If someone had said to me mid December ‘Stuey, in the second week of April we will have 42 points on the board and still have six games to play‘ my response probably would have been ‘alright pal, enjoy that special brew did you?’
The last three and a bit months under Alan Pardew have been a revelation. It shows just how directionless we were under Neil Warnock. I mean seriously, what were we thinking? I am all for backing the manager and I backed Warnock, mainly through gritted teeth.
The fortunately brief second spell in charge was ill informed and clearly not the right choice for a club trying to establish themselves in the Premier League. Warnock is a fine football league manager but he is tactically inept in the big league.
With that said I never thought he would take us down I just thought it would be a horribly grim slug to maintain survival. Probably coming down to the final minute of the last day of the season. That is what we are used to so it is a fairly standard assumption in fairness.
Despite being obviously happy about our current league position and our upturn in fortunes under super Al , there is something that just is not sitting right. I am over the moon and exited about another season in the top flight but there is a part of me that wonders what could have been?
If we had been so bold as to approach Alan Pardew when Tony Pulis walked out could we be in an even better position? On the cusp of European football? Could we have attracted a higher calibre of player in the summer window?
I probably sound like an ungrateful git. Maybe I am, but I am also an ambitious git! We have shown since Pardew took over that we have the character to become a contender in this league. I am always a realist, I know without major investment we will not be pushing for the top four finish. We can however strive to get into Europe either through the cup or a decent league finish.
It is a shame we capitulated in the FA Cup like we did, I think we had a massive chance to achieve something this season. Maybe it was a bit too much. Who knows.
This season has taught me we are better than we give ourselves credit for. To quote Marty McFly ‘If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything‘. We have constantly proved our doubters wrong and yes, I did just quote Back To The Future.
I am proud to be part of such an amazing club. The players look willing to die for the shirt. They do not just look like team mates, they look like mates. It appears they are thoroughly enjoying playing together. It is great to see, we are all united by the shirt. It really is a great time to be a Palace fan.
There are so many fantastic things about our club. I am bowled over by the people I meet at matches home and away and the many wonderful folk I interact with on Twitter.
The hashtag #CPFCFamily is very apt.
Being part of this club feels like a big happy family at the moment and the second half of the season like a big family wedding with everyone getting along.
I really hope no drunk Uncle’s turn up to ruin the party.
