Writing these articles is definitely becoming more difficult as the weeks go on. This is mainly because the time after the game feel like an ongoing ‘Groundhog Day’ following yet another bad dream and ultimately another loss in the Premier League.
The under-lying themes from my articles have always been around unconditional support, realism, honesty, perspective and positivity so despite our very poor start to this campaign this is how I intend to continue but with a slight twist this week.
I have always maintained that current and future financial stability is more important than anything by far and even though the results and performances at times have been very frustrating, the money was always the ultimate positive and goal from being promoted last season in addition to a smashing day at Wembley.
As mentioned more than once previously, this is a long game and not about what is happening now in many respects so patience, support and unity is more important than ever.
If you want to build and succeed at the top level then financial stability is obviously the foundation as it enables clubs to build better facilities, buy better players (in some cases!) and ultimately have a go at competing at a higher level.
Using a Grand Designs analogy, we have spent years living next door to where we would perhaps like to live one day in order to manage it being built from our caravan (no disrespect to any Charlton fans!). We have earned the right to give ourselves grander aspirations as we now have the budget to try and live in our ‘dream home’ that many people have always wanted to reside in. Unfortunately, we got planning permission much much quicker than expected. The key planning stage was a complete rush, messy, stressful and we ended up panicking and purchasing a lot of the wrong materials needed to be able to comfortably build and stay in our new home.
As a result of this, we now have to struggle with trying to make the best of what we have and our original base plans and blue-prints seem to be in tatters on the surface.
The truth is that rather than expecting a pristine house that everybody admires instantly and that is stable for ever more, we are going to have to build the house over a number of years in stages whilst balancing the books as a long term project. The harsh reality is that we may for certain periods fall on harder (footballing) times and have to move out of the house for the odd year or two in order to gain the resources to continue building and before we can move back into the dream house again.
Moving on from construction to biology and the natural world, the truth is that we are a very small fish in a very big ocean and it was always going to be difficult to survive amongst the bigger fish that are in the know, accustomed to these waters and are aware of the treacherous pit-falls and dangers around every corner. Charles Darwin’s most famous theory around survival of the fittest and natural selection rings true in this league for Palace.
Many species have changed over time and learned to adapt and become kings of their domain but, Palace are still a long way down the food chain and are also still evolving from the dark and murky depths below.
Whilst we are on the subject of swimming I have been thinking of current comparisons that we could perhaps make with Palace and our current predicament. After much consideration, I finally settled on ‘Eric the Eel’.
Eric was a guy from the smaller nation of Equatorial Guinea that is not traditionally known for its Olympic swimming prowess that decided that he would give the Olympics a go (and why not?). He knew he wasn’t going to win any medals or set the World on fire but he was there and was going to give it his best shot. He stood completely alone on the diving board for the beginning of his race and when the gun fired he dived into the water like a Kingfisher with intention, confidence and spirit edged with a little bit of nervousness as we did back in mid-August. He was now in the same pool that was frequented by some of the best in the land.
Not long into the race and after a reasonably convincing start, he found himself out of his depth, lacking the experience and composure needed and was seen to be possibly drowning at times whilst lacