Perhaps a little early to do a season review with three games still to play but I felt inclined to write something the moment we got over the line and secured our place in the Premiership for next season.
For me, this could only be done once we were mathematically safe as even though we have been 99% there for a few weeks now. Anything can happen in football and Palace have a habit of taking us to the wire.
It seems crazy to think that nearly a year ago on Saturday 4th May against Peterborough United, Mile Jedinak popped up in the box late on to secure the Eagles a place a in the Championship play-offs and just under a year later he slotted home an excellent penalty at the Boleyn Stadium (Upton Park) to secure our place in the Premiership for another season.
This is something that has previously failed us as a club with a record of being a “yo-yo” team at this level and never securing a second consecutive season in the Premiership (until now).
The following games after the Peterborough result are great memories that will long in our memories and hearts with the draw with Brighton at Selhurst, a glorious 0-2 away win at the Amex and then an amazing day versus Watford at Wembley on the 27th May 2013.
Since this date we moved onwards, at first gingerly tipping our toes in the water and finding it a little hot for our liking especially back in those early months under Holloway.
The first game of the season in August and result against Tottenham was a narrow 0-1 loss at Selhurst in front of a great Palace crowd and of course “Palace are here, let the games begin.” This was our first major lesson in this league, a game where we deserved a draw but fell short due to a dubious penalty decision from the referee. As well as the quality of the teams we were going to be playing, we had to learn to adjust to the refereeing in this league.
A league where the slightest of touches would see players going down like Willem Defoe at the end of Platoon and where other rules such as “hand to ball” and “deliberate” were left down to the referees to interpret in their own way.
Perhaps as well as being a massive struggle with our clubs comparative money and resources, the constant underdog cloak, worst team to ever get promoted and lowest points total ever tags we were also actually far too honest for this league and not really getting to grips with the less physical game in the Premiership.
A narrow 2-1 loss away to Stoke followed where we imploded in about 10 short minutes swinging the momentum back in their favour with silly defensive mistakes.
Thankfully out of the League Cup at this time, we then saw a glimmer of hope with an emphatic 3-1 win at Selhurst over Sunderland before “normal service” was resumed with a 2-0 loss away at Old Trafford. This was followed shortly after with a painful (death of a 1000 passes) loss to Swansea at Selhurst and topped off with a 2-0 loss away to Southampton. September and perhaps the remainder of the season looked bleak and maybe all of those experts were right even though myself and many others were not going to ever believe their defeatist words. We still believed.
The weather started to close in during October and a blanket of grey mist shrouded itself over our season. It started with a 3-1 loss away at Anfield, a 1-4 defeat to Fulham and topped off with a 0-2 defeat again at Selhurst to Arsenal.
Now nine games gone or virtually a quarter of the season and we were rooted with just 3 points to our name.
Many of these games to date had been frustrating in that we had actually played well for great periods but been punished by the aforementioned honesty finished off with a large topping of naivety and in some cases class and experience at this level.
Despite the terrible loss to Fulham which stands out as the worst of all due to the score-line and our belief that we were on a parallel footing with a team on this stature, this turned out to be arguably the best result for us. This was actually a huge turning point in our season as all eyes looked on and stared at us resulting in Ian Holloway deciding to step down from his position.
To this day, I am still grateful to Holloway for getting us through the Championship last year, the away win over Brighton and the glorious day at Wembley but he had decided that this was a bridge too far and he was no longer the man for the job.
At the time a level of panic swept across the club and fans. We were lost in the wilderness with no guide or leader at the helm and certainly no vision of a worthy replacement either. We had gone completely over the top in the transfer window and bought just about everybody with 17 new faces coming into the fold. The situation was greatly concerning as it appeared that nobody wanted the job and we had wasted money on a load of players that were surplus to requirements.
Seriously, not many managers would want to have a team that looked certain to go down on their CV and this became the tale of the next period of the season with a number of rumours and then nothing until in stepped Keith Millen for the Arsenal game. Keith is a proper unsung hero in my opinion as he steadied the ship, provided the initial re-building platform and gave us that bridge for the players between the old regime and whatever the new regime would be.
A defeat away to West Brom followed in the early part of November but then something happened. Palace took on a well fancied Everton team at Selhurst Park and fought out valiantly to secure a vital point in the 0-0 draw. More importantly, we hadn’t leaked any goals and although we rode our luck at times the defensive display was greatly improved.
We then moved on up to Hull City away and secured a massive 3 away points with a late Bannan goal in the 81st minute. We were now 12 games down, virtually a third of the way through the season and had secured seven points. The situation still looked bleak in many ways but things were set to change with the on-watching Tony Pulis in the crowd to view the game and team as our new manager in waiting.
A narrow 0-1 defeat away to Norwich followed but there was a small light at the end of the tunnel and the green shoots of positivity starting to sprout with Pulis picking up the reigns.
