Reports of bonus payment for keeping Den Haag up rubbish: Pardew

The Hague, April 26 (IANS) Dutch football club Den Haag manager Alan Pardew rubbished claims of being eligible for a bonus payment for avoiding relegation from the top division.

It was earlier reported that Pardew was set for a 100,000 pounds windfall if he managed to keep the team in first division this season.”If I formally was entitled to a bonus, I would never want to receive it,” Pardew was quoted as saying in a statement released by the club.

“In this difficult period, I would always return any bonus to the club, which will certainly find a good destination for it.”

Den Haag were seven points from safety before the season was declared null and void by the Netherlands officials, with no champions named and no club being relegated. Also, no club from the second division were promoted to the top flight.

Pardew took charge of the side in December and under his stewardship, Den Haag managed to win just one in eight matches. “Of course there is relief, but modesty is appropriate at this moment,” Pardew said regarding the season being called off.

“Although we still had the belief we could accomplish our mission, we were not doing well and will never know if we would have succeeded. But because we did not know whether the season would end well or badly, I do not think another outcome for Den Haag was right.

“Although it is important that our club stays where it belongs, we count our blessings and understand the frustrations at Cambuur and De Graafschap,” he added.

Cambuur head coach Henk de Jong had earlier called the move of ending the season as the ‘biggest disgrace in the history of Dutch sport’. His side were 11 points clear at the top of second division and were set for promotion in the Dutch Eredivisie.

–IANS

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