It frightens me that we might be safe. Of course it delights me too. Who would not want their club to be reaching safety, almost certainly, at this stage in the league. But it just does not seem right or believable.
I am, as many people may have guessed from my previous appearances here and on other Palace media, an eternal optimist, full of hope, trust and expectations. But somehow, after everything we have gone through in the last two seasons, I am just unable to accept that we are becoming an established Premier League side.
The rocky uncertainty of what our future holds is still close in our minds but at the same time feels distant and like the water has finally decided to calm to let us sail our ship.
I recently got asked if I think we, as a club, and the players should start looking at next season. As well as my obvious comments about needing to keep focus to keep confidence and energy up and to end the season on a high, I think that perhaps it is time. But thinking about next season is not going to save us from all these nerves happening again.
Just because Palace is becoming a secure, mid league, club does not mean we will suddenly change who or what we are in the eyes of many footballers and their agents. We have to really increase our efforts to make the club more appealing to join and we need to spend some serious big bucks. People cannot expect a jump in the table to just happen overnight, it will take years, and a lot of work is needed.
I feel like such a pessimist. I know we need to buy a new first team keeper for next season. My beloved Speroni is losing his super-save magic powers and Hennessey is never going to be his replacement (yes, that is basically £3million down the drain).
We need a defense that gels well together instead of, as it looked like on cameras at yesterdays match, having them bickering among themselves and dragging other team members into it as well. I know that until that happens we are going to have such a difficult time of doing any better and not being at constant risk of ‘will we’ or ‘wont we’ be able to pull something together.
We have quality, we have promise, we have passion but we need something more – we need reputation, we need money, we need exceptional quality – if we are ever going to be a truly safe Premier League side doing better than just bumping along the road each year.
This season may be won but the battle for better has only just begun.
