The former Tottenham winger joined Crystal Palace in the summer for £13 million, following Newcastle United’s relegation to the Championship.
When Andros Townsend swapped Newcastle United for Crystal Palace in the summer, the 25-year-old winger described the decision as a “no brainer”. Four months on, we asses if he was right, and whether he may in fact have been better off staying at St James’ Park.
Townsend’s time in the North East was brief. Signed from Tottenham by Steve McClaren for £12 million at the end of the January transfer window. He made an immediate impact, and was arguably the Magpies most impressive player towards the end of the season, scoring 4 goals and making 2 assists in 12 appearances.
Unfortunately for Newcastle and Townsend, half of those strikes were consolation goals, coming in 3-1 and 5-1 defeats respectively. However, the fact was, Townsend had proved his worth, even earning a recall to the England squad, and it was clear that he would have interest from Premier League clubs over the course of the summer.
Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez speaks with Andros Townsend
Following Newcastle’s relegation, Townsend credited Rafa Benitez for his revival, stating, “I owe a lot to Rafa Benitez for getting the best out of me. He put me back in my favoured position on the right and gave me the freedom to do what I do, creating stuff going forward. He worked a lot on my end product and decision-making, with and without the ball.”
Although he hailed the ex-Liverpool and Real Madrid boss, Townsend still took the decision to leave Newcastle in the summer, despite suggestions that he would remain with the club when Benitez agreed to stay. Many people understood Townsend’s decision. He had proved even during his limited time at Newcastle that he was a every bit a Premier League quality player, and his chances of making the England squad would be limited in the second tier.
After a slow start, Townsend turned on the style as Palace beat Stoke City 4-1 in September, and many thought he might not look back following that performance, where he both scored and was named the man of the match. Seven weeks on though, and Townsend is yet to record a similar display. Having first his berth on the right of the pitch to Wilfried Zaha, he lost his place in the starting XI for the Eagles 4-2 defeat to Liverpool last weekend.
Wilfried Zaha has dislodged Andros Townsend on the right wing
Townsend’s drop-off in form and subsequent dropping to the bench prompted a number of Newcastle fans to joke that the winger had been ‘Pardewed’. The neologism which has been coined by the Magpies supporters can be used in regards to a number of Pardew’s supposed managerial flaws, but in this case, it is the art of turning a quality player into a poor player.
The former Reading boss does have a somewhat shaky past with regards to certain talents. Pardew famously left Javier Mascherano out of the West Ham team in favour of Hayden Mullins, with the Barcelona and Argentina star later revealing that his former manager didn’t even know what position he played. Pardew even managed to overlook Carlos Tevez for much of the season in favour of Marlon Harewood.
At Newcastle, he was accused of ‘ruining’ the likes of Papiss Cisse, Hatem Ben-Arfa and Yanga-Mbiwa. Things may even have turned out a little differently for the much-maligned Moussa Sissoko had Pardew not tried to shoe-horn him into a spot on the right wing rather than his more natural central position.
Ben Arfa was one player Newcastle fans felt was ‘Pardewed’
There is a suspicion from some Newcastle fans watching from afar that Townsend may be the next in that fairly long line of players. There would be some irony if that were the case as upon linking up with Pardew, Townsend said, “You see how well the wingers have done here in recent years and how the manager has utilised them and got the best out of them. Hopefully he can do the same for me. I am just excited about the new season now.”
It’s certainly true that Palace have had some talented wingers during Pardew’s short time at the club, most notably Yannick Bolasie who joined Everton for £25 million in the summer and Wilfried Zaha, who is impressing once again this term; however, how much Pardew can actually be credited for the duos development is up for debate.
Dropped by Crystal Palace during the same week that Newcastle recorded a thumping 6-0 win to book their place in the EFL Cup quarterfinals and extended their lead at the top of the Championship, one wonders if Townsend may have cast some envious eyes towards the North East of the country, and contemplated whether he may have left Benitez’s men a little hastily.
Newcastle have won their last 7 games in all competitions
Despite having lost their first 2 games of the season, the Magpies are now in fine form, 3 points clear at the top of the Championship and appear to be really hitting their stride, whilst Crystal Palace sit 13th in the Premier League, 4 points clear of the relegation zone.
Whilst it is highly unlikely Palace will go down this season, due to the weakness of the likes of Sunderland, Hull, Swansea, Burnley and more, one has to ask whether they’ll be better placed than Newcastle next season should Benitez achieve promotion as he looks set to do.
Townsend had to be aware that he would be competing with Wilfried Zaha for the right wing spot that he so desires and thrived in at Newcastle. Clearly Benitez was a big fan, and happy to accommodate him their and give him the freedom he craves. There is still plenty of time for the 25-year-old to impress Alan Pardew, but the Palace boss seems less willing give Townsend the freedom he was afforded by Benitez.
Had he stayed at St James’ Park, he would most likely now be starring in a team which looks set to runaway with the Championship, returning to the Premier League refreshed and revitalised with a highly-regarded manager and having cleared much of their dead wood. Townsend would almost certainly have retained his position on the right wing, despite the signing of Matt Ritchie, and one suspects he would be scoring and creating goals for fun.
Do you think Andros Townsend would have been better off staying at Newcastle United?
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