December ended up being a much improved as the PulisEffect starting to pay dividends with 6 games in relatively quick succession.
First up were West Ham who were defeated 1-0 at Selhurst Park. This was closely followed up with a 2-0 victory at home to Cardiff. Nearly doubling our total points tally to date we took this momentum to Stamford Bridge where we were very narrowly defeated 2-1 by Chelsea.
For the record, this is still the most soulless stadium that I have visited in many years so it was lucky that the Palace fans rocked the place for the full game and were applauded for our efforts by Jose at the final whistle.
Another bad defeat followed with a 0-3 drubbing by Newcastle United at Selhurst Park. This game was remembered as being one where Cabaye ran the show completely and held the keys to our destruction in the run up to Christmas. This was the second time that we had been properly out-classed and out-played (Swansea being the first) and their Newcastle crowd got right behind them.
To date they are the best fans to have visited Selhurst Park in my opinion this season as they have also been the only away fans that I have heard all season.
Palace then travelled up to Villa Park and secured another great away victory. Dwight Gayle and Dean Moxey appeared as late substitutions and both were instrumental in the goal that secured our 0-1 victory. Dean’s pass out of defence was latched onto by the young Gayle who ran at their defenders and slotted the ball high and right past the outstretched Villa keeper.
The match looked destined to be a goalless draw until striker Gayle produced a moment of brilliance which for me was our goal of the season due to the actual strike, its timing and its importance in our struggle to stay up.
Since the appointment of Pulis we had now won three of six Premier League matches. Gayle’s strike and the lovely 3 points on this Boxing Day also moved us above London rivals West Ham and Fulham on goal difference in the table.
After this euphoria, we travelled to Man City. This was a game where we were surely going to get hammered by the massive globally renowned players who were scoring large numbers of goals for fun each week. Again, another narrow defeat to top 3 side followed as they struggled to break down our defence and we left having lost 0-1.
With the recent results (and mainly performances) behind us and the new year upon us, an air of optimism now swept across the club and fans.
Palace took on Norwich at Selhurst and gained a further point in a tough 1-1 draw on a very wet a blustery day we even Kayla struggled to find her feet at got blown off the back of the Arthur Wait stand (luckily unharmed). We then travelled to West Brom and beat them 0-2 at the Hawthornes before losing away to Tottenham with “that” Puncheon penalty being the main talking point.
Rather than this unsettle us, the team consolidated and followed this up with a 1-0 victory over Stoke and another 1-0 win over Hull City at Selhurst Park as the month of January drew to a close. Some fans had been angered by the Puncheon missed penalty at Tottenham but at the end of the day it was just a missed penalty.
Puncheon was key in the games against Stoke and Hull scoring the winning goal in the Stoke game on 51 minutes and the winning goal against Hull in the 16th minute. Some things make or break a player but you have to seriously admire Puncheon for turning a negative into a positive and coming out fighting.
Other than the Premiership we were also knocked out of the FA cup by current holders Wigan Athletic. We all love a good cup run but we really had to move on and focus on Premiership survival which was surely our main priority.
The Hull win had moved us up to the heady heights of 14th in the Premiership and five points away from the bottom three of West Ham, Sunderland and Cardiff.
February had only three Premiership games to be played and despite our recent run of form, we were far from safe. To prove the point, as we entered February Norwich sat two places above us in 12th with an extra point and look at their position and run-in now.
The games in February were against Arsenal at the Emirates which we lost 2-0 and a home game against Manchester United which we also lost 0-2. Sandwiched between these two fixtures was the home game against West Brom which we won 3-1 with goals from CPFC debut boys Tom Ince on 15 mins and Joe Ledley on 27 mins. The resulted was cemented home with a Chamakh penalty on 69 minutes.
As February drew to a close we had dropped to 15th place, 26 games played, 26 points and 2 points off the relegation spots then held by Sunderland, Cardiff and Fulham. As expected, this was going to the wire again and we all expected final day dramas away at Craven Cottage where we would need to win and hopefully also overturn the result earlier in the season too.
Onwards we moved into March with tight bottom cheeks and a lack of finger nails. First up was Swansea away. This was a game that I personally worried about given the earlier passing us off the pitch performance at Selhurst earlier in the season. However this was different now, our organisation was better and we were even grabbing the odd goal here and there.
Palace left Swansea that day with a well-deserved draw and another away point too. On this occasion Glenn Murray slotted home a late penalty in the 82nd minute. Next up was Southampton at home where we lost 0-1 due to major defensive bloomer. We moved on and up to two fixtures in the North East with the first being against Gus Poyet’s Sunderland. This wasn’t the prettiest of games but Palace again left with a vital point after a 0-0 draw which was a much worse result for them than the Eagles given that it was a home game that they really had to win.
