After a slightly scaring second half against Spurs, we return to Selhurst for FA Cup action at the weekend, against Southampton.
If you feel like the mood amongst Palace fans is a bit sombre, spare a thought for Saints fans. Three losses in a row have led to questions around the appointment of Nathan Jones, the future direction of the club, and just about everything else. Whichever team you’re a fan of, you can easily wager on them through sites like keputusan nombor ekor.
I caught up with Allen Gunn from our pals over at the excellent St. Mary’s Musings to hear a bit more about it.
Q – So Allen, do you see the FA Cup match at the weekend as a nice distraction from league form, or a pain in the backside coming back to Selhurst so soon?
AG – I don’t think there’s going to be any distraction from the current situation – especially when people are calling for Nathan Jones to be sacked already (he’s only had four games – but in charge for about two months now). If the performances had been there, but not the results, maybe, but in my eyes, a game in a different competition won’t do much to take our attention away from our league standing.
Q – Things feel pretty dark at St Mary’s at the minute, is that down to the managerial appointment, the summer window, or?
AG – It’s down to everything! Sport Republic took over from the Gao regime, who really offered little to nothing in terms of support or financial backing – and to be honest, things were a lot better when we weren’t spending money. Sport Republic has come in and completely bottled it. Our summer window flat out stunk, don’t let anyone say otherwise. It was predictable, our demise. Buying young inexperienced kids but also not buying a striker, just totally irresponsible. They should’ve also sacked Ralph Hasenhuttl in the summer. They finally got their head out of their backsides and did so but then appointed the wrong man when there were plenty of people available that could salvage the situation, even if it was a six month appointment. We needed the ship steadied and it’s been everything but that. From the players to the coaches, to the board, to the owners; everyone is responsible for how bad things have gotten.
Q – Eesh, so what’s your optimistic hope for the rest of the season? A run to the cup final? A few game changing signings?
AG – To literally just survive and eek out a 17th place finish and prolong the mess one more year. Under Ralph’s plan, I thought we were 3-4 windows away from being largely competitive. With everything going pear shaped, I think we’re now even further. The cracks and deficiencies within the team are too great to overcome. We buy a striker, great, we still haemorrhage goals because our defence isn’t as good as everyone thinks. Again, no one can confidently say otherwise when we’re the second worst defence in the league.
I’m going off now… but I think our cup run comes to an end against Palace. And we need game-changing signings that will literally put the club on their backs. We probably need 3-4 players to successfully turn this around.
Q – I hear you! Okay, so If you had a magic wand, who would you bring in? Last time we spoke you wanted a striker – possibly Armando Broja, I think he’s injured now – would it be Danny Ings on loan or would that be too controversial?
AG – I would’ve gladly taken Broja back. Like you say, he’s unfortunately out with a long term injury. I’d gladly still take Ings back on loan or permanent transfer. Unlike a majority of the club’s fans, I never feel any ill will towards a player who leaves this club – for financial reasons or to go somewhere bigger. Granted footballers make tonnes of money, if they want to make more, go make more. If you think another club is “bigger” and has “bigger aspirations”, go there. It’s evident our club has neither the willingness to not penny crunch nor the aspiration to be better than an easy three points for the opposition. Good luck attracting players.
Q – When we spoke before your player of the season had been Bella-Kotchop, if I frame this differently, which player could dig you out of trouble? From here a lot seems to rest on James Ward-Prowse?
AG – I genuinely don’t think there’s a player at the club right now who could realistically dig us out of trouble on their own. Ward-Prowse – bless his poor soul – is doing all he can to better the situation. But it’s evident the rest of the team does not respond to his captaincy or urgency. If they did, we’d been in a different situation. It’s a shame given how much he’s given to the club, but he can’t carry the weight on his own.
Q – Has your perspective on Palace changed since we played you?
AG – Honestly I thought things were going well! And then I saw some tweets that hit hard – hit like our situation. I looked at the table and saw you were in 10th at the time and thought, “What gives?!”
It’s odd to see things now going backwards for you, in a similar fashion to Saints. Both teams are looking for some confidence and this weekend will show who actually is interested in building some.
Q – To the game on Saturday, where’s it going to be won and lost?
AG – Do Saints make mistakes to give you the match? That’s where it is won and lost. We offer literally nothing going forward – we had zero shots against Nottingham Forest – and our defence is riddled with error-prone players from Mohammed Salisu to Lyanco. We get over run in the midfield. Take your pick on how you want to beat us.
Q – I’m feeling your pain, anything else?
AG – I feel sorry for Palace fans that have to sit through 90 minutes of watching Saints try to play football.
Chin up Allen, things might improve? Maybe…
