Alan Pardew has claimed that he would be interested in a move back to the Premier League over four years since his last job in England. The 60-year-old is now briefly in charge at CSKA Sofia having been out of management for a couple of years.
He was initially hired by the Bulgarian side as part of the club’s board in an advisory role but he took over first-team matters when manager Stoycho Mladenov unexpectedly resigned last month. It was the first time the former Newcastle United boss found himself in charge of a team since he was ADO Den Haag boss between December 2019 and April 2020.
Despite a couple of lesser jobs on the back of struggles in the Premier League, Pardew is hoping to eventually return to English football. He was asked about whether he wants to come back in an interview with Sky Sports, to which he replied: “Yeah I do. I’m 60 now, fit and well.
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“I look at Roy Hodgson and and think ‘well maybe there’s another 10 years in me’ and hopefully an opportunity will arise.”
It is hard to envisage a return to the Premier League for Pardew in a managerial role given the dramatic change in footballing style since he was sacked by West Brom in 2018. With the majority of clubs at the level he’d expect to work at prioritising younger coaches, it makes a return even more unlikely.
He may continue as manager at CSKA Sofia if the club’s hierarchy opt against replacing the recently departed head coach. Although, defeat in the Bulgarian Cup final – in just his fourth game in charge – may have affected his chances. The interview he did with Sky Sports was done on the day of that final and, prior to kick-off, he explained the passion of the fans.
“Last night we had the fireworks at half past 2 in the morning from the rival fans just letting us know that there’s a big game, we’ve had that wake up call,” he claimed. “The bus [to the stadium] will be interesting, I’ve not really experienced the passion that the fans have here on many occasions in England, it’s just wild.”
