March 2010

The popular boss said he wouldn’t swap winning the competition for anything, after beating Carlisle United 4-1 in front of 73,476 fans.

He said: “I wouldn’t give this up for anything. The Johnstone’s Paint Trophy is very important for us to win, because we haven’t always been used to winning.

“The acceptance of defeat when I came here seemed to worry me. We have attacked every game and we have now built that winning mentality, and that showed in the final.”

The former Reading and West Ham United manager said that winning the trophy was also massively significant for his young players, who could boast a special achievement.

“It was important that we came to this cup final and won because you can go through an entire career without winning anything.

“Look at Ian Harte (Carlisle United left back) who has been a great player with a great career for many years, but hasn’t won anything.

“Adam Lallana has got this on his CV now, which is a big thing for him and the other young players.”

Pardew’s final words were reserved for the masses of Southampton fans who flocked to Wembley Stadium in their thousands.

“The support was absolutely brilliant. It wasn’t a game that you could get too excited about because we were so comfortable.

“For all the fans I would like to say a big thank-you. They have been strong for us for a long time and I would like to thank them for that.”

Pardew’s opposite number Greg Abbott congratulated Southampton for their comprehensive win, but said that his team had contributed to their own downfall with defensive mistakes.

“It’s never nice to get to a final and lose but we feel that we made individual errors and we weren’t good enough in each box.

“I always give credit to teams that beat us. We are looking at our own faults but to be fair to them, they deserved their win and they won in style.”

Johnstone’s. Bringing colour to the beautiful game.