It really is not going right at Crystal Palace at the moment.
We all thought the Watford game would be the perfect opportunity to bounce back and get a much needed three points but it was not to be. It was another poor performance, particularly the first half which in truth, we were lucky to be level heading into the interval.
If nothing else, the first goal from Emmanuel Adebayor for the club was the highlight of another dour afternoon at Selhurst Park.
Unfortunately, my reporting duties meant that I would not attend the game as I was covering the Eastbourne Borough game at home to Weston Super Mare in the National League South. That one finished three goals apiece and made me think that it has been some time since Palace last scored three goals in a match!
From watching the highlights of the game and reading the analysis from plenty of different news outlets it seemed to me that we are just stuck in a rut at the moment that we cannot seem to shake. The penalty was a bit dubious, but then again how many times have we witnessed Mile Jedinak and his insistence on holding opposition players in the box? It was just unfortunate for us Robert Madley, an official that has awarded the most spot kicks so far this season, awarded the penalty.
Then, even though Joel Ward had a great game, he switched off allowing Troy Deeney in to score his second which condemned us to our fate. Finally, we had to witness Pape Souare receiving a straight red card for a reckless challenge on Valon Behrami in stoppage time.
Even though it was Valentines Day, I can safely say Palace did not do much for me to endear myself to them last weekend. The highlight of my weekend was sharing a good portion of Nachos with my flatmate. Now that really was love at first sight!
Anyway, enough of me and my Nachos, on to more serious matters at hand and the question I pose is how exactly are Palace going to turn around this poor run of form?
It is a question I am sure plenty of supporters had on the terraces last weekend, and one I often find myself thinking about. I honestly do not know the answer.
Maybe Alan Pardew needs to completely refresh the side with fringe players to see how they would get on, but when we have used our substitutes recently they have not exactly set the world alight. Perhaps a change of formation might do us good. Against Watford Pardew employed what looked like a 4-4-2 but it turned out to be Connor Wickham pushed out wide of an attacking front three. We all know Wickham cannot play there, Sunderland tried it often and failed.
A big boost for us this weekend against Tottenham in the FA Cup will be the expected return of Yannick Bolasie and Bakary Sako. We have badly missed their creative attacking play and between them they could just be the catalyst for an upturn in form.
Talking of Bolasie and Sako returning, let us look ahead to the game this Sunday against Spurs.
I am heading up to White Hart Lane this weekend along with around five thousand other Palace fans in what should be quite a fantastic atmosphere. The club have trained in Spain this week ahead of what is a crucial clash and with Spurs’ European commitments in the week coupled with some injuries to key players, it could be an opportune time to play them.
We cannot get away from the fact that Spurs are flying at the minute, along with Leicester City they have a great chance of winning the league title after a huge result against Manchester City last weekend. I just have this gut instinct that something special could happen for Palace this weekend.
There is a need for us to be on top of our game in an effort to neutralise the threat that Mauricio Pochettino’s men carry. When we get the chance we have to add that attacking flair, and to a degree, we have to attack with the shackles off.
Last season boss Pardew spoke a lot when he arrived about our players being ‘mavericks’ and taking risks in the final third. These last few weeks we have not seen enough of that. I know that I will not be alone in hoping that will change at White Hart Lane, and we really go for Spurs and see what their Italian excursion took out of them.
