The departure of Alan Pardew was unexpected only for its timing rather than whether it would actually happen.
An announcement appeared on the official Palace website at 2.57pm, several days after the home defeat to Chelsea and most were gearing up for the next few games with Pardew still in charge. In fact, it was not an announcement, more a statement from Pardew himself mentioning his good feelings for the club and hoped his special bond had not been affected by his time in charge.
It is hard to deny that it was the right decision, many football club owners would have called it a lot earlier so you have to admire them for giving the former player time to turn things around.
After the much publicised poor form in the second half of last season, Pardew could not afford anything less than a good start this season. An opening day loss at home to West Bromwich Albion was an all too familiar story and while a narrow loss away to Tottenham Hotspur followed, Palace were without any points from the opening two games. Pardew would have been all too aware that the pressure was on.
A recovery followed starting with the Eagles securing a late late point at home to Bournemouth which proved the catalist for the results that followed. A win at Boro and Sunderland, a demolition of Stoke at Selhurst and a point at Everton secured eleven points from five games which suggested Pardew and Palace could well be turning a corner.
As is all too common with a team that is managed by Pardew, a losing streak is never far away and defeats to West Ham United, Leicester City and Liverpool saw the pressure return, only for Palace to continue the bad run with losses to Burnley, Manchester City and and the debacle at Swansea.
That would have been more than enough for many clubs and it was that defeat at the Liberty Stadium at the end of November that saw Pardew lose a fair size of the fan base.
Then, out of nowhere, the Eagles beat a high flying Southampton side convincingly at Selhurst Park. Could this be another run of good results? Alas, it was not to be. That was the final win under the Pardew regime, a last gasp draw at Hull City followed along with narrow defeats at home to Manchester United and Chelsea.
It was the defeat to Chelsea that was the end of the once acclaimed Super Al but there is little doubt that it was not for the want of trying. It was just not good enough but there is no reason for him not to be fondly remembered by fans.
For many, the timing of his departure appeared to be odd but if anything, the defeat to Chelsea, while not unexpected, could have been the final straw. It took until the Thursday after the game for the decision to be finally made and there was no clue that it was about to happen.
The move for a new appointment had clearly been made with a view to having the position filled ahead of the trip to Watford on Boxing Day. Odds on favourite was former England manager Sam Allardyce and so it proved as the 62 year old signed a two and a half year contract the day after the departure of Pardew.
While for many Allardyce was not the dream appointment, it has been deemed as the right appointment at the right time. The FA clearly saw something they liked about the man from Dudley and Palace feel that he is the right man to steady the ship at a club that currently sit precariously in 17th with just one more game to see out a torrid 2016.
So what do we know about the new Palace manager?
A centre back by trade, Allardyce began his professional playing career at Bolton Wanderers in 1971 which is the club where he made the most appearances in two separate spells. He went on to play for Sunderland, Millwall, Coventry City, Huddersfield Town, Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion as well as a stint in the US with Tampa Bay Rowdies and in Ireland with Limerick. His playing career ended in 1992 in a brief second spell at Preston.
After coaching spells at West Brom and Bury it was at Limerick where he made his first forray into management in 1991 as player manager before a move to Preston where he was briefly caretaker manager. His first full managerial appointment was at Blackpool in 1994 but he was sacked by owner Owen Oyston after losing in the play offs. After a brief coaching spell at Sunderland under Peter Reid, he was soon back in management as Notts County came calling in 1997 before he returned to Bolton Wanderers as boss in 1999.
It was at Bolton where Allardyce made his name as a manager, securing promotion to the top division, European football after a sixth place finish and escaping relegation. He attracted some big names to the club too such as exciting Nigerian international Jay-Jay Okocha, Spanish international Fernando Hierro, and French striker Nicolas Anelka to name just three.
Allardyce resigned from the club in April 2007 and was offered the Manchester City vacancy before being withdrawn following the completion of a takeover. Newcastle United offered him a three year contract to succeed Glenn Roeder as boss which he signed in May 2007 but almost immediately the club was taken over by Mike Ashley and it became clear that Allardyce was not his ideal choice and he was replaced by Kevin Keegan in January 2008, after less than eight months in charge.
Once again he fell foul of a change of owners after taking charge at Blackburn Rovers in December 2008 in place of Paul Ince but unceromniously sacked by the Venkys and replaced by one of his coaches, Steve Kean.
West Ham United decided to appoint Allardyce in June 2011 in what was almost a four year stint at the club before he left in what was said to be mutual consent. In his time at Upton Park he took the Hammers back to the Premier League courtesy of the play offs and consolidated that place in the top division before his departure.
In October 2015 he took over at Sunderland, replacing Dick Advocaat and succeeded in his aim of keeping the Black Cats in the Premier League. His ill fated appointment as England boss followed in July 2016 which could well end up as Palace’s gain.
So what can Allardyce offer the Eagles?
Well, plenty of managerial experience for one and a record of never being relegated with a club from the top division which is sure to be a one that he will aim to retain while at Palace. While he has been labelled a ‘long ball’ manager, he is also known for installing some organisation and confidence in a back line having successfully engineered ‘parking the bus’ on a number of occassions while at West Ham and Sunderland.
While we bid a fond farewell to Alan Pardew, we welcome Sam Allardyce to South London. It will certainly be interesting to see how he makes use of what he will no doubt consider to be a very good squad of players. The first game of the Allardyce tenure at Watford showed a few encouraging signs after less than 48 hours in charge.
With the January transfer window at his disposal, there is every chance that Palace could fulfill some potential as the season progresses.
