Pardew takes no extra satisfaction in Newcastle thrashing

Alan Pardew did not gain any additional pleasure from seeing Crystal Palace thrash his former club Newcastle United on Saturday.

Palace fell behind early on but went on to earn a thoroughly impressive 5-1 triumph – their biggest in Premier League history – over Steve McClaren’s side.

Pardew left Newcastle to take the reins at the London side in January, but insisted he has no ill-feeling towards the Magpies, who fell into the relegation zone as a result.

“No, I didn’t get any additional satisfaction from it,” he said.

“It is difficult to talk about the opposition. I love the staff and fans there. Whatever I say about Newcastle gets contrived.

“All I can say is I hope their fortunes turn for them going forward. It’s a tough position they find themselves in.”

Pardew hopes Palace can push on and use the result as inspiration to challenge towards the top end of the table.

“[The players] were really on it today,” he added. “It was a kind of pivotal game in our season, whoever the opposition were.

“Were we going to be a mid-table team and drift around there or get back in contention with the top eight sides?

“They are good sides and that’s who we are competing with. We’ve put ourselves up there with the Evertons and the Tottenhams with that win, and that’s our ambition.”