No Defoe-Connolly rift, claims Pardew

ALAN PARDEW has dismissed talk of a rift between strikers Jermain Defoe and Ireland’s David Connolly during his first two days in charge of West Ham.

Pardew had to wait five weeks before taking over from caretaker Trevor Brooking at Upton Park this week under the terms of his release from Reading.

But he admitted his first job was to get to the bottom of allegations the pair do not pass to each other after a string of performances in which they have looked like strangers.

Pardew said: “The fans are ultimately our most important people and they want to know if there is a problem, so I actually asked them.

“They assured me there wasn’t. I think there’s some naivety in Jermain’s play, certainly, because he’s so young and eager to do well, and that can be misconstrued as not passing to David.

“David’s experienced enough to know you can’t work without your partner and I don’t see a problem on his side.

"I just think most of that is Jermain’s enthusiasm to do well for West Ham.” The pair have 16 goals between them this season and look certain to line up alongside each other against Nottingham Forest tonight, but Pardew will urge Defoe to take a leaf out of former Hammer Ian Wright’s book to solve their problems.

Pardew said: “I see a lot of similarities with Ian Wright, who I played with at Crystal Palace. The same arguments were thrown at him, that he didn’t bring people into the game. But Ian learned that and Jermain will have to do the same.

“There are times certainly at home when you would be disappointed with the decisions he makes sometimes but that’s because he’s only young. If you made the right decisions with the talent he’s got you’d be playing for Real Madrid.

“He is a fantastic talent and one of my goals will be to make him see a pass, to appreciate when he needs to be an individual and when he needs to set people up. He’ll only learn that from playing.”

Pardew is already braced for a battle to keep Defoe at the club, with Manchester United possible suitors when the transfer window opens in January.

But he insists the 21-year-old is settled at West Ham. “Jermain’s been a model pro and his body language has been good since I’ve been here. Ultimately, Jermain wants to get better and I can help him do that.”