With the games coming thick and fast we then travelled to Newcastle away. A team that were not in the best of form mainly due to the departure of the excellent Yohan Cabaye. Deep into injury time Murray broke for goal and chipped the ball up striking the defender cleanly on the arm. Shouts from Murray and 3000 Palace fans were ignored as we watched in horror as Newcastle went to the other end of the pitch and scored in the 6th minute of the 4 minutes that were added on. A 1-0 win to the Magpies and a long trip home after another gritty performance that deserved at least a draw.
Despite the mixture of recent results Palace then entertained Chelsea at Selhurst a week later. Huge optimism filled the air at Selhurst and every fan in the place got behind the team more than ever.
It was 0-0 at half time and the players took to the pitch for the second half. On 52 minutes Joel Ward set off on an excellent run down the left and fired a cross into Chelsea penalty box. Joe Ledley put pressure on the in-swinging ball which caused (none other than) John Terry to head into his own net. What followed was a very long 38+ mins until the final whistle blew. Palace had beaten the title challengers 1-0 and this could have easily been 3 or 4 goals to Palace with a number of close shaves for Chelsea including Cameron Jerome hitting the post.
The Chelsea result was an absolutely monumental win and a great performance that saw Palace now 16th, 5 points from the relegation zone and ready for the next game with some added confidence.
Into April and all still to play for, still not safe and we still needed some vital points to secure our spot. It’s very amusing to think of it this way but Terry’s goal was perhaps the catalyst that then set us off on a run of five wins in a row at the perfect time in the season.
Palace travelled away to Cardiff on the 5th April for a game where we needed to not get beaten. Palace played some outstanding football that afternoon and came away with a huge 0-3 victory over Cardiff with goals from Puncheon on 31 mins and 88 mins and a goal from Ledley on 71 mins to secure the points. Cardiff have featured pretty regularly in the bottom three of late and I sincerely hope that they stay there and go down to make this season fully complete.
An awful club that sold its soul and history to a complete nutter and a club that stands for everything that is wrong with the game today. Hopefully good riddance to them and their utter knob of an owner.
Onto Villa now at Selhurst and another 3 points secured with a 1-0 win for Palace. Puncheon yet again provided the goal on 76 minutes having cleverly held the ball with his back to the goal, dropped his right shoulder and slotted home off the post.
Just as we were getting used to this winning lark we travelled back up to Everton following the postponement of the previous game (due to high winds and Everton injuries). Everton had been on a massive run of late which had pushed them into the top of the league positions and gunning for a Champions League spot.
Despite going into every game with a mind-set of thinking we will win, nobody expected what happened on this mid-week night in the North-West. A huge 3 points again and a 2-3 away win against a very good Roberto Martinez side that had won their last 7 games. Goals from Puncheon 23′ Dann 49′ and Jerome 73′
Palace now sat 10 points from the relegation spots with Cardiff, Sunderland and Fulham still holding up the table with Norwich getting slowly sucked into the relegation zone. We now felt that we were safe but nobody would believe it fully until it was mathematically impossible to be relegated.
Our most recent game was against Fat Sam’s West Ham. Palace yet again filled the away end with noisy fans who were rewarded in the 59th minute with a penalty won by Cameron Jerome who was felled on the edge of the box. Our massive, courageous and awesome Captain placed the ball in front of the travelling Palace fans.
A deep breath and the ball was blasted past Adrian in the West Ham goal. The Sir Trevor Brooking stand erupted with noise and optimism as holding out with this result was guarantee of Premiership football next season. A final (if not one dimensional) push from West Ham was forthcoming until the ref finally blew the whistle to end the game after 95 minutes of play.
Under sheer jubilation edged with a little disbelief we watched as the Palace team came over and stood hand in hand in front of the Palace fans. A number of rousing cheers and they departed for the tunnel to the sound of “We’re proud of you, we’re proud of you” and “there’s only one Tony Pulis” which was acknowledged with a clap and wave towards the travelling fans.
Thirty minutes after final whistle and the vast majority of Palace fans were still in the stands belting out Palace songs in front of a long line of West Ham stewards.
Now 35 games gone and Palace were safe and secure on 43 points. A clear 13 points from the relegation spots and a confirmed place in the Premiership for the 2014/15 season.
With regards to there only actually being one Tony Pulis, the Fulham game was painful at the time but was a massive game-changer in our season. Without this defeat we would not have seen the departure of Holloway at that time, we would not have seen the transition period with Keith Millen and we certainly would not have seen the signing of Tony Pulis.
At first many of us were concerned that his appointment would bring a flavour of the dull and long ball football we saw when he was in charge at Stoke. We all knew however that he thrived on organisation at the back but none of us probably expected a set-up with 6 ex-Championship players being amongst the best and most stubborn in the league. The back four have been immense thanks to Pulis and his game plan and the addition of Jedinak and KG (mainly) into this set-up has made us compact, organised and very hard to beat. What we perhaps did not expect was team also playing great football and passing it on the floor.
We do sometimes use the long ball up to Jerome but this is not the only option that we have at our disposal with the wingers playing a fantastic role on the break and a player in the hole holding up the play and bringing others into the action. Pulis had basically taken our existing squad, analysed it and got us playing to our strengths with his defensive plan as the foundation. Personally I cannot thank Tony Pulis and Keith Millen enough for this season as it has been beyond my wildest dreams.
Tony Pulis was without a doubt the signing of the season and a person that we need to secure with a new contract in readiness for next season.
Stand out players for this season is a very tough one to call as it has been a massive team effort. Jedinak has been excellent, Bolasie has come to form more and more recently, Puncheon has proved the doubters wrong and scored a lot of vital goals, KG has been a little illusive but gone about his usual business of breaking up play in the centre. Speroni has been amazing with some astonishing saves and MUST get a new contract. Mariappa has done incredibly well and has looked very composed in his main position at right back. Jerome has not scored many but has been amazing at running the line on his own.
His tireless performances have been crucial in putting early pressure on the ball, holding it up, bringing others into play and generally causing opposing defenders lots of problems with his pace and strength. Chamakh has been amazing after his first few games when he was settling into the team.
I am happy to put my hands up and say that I wasn’t sure when he joined as my thoughts at the time were more about whether he would fit into the squad and not at all about his ability.
He has been absolutely immense, a joy to watch and has also exceeded expectations in addition to his skill and composure with some excellent tackles and tracking back which I never honestly expected and we can all hope that he stays on for next season and beyond too. For me and if I had to chose the players of the season are Joel Ward and Damien Delaney. Joel has played in a number of positions to cover injuries and bring strength and his qualities into play in midfield and in varying defensive positions. Delaney has been a tower of strength, consistent and for me the most improved player this season.
In addition to this little lot we need to consider Dwight Gayle. He is certainly one for the future but got us a crucial goal away at Villa. Finally we turn to the Pulis signings on Hennessey, Ledley, Dann and Ince. Ledley has grown amazingly well into the team, got on the score-sheet and his flexibility and versatility has been a real bonus too. Dann has just slotted straight into the team and is an excellent pairing with Delaney with Dann capable of popping up with the odd goal from set pieces.
Although they have not featured much or even at all, the signings of Hennessey and Ince have also been key this season with Ince scoring on his debut was great and Hennessey in the wings for the future.
We these signings have really benefitted us is that you cannot help but notice that Puncheon, Bolasie and indeed Jules have all raised their games significantly since the arrival of these guys due to the challenge for places in the starting 11. This has been another very shrewd move by Pulis.
Without making this sound like an awards ceremony, as well as Pulis and all of the lads mentioned above including the ones that I may have missed, we need to think back to the team of 2012/13 that set us on our way.
The next mention must go to Steve Parrish, the CPFC2010 Board and everybody in every capacity at the club that has given us a massive year to remember. Additionally thanks to West Ham, Hull, Cardiff and Villa for the 6 points we took from you.
The club is now on a steady footing, it has pushed us up another level at the end of last season and again this season. As a club we are in a great place and ready to go again next week and into the new season ahead.
The final mention has to go to the fans who made this a season to remember. They have filled Selhurst Park each game and made it a proper hot-bed of noise for opposing teams with an amazing atmosphere. On top of this, thousands of us have travelled up and down the country each week and regularly filled the away allocations whilst creating a wall of noise for the full game.
Based on the feedback and comments we have had at home and on our travels, we have definitely raised the bar in this league, shown other fans what great support is and long may this continue as we have all done ourselves proud as ambassadors of our club.
Against all of the odds, against all of the clap-trap from the so called experts and an ongoing stench on negativity we as a club have thrown egg in the faces of all of these people that “wrote us off at their peril” before a ball was even kicked. What they did not and could not comprehend was the togetherness and spirit at our club and this season the underdog has well and truly given them all a nasty bite.
Palace now have three games remaining against Manchester City at home, Liverpool at home and Fulham away on the last day of the season. Palace were instrumental in loosening the wheel-nuts on Chelsea’s season and we now have two of the title contenders paying us a visit.
How times have changed in that the pundits and players from these teams have said that they are not looking forward to coming to Selhurst Park as we may upset the apple cart and have a major bearing in this year’s title race. We also have Fulham away, another game where there is no longer any pressure on us and one that may result in them being relegated to the Championship.
This season has thrown up many great memories and great results so we should take all of the positives from our performances and consolidated our place in the Premiership, go out and express ourselves on and off the pitch, enjoy the remaining games and look to win all three of them.
What a season and what a year! We believed and we’ve been rewarded as a result.
