Pardew: The league doesn't lie

Charlton boss Alan Pardew suffered relegation for the first time following defeat to Tottenham and admitted the Premiership table was a fair reflection of the season.

The Addicks appeared to have little chance of survival when Pardew was appointed at Christmas but they gave themselves hope with positive results before an end-of-season slump sealed their fate.

They needed to win against Spurs and then Liverpool at the weekend to have a chance but fell at the first hurdle after strikes from Dimitar Berbatov and former Valley player Jermain Defoe.

“The league table speaks for itself, there’s no politics involved, no court cases, this is where it’s at,” said Pardew.

“What we have to do, more importantly, is focus on our last league game and make sure we leave this division with pride.”

Pardew’s comments on “court cases” referred to the possibility of legal action over West Ham’s Premier League punishment for breaking rules when signing Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

Pardew, who was West Ham boss when the Argentina pair arrived at Upton Park, wants his former club to stay up.

“I’d love West Ham to stay up because there are a lot of people there I love,” he said.

Charlton’s hopes of survival were dented after seven minutes when Berbatov turned Talal El Karkouri and raced through to score.

“It was a terrific goal,” Pardew said.

Defoe sealed the win in stoppage-time, although Charlton fans remained in good voice until the end.

“The effort of the players I couldn’t fault,” Pardew added. “Ultimately we were undone by some real quality.

“The fans gave me tremendous backing and so have the board, we’ve tried everything and it’s not to be. I’ve no regrets, I’m just sorry I couldn’t pull it off for them.

“Ultimately, you have to score goals and you’re under pressure if you’re not scoring.

“I felt we were unlucky with the fixtures, they didn’t fall our way. We didn’t come across anyone who didn’t have an agenda.

“It’s the first time I’ve experienced relegation and I don’t know how I’ll feel over the next few days.

“I know relegation costs people jobs and it can be people who have been here for 10 or 15 years.”

Spurs boss Martin Jol praised Berbatov for another dazzling performance, challenging the Bulgarian to score 20 league goals next season.

“I feel Dimitar can get 20 in the Premiership, in Germany he scored 20 in the league and that’s not an easy,” said the Dutchman.

“I feel for Charlton but we needed the points as well. Their crowd was behind them and we had to silence them.

“It’s never an easy place to go to. To come away with three points is pleasing.

“The first goal was excellent, out of nothing, the second was out of nothing as well. We’ve got the strikers to do that.”