I’ll admit it. I was ecstatic when Alan Pardew was announced as the Charlton manager on December 24^th 2006. It seemed too much to ask to keep us up, but at least a former Charlton man would understand what the club was about, and restore at least a semblance of dignity.

We were indeed relegated, no great surprise in the end (but we did manage to thrash Curbs’ West Ham side 4-0 at the Valley, which was a sweet result at the time).As expected Pardew would have to deal with relegation and create a side that could return to the Premier League.

Pardew may complain that his hands were tied, due to the financial position of the club, but he must have realised when he took the job that if we were relegated there would indeed be constraints on the wage and transfer budgets. Darren Bent was the banner departure, but Luke Young, Dennis Rommedahl, Herman Hreidarsson, and (eventually) Marcus Bent were important first team players who left as well.

Pardew did receive, to my mind, significant backing from the board. It seems the decision was made to go for broke and shoot for promotion while the parachute payments, and Bent’s fee, boosted income. Pricey replacements (at Championship level at least) were bought to fill the gaps left by our former Premier League campaigners. Luke Varney was not cheap at £2m, neither was Izale McLeod at £1.55m, Patrick McCarthy cost £665k, Zheng Zhi was £2m, and Andy Gray was a £1.5m buy in the January transfer window. We obviously don’t know the sign-on bonuses for the free transfers that summer, but in any case we did spend serious money at Championship level.

Creating an adequate strike force after the two Bents, Lisbie and (the ineffectual) Hasselbaink departed was priority number one. It didn’t quite work out for us. After an underwhelming 07/08 season for the whole team, Iwelumo was sold in summer 08, when perhaps his strike partner, Varney, should have been allow to seek pastures new. That we did not offer a consistent goal threat for two seasons was unfathomable. Gray, Varney, Todorov, McLeod, and Iwelumo, in transfers and wages cost a lot, but - at the time - delivered relatively little. Maybe Pardew was unlucky there, but as manager he should have hedged his bets and made sure the squad had balance.

Pardew’s philosophy was to buy ‘good young players’, but at that point, post-relegation in the summer of 2007, we perhaps needed a greater injection of experience; players who knew how to win, especially at Championship level. Of course, we now benefit from some of the young buys – notably Jose Semedo and Therry Racon - but they have taken time to develop their game and weren’t ready to lead a title chasing side in September 2007, as we hoped the team would.

Perhaps the greatest criticism from Charlton fans of the Pardew era was the perceived over-use of loan signings. Basing the fortunes of the side around a cadre of loan players did not work. Why we signed the 18 year old Martyn Waghorn or Chelsea’s 19 year-old Scott Sinclair is a mystery. Their impact was next to nil, but it was unfair to expect players of that age and experience to force the squad into a higher gear. Older loanees, like Danny Mills, Greg Halford and Hameur Bouazza couldn’t have had the desire permanent signings have and a team shouldn’t have been based on them.

The lack of experience and passion on offer must have contributed to the extreme lack of winning mentality. During the record breaking 18 match winless streak last season the team seemed to utterly lack belief and ultimately meant Pardew had to leave after the 5 – 2 thrashing by Sheffield United at the Valley (game 8 without a win). He appeared totally unable to snap the play-to-lose mentality. It seems to have taken until this off-season to finally establish, arguably for the first time since the departure of Alan Curbishley, the confidence and belief a successful team requires.

So, what can we make of the Pardew regime? He was unlucky. He built his team around Andy Reid, who was sold to Sunderland halfway through the 2007/08 season. Luke Varney, Svetislav Todorov, and Izale McLeod did not make the impact he, and most fans, expected. Youngsters took time to settle in. Should some of this have been foreseen? Was it really enough to result in the team’s spiral out of control?

Obviously Pardew did his best for the club; his foresighted acquisitions of players like Bailey, Semedo and Racon attest to that. But why did he think, after losing so much team leadership post-relegation, that a successful squad could be based around young players and loan signings? The Charlton post-relegation squad was not fit for purpose and Pardew is responsible for that. Yet, ironically perhaps, the successful squad of today is based in part on Pardew’s young players, and he does deserve some credit for that.