Is Alan Pardew a pompous, self-regarding blowhard, quick to take credit when things go well and point the finger when they don't? Yes.

Is he also an okay-ish manager who did very good by Palace in his first year in charge? Yes.

These things are not mutually exclusive.

We were right to hire him in Jan 2015, and also right to sack him two years later. But the dismal second half of 2016 doesn't cancel out the great 2015 nor the cup final run.