I've been reluctant to start this thread. The last few times I started dedicated Crystal Palace threads in Gazza, they ended up in relegation battle Last year they cruised comfortably to retaining their spot in the Premier League as I kept my piehole shut. I'm going tempt fate this year
A mere six months ago, this was a team turning in yet another season in the bottom half of the table. Workmanlike, experienced (read: old), boring. Unlike the years immediately prior, there really was no drama, as Roy Hodgson kept the team very organized and they were successful at the primary objective of surviving. After Hodgon's departure (and he will always be loved and respected at Palace), the team has made a significant departure from its previous strategy. The last time Palace tried to expand its horizons....well, it didn't go too well, with Frank deBoer going 0-4 and the team looking like it didn't have a clue. That year, they would lose their first 7 games and became the first PL team to lose their first 4 without scoring a single goal. Jose Mourinho described deBoer as "the worst manager in the history of the Premier League". Hodgson put out the fire, but did it his way: boring, effective. But the deBoer experiment clearly must have made an impression on chairman Steve Parrish and the board. For a team like Palace, where survival is priority #1, getting experimental can be a good way to lose PL status, even though it is necessary to do if they ever want the team to advance from its current station.
Palace fans and management were excited about change, but who would the replace Roy after his retirement? After qualifying for their team record 9th consecutive PL campaign, it seemed it might an auspicious time to take some calculated risks and attempt to move beyond their well-worn ass grove of the mid-teens places in their Premier League recliner. Many names were discussed. Sean Dyche and Eddie Howe have been repeatedly linked with the club for years, though to me, interest always appeared lukewarm. (Honestly, to me, had one of those guys been picked, I would have been so frustrated because it would have been apparently that the board permanently prioritized staying in the league at the expense of ever advancing. Not that I don't want them to stay in the league, it's just nobody wants a perennial loser, in any competition. Naturally, every fan, even of teams like Crystal Palace was the season Leicester had few users ago.) Then, Nuno Espirito Santo's firing from Wolves put him on the table, and seemed both a likely and strong candidate for the job, though it was clear he had his eyes on a bigger prize at Tottenham. Next, it looked like Lucien Favre was coming to South London, which was a very exciting proposition but naturally fell through after his hiring had been announced, but before he signed the contract. Fans were disappointed all over again. Time was wasting, and it would be clear to everyone that neither manager nor team was anyone's preferred dance partner. Fans were worried about getting a retread like Howe`. Then came a name on nobody's radar: Arsenal legend, Patrick Vieira.
After a successful stint as an assistant in Manchester City, Vieira went on to his first head coaching job at NYCFC. He was very successful there, taking the team from 17th to 4th to 2nd. He went on to manage Nice in Ligue 1, actually replacing the aforementioned Favre. After a run of five losses in the league and a bad loss in the domestic cup, he was fired, despite having finished 7th the year prior.
While chairman Steve Parrish brought in the new coach, Director Of Football Dougie Freedman was seeking new talent, while also knowing that perhaps the team's all-time best player had had a transfer request in since last season. Wilfried Zaha is sometimes called the best player outside the "top 6" and Zaha had been looking to put that talent to use elsewhere. The problem is that Zaha is worth so much more to Palace than to any likely bidder. In the past, he was perhaps the difference between survival and relegation. If you examine the NPV of that, it seemed even more unlikely that another team would make it worth Parrish's while to sell. Freedman had had mixed success in his recruitment effort to overhaul the oldest team in the league, and one with a surprisingly high wage bill. The top acquisitions of the previous season (Eberiche Eze and Nathan Ferguson) were both injured with achilles problems, Ferguson also a knee problem. I don't remember the exact chronology, but Freedman's recruiting efforts seemed to be made easier by the appointment of Vieira. Freedman and Palace sought to get younger and better by finding more top young (and Championship) players to build on the talent of Eze and Ferguson. They brought in Michael Olise from Reading, Marc Guehi from Chelsea (after playing on loan at Swansea last season), Joachim Andersen (Lyon/Fulham loan), and finally Odsonnne Edouard (Celtic) to complete the bigger acquisitions. When one thinks about getting Olise, Guehi, Andersen and Edouard on permanent deals for roughly what they received for Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Man U, so far it looks like they have done very well reinvesting those proceeds. They also resigned a rejuvenated Christian Benteke (free) and a few spare parts. They also chose very wisely with their annual loan player from Chelsea, this season getting Conor Gallagher. The team was still missing a bit, but going into the season, there was quite a bit of optimism, as the team said goodbye to a number of older (and well-loved) players and simply got younger with a core that they could develop around. In the aftermath of Covid, perhaps they got some players that might have been less affordable to them prior.
This being Palace, naturally, they got curb stomped in their first match of the season against Chelsea followed by an uninspiring 0-0 draw against newly promoted Brentford. The first half of the third match (West Ham) looked like more of the same, down 2-0 at the half. The deBoer mentions and comparisons were already there, but here we were 2.5 games into the season without a goal (though they did have a point more than deBoer did), so Vieira was 5/8 of the way to deBoer's ignominy. But in the second half of that game, the team came alive, with Conor Gallager scoring two goals, and basically being the engine room for a team that has so desperately lacked that, at least since Yohan Cabaye was at the tail end of him playing at a top level. I, as well as most other Palace fans, thoroughly enjoyed the play of Ruben Loftus-Cheek in his season at Palace (especially when played in midfield, rather than out wide, which is where Hodgson often used him), but through 10 games, Gallagher is making us forget all about Loftus-Cheek and Cabaye. Gallagher has been arguably one of the best midfielders in the league so far this season. Palace received a new investment of £87.5 million from American businessman, John Textor. The way that Gallagher has been playing, it may cost something like that to make his move permanent, that is, if Chelsea would even sell.
Ten games in Palace is sitting in 13th place, with 2 wins, 6 draws and only 2 losses (to Chelsea and Liverpool, with the Liverpool game described as the "hardest ever 3-0 win" that Jurgen Klopp ever had). If not for a few late defensive lapses that turned wins into draws, along with a difficult VAR decision against Newcastle, instead of having 12 points, Palace could have at least 18 points and be sitting in 5th. I understand that if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas, but 18 points, or even more, would not have been undeserved had you seen those games. The last match against Manchester City, a 2-0 at the Etihad, demonstrated the quality that this team has, and it seems that it believes that it has it too. Wilf Zaha said that he absolutely hated Vieira his first two weeks, as the conditioning work was that rough. But the team seems very much to be buying into the gaffer's system, and fans are genuinely enthused about the play out on the field. The high press is working, the team is playing with far more possession than under Hodgson (who relied primarily on counterattacking to score), and the mood around the team seems to be that anything is possible right now. Added to this, both Eze and Ferguson are recovering quicker than expected from their injuries, with Eze already playing U23 games. The team also got some very good news about Ferguson, as a tribunal ruled that they will only have to pay West Brom just £900k for Ferguson, instead of the original price of £8million.
Despite the impending return of Eze and Ferguson, the team does still need some additional depth. Zaha seems (we hope) content to stay at the club where he's played most of his career (he reached 50 PL goals on Saturday), the team seems to be in sound financial shape, just opened its state-of-the-art academy, and Vieira has energized with his tactics and attitude and seems to have the cachet to help bring in players who want to play and learn from a legend they grew up watching. That has put me in the odd position of rooting for Mikel Arteta to continue his recent success. Crystal Palace fans are accustomed to "Typical Palace" to describe any number of usually unsatisfying outcomes, but it would be peak "typical Palace" to have so much early success that Arsenal comes in and swipes him away before the team has the opportunity to truly advance with him. The optimism though surrounding the team, at least among fans anyway, is as high as I remember it, with the possible exception of the Pardew mirage at the beginning of the 2014-15 campaign, when Palace was 5th (I think) as late as December maybe...and that season ended with a relegation fight, so we know not to get too ahead of ourselves. But these are good times for the team and fans. Although many (most?) pundits picked Crystal Palace for relegation this year (though in fairness, most did so before their late player acquisitions), at this point anyway, it seems pretty clear that there are at least three teams worse than them in the league. I feel good enough to have started this thread! Hopefully that's not a sign of the impending apocalypse, but I'll enjoy it in the meantime.
A mere six months ago, this was a team turning in yet another season in the bottom half of the table. Workmanlike, experienced (read: old), boring. Unlike the years immediately prior, there really was no drama, as Roy Hodgson kept the team very organized and they were successful at the primary objective of surviving. After Hodgon's departure (and he will always be loved and respected at Palace), the team has made a significant departure from its previous strategy. The last time Palace tried to expand its horizons....well, it didn't go too well, with Frank deBoer going 0-4 and the team looking like it didn't have a clue. That year, they would lose their first 7 games and became the first PL team to lose their first 4 without scoring a single goal. Jose Mourinho described deBoer as "the worst manager in the history of the Premier League". Hodgson put out the fire, but did it his way: boring, effective. But the deBoer experiment clearly must have made an impression on chairman Steve Parrish and the board. For a team like Palace, where survival is priority #1, getting experimental can be a good way to lose PL status, even though it is necessary to do if they ever want the team to advance from its current station.
Palace fans and management were excited about change, but who would the replace Roy after his retirement? After qualifying for their team record 9th consecutive PL campaign, it seemed it might an auspicious time to take some calculated risks and attempt to move beyond their well-worn ass grove of the mid-teens places in their Premier League recliner. Many names were discussed. Sean Dyche and Eddie Howe have been repeatedly linked with the club for years, though to me, interest always appeared lukewarm. (Honestly, to me, had one of those guys been picked, I would have been so frustrated because it would have been apparently that the board permanently prioritized staying in the league at the expense of ever advancing. Not that I don't want them to stay in the league, it's just nobody wants a perennial loser, in any competition. Naturally, every fan, even of teams like Crystal Palace was the season Leicester had few users ago.) Then, Nuno Espirito Santo's firing from Wolves put him on the table, and seemed both a likely and strong candidate for the job, though it was clear he had his eyes on a bigger prize at Tottenham. Next, it looked like Lucien Favre was coming to South London, which was a very exciting proposition but naturally fell through after his hiring had been announced, but before he signed the contract. Fans were disappointed all over again. Time was wasting, and it would be clear to everyone that neither manager nor team was anyone's preferred dance partner. Fans were worried about getting a retread like Howe`. Then came a name on nobody's radar: Arsenal legend, Patrick Vieira.
After a successful stint as an assistant in Manchester City, Vieira went on to his first head coaching job at NYCFC. He was very successful there, taking the team from 17th to 4th to 2nd. He went on to manage Nice in Ligue 1, actually replacing the aforementioned Favre. After a run of five losses in the league and a bad loss in the domestic cup, he was fired, despite having finished 7th the year prior.
While chairman Steve Parrish brought in the new coach, Director Of Football Dougie Freedman was seeking new talent, while also knowing that perhaps the team's all-time best player had had a transfer request in since last season. Wilfried Zaha is sometimes called the best player outside the "top 6" and Zaha had been looking to put that talent to use elsewhere. The problem is that Zaha is worth so much more to Palace than to any likely bidder. In the past, he was perhaps the difference between survival and relegation. If you examine the NPV of that, it seemed even more unlikely that another team would make it worth Parrish's while to sell. Freedman had had mixed success in his recruitment effort to overhaul the oldest team in the league, and one with a surprisingly high wage bill. The top acquisitions of the previous season (Eberiche Eze and Nathan Ferguson) were both injured with achilles problems, Ferguson also a knee problem. I don't remember the exact chronology, but Freedman's recruiting efforts seemed to be made easier by the appointment of Vieira. Freedman and Palace sought to get younger and better by finding more top young (and Championship) players to build on the talent of Eze and Ferguson. They brought in Michael Olise from Reading, Marc Guehi from Chelsea (after playing on loan at Swansea last season), Joachim Andersen (Lyon/Fulham loan), and finally Odsonnne Edouard (Celtic) to complete the bigger acquisitions. When one thinks about getting Olise, Guehi, Andersen and Edouard on permanent deals for roughly what they received for Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Man U, so far it looks like they have done very well reinvesting those proceeds. They also resigned a rejuvenated Christian Benteke (free) and a few spare parts. They also chose very wisely with their annual loan player from Chelsea, this season getting Conor Gallagher. The team was still missing a bit, but going into the season, there was quite a bit of optimism, as the team said goodbye to a number of older (and well-loved) players and simply got younger with a core that they could develop around. In the aftermath of Covid, perhaps they got some players that might have been less affordable to them prior.
This being Palace, naturally, they got curb stomped in their first match of the season against Chelsea followed by an uninspiring 0-0 draw against newly promoted Brentford. The first half of the third match (West Ham) looked like more of the same, down 2-0 at the half. The deBoer mentions and comparisons were already there, but here we were 2.5 games into the season without a goal (though they did have a point more than deBoer did), so Vieira was 5/8 of the way to deBoer's ignominy. But in the second half of that game, the team came alive, with Conor Gallager scoring two goals, and basically being the engine room for a team that has so desperately lacked that, at least since Yohan Cabaye was at the tail end of him playing at a top level. I, as well as most other Palace fans, thoroughly enjoyed the play of Ruben Loftus-Cheek in his season at Palace (especially when played in midfield, rather than out wide, which is where Hodgson often used him), but through 10 games, Gallagher is making us forget all about Loftus-Cheek and Cabaye. Gallagher has been arguably one of the best midfielders in the league so far this season. Palace received a new investment of £87.5 million from American businessman, John Textor. The way that Gallagher has been playing, it may cost something like that to make his move permanent, that is, if Chelsea would even sell.
Ten games in Palace is sitting in 13th place, with 2 wins, 6 draws and only 2 losses (to Chelsea and Liverpool, with the Liverpool game described as the "hardest ever 3-0 win" that Jurgen Klopp ever had). If not for a few late defensive lapses that turned wins into draws, along with a difficult VAR decision against Newcastle, instead of having 12 points, Palace could have at least 18 points and be sitting in 5th. I understand that if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas, but 18 points, or even more, would not have been undeserved had you seen those games. The last match against Manchester City, a 2-0 at the Etihad, demonstrated the quality that this team has, and it seems that it believes that it has it too. Wilf Zaha said that he absolutely hated Vieira his first two weeks, as the conditioning work was that rough. But the team seems very much to be buying into the gaffer's system, and fans are genuinely enthused about the play out on the field. The high press is working, the team is playing with far more possession than under Hodgson (who relied primarily on counterattacking to score), and the mood around the team seems to be that anything is possible right now. Added to this, both Eze and Ferguson are recovering quicker than expected from their injuries, with Eze already playing U23 games. The team also got some very good news about Ferguson, as a tribunal ruled that they will only have to pay West Brom just £900k for Ferguson, instead of the original price of £8million.
Despite the impending return of Eze and Ferguson, the team does still need some additional depth. Zaha seems (we hope) content to stay at the club where he's played most of his career (he reached 50 PL goals on Saturday), the team seems to be in sound financial shape, just opened its state-of-the-art academy, and Vieira has energized with his tactics and attitude and seems to have the cachet to help bring in players who want to play and learn from a legend they grew up watching. That has put me in the odd position of rooting for Mikel Arteta to continue his recent success. Crystal Palace fans are accustomed to "Typical Palace" to describe any number of usually unsatisfying outcomes, but it would be peak "typical Palace" to have so much early success that Arsenal comes in and swipes him away before the team has the opportunity to truly advance with him. The optimism though surrounding the team, at least among fans anyway, is as high as I remember it, with the possible exception of the Pardew mirage at the beginning of the 2014-15 campaign, when Palace was 5th (I think) as late as December maybe...and that season ended with a relegation fight, so we know not to get too ahead of ourselves. But these are good times for the team and fans. Although many (most?) pundits picked Crystal Palace for relegation this year (though in fairness, most did so before their late player acquisitions), at this point anyway, it seems pretty clear that there are at least three teams worse than them in the league. I feel good enough to have started this thread! Hopefully that's not a sign of the impending apocalypse, but I'll enjoy it in the meantime.
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