Alan Pardew should not be dismissed

I'm not a Hammer so my viewpoint on Alan Pardew's job security may not be as valid as those who support West Ham and have had enough of their manager after eighth consecutive defeats. But despite this terrible run I definitely don’t think it would be fair or right for him to be fired from his job in the near future.

I'm a big admirer of what Alan Pardew did with West Ham last season. After gaining promotion through the play-off route and adding just a couple of new players to his squad he managed the Hammers to a high mid-table finish and was one minute away from winning the FA Cup final against Liverpool. But the best thing from my viewpoint about the Hammers last season was that they played an attractive brand of smooth-passing, attacking football.

It was so refreshing to see an English manager prepared to create a Premiership team in this vision of football and it made me think that in the long-term Pardew could be a candidate for the England manager position.

So why the sudden decline? I can't help but think it is no coincidence that West Ham's results have deteriorated ever since the seemingly well-connected Kia Joorbachian arrived on the scene with Tevez and Mascherano.

These are two highly talented players who theoretically should only be able to improve and motivate a squad of footballers. But in reality I reckon everyone in the squad would have been thinking what other plans Mr Joorbachian had up his sleeve and whether they and Pardew would be part of his bigger picture. I personally think a lot of people at West Ham (who have a predominantly young squad) have been significantly unsettled by the take-over talk and that this has taken their mind off the job in hand: which is to continue to progress and get good results.

In other words, I think the excellent work of Alan Pardew is being undone by events that are bigger than him and that he has no control over. Because of this and in light of his excellent achievements last season I think it would be premature and unfair if he was to be dismissed anytime soon.

Hopefully results will pick up so to add to his case. Blackburn will prove a test tomorrow afternoon, but with a fervent home support behind them I expect West Ham's players to put in a massive effort to take the pressure off themselves and their manager and grab an important win.