ALAN PARDEW is skipping the FA Cup Final to spare his beloved Crystal Palace any more questions about his infamous Wembley dad dancing.
Former Eagles boss Pardew cannot escape Mickey taking over his impromptu touchline jig in celebration of Jason Puncheon’s 78th-minute goal against Manchester United in the 2016 final.
ACTION IMAGESAlan Pardew guided Crystal Palace to the 2015/16 FA Cup final[/caption]
BBCPardew’s dancing after Jason Puncheon’s opener went viral[/caption]
So he has declined an invitation from chairman Steve Parish to go to the game and will instead stay home and cheer on the team from his living room.
Pardew, 63, said: “I told Steve that this team deserves so much credit.
“The problem with 2016 is that the team didn’t get enough.
“Every time it comes up in conversation, my dance comes up with it.
“And I don’t want there to be even the slightest chance of that happening this time.
“I don’t mind talking about it. It was just an off-the-cuff reaction to a goal. No shame.
“But this Cup final should be about this Palace team.
“I’ve told Steve that if they win, I will celebrate with him at the Wolves game next Tuesday instead.
AFPAlan Pardew will celebrate with Palace chief Steve Parish if they pip City to the trophy[/caption]
“But I’ll be watching from home for sure.”
Palace gaffer Oliver Glasner is determined to make it third-time lucky for The Eagles at FA Cup finals with a shock win over City.
The Austrian said: “It feels like more than a normal game. There’s much more attention and much more interviews to do during the week.
“But our preparation was more or less the same as in the Premier League games and before the semi-final or the quarter-final and all the other games.
“We focused on what we want to do tomorrow at Wembley. We analysed Manchester City, but 90% of the time we were talking about us.
“Because this is what we can influence, we can influence our performance, we can influence what we want to do in and out of possession and so the focus was on our game.
“Also we just made one or two small adjustments, because the players especially did very well in the last couple of weeks and so we’re up with a lot of confidence and looking forward to the final.”
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