Pardew: Door open for Keane
West Ham manager Alan Pardew has kept the door open for Roy Keane to move to Upton Park.
Keane has attracted interest from a host of clubs since leaving Manchester United last week, many being the Hammers’ Barclays Premiership rivals.
And Pardew, whose young side take on United at Upton Park on Sunday, has indicated the 34-year-old is the sort of recruit to take them to the next level.
Asked whether a contract would be offered, he said: “I wouldn’t dismiss it. I haven’t explored what Roy wants to do because that is probably what is going to happen – it will be what Roy wants to do.
“But certainly I haven’t closed the door on bringing a player of his stature to this club because that is the sort of player we want to look at.
“We have a great base here of young players, a good squad and a good spirit and to jump to the next level we need to bring in real quality players.”
Pardew was also hopeful Keane’s absence would benefit his side on Sunday, adding: “When you lose a player like that it is always disruptive mentally. Ruud van Nistelrooy has already said he felt it was a big blow.”
Meanwhile, Pardew has offered an apology to Tottenham after Spurs striker Mido was allegedly racially abused by a section of the West Ham support during the 1-1 draw at White Heart Lane on Sunday.
Pardew said: “It’s never nice and I don’t approve of it at all. That is not the right image we want to set. We are in the middle of a multi-racial community and we want to portray ourselves as a good young team with good fans. The fans are the heart-beat of this team.”
Asked whether the club had apologised to Spurs Pardew replied that he was prepared to make that gesture himself.
He said: “I will apologise to them. It is very difficult because it goes on in most games. Sometimes it goes unreported, sometimes it doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean to say we should accept it.”
The draw at Spurs was achieved thanks to a last-minute equaliser from Anton Ferdinand, who will be coming up against older brother Rio on Sunday.
West Ham boast two ex-United men in their ranks in the shape of striker Teddy Sheringham and goalkeeper Roy Carroll, who latter will be hoping to oust Shaka Hislop from the starting line-up after recovering from a knee injury.
Pardew added: “We came through the game with no injury setbacks, our recovery has been good and everybody is fine. We are looking forward to Sunday.”
