't dislike the guy as much as I used to, but I'm not about to be lulled into a false sense of security by some intelligent and measured words. That's a good way to give up a four-goal leadNO THE MEMORIES ARE COMING BACK, SOMEONE HELP
In tomorrow's Half-Life After Arsene, we'll discuss a two-time Chelsea manager known for his mind games and stout defenses, and then I'll drink a quart of bleach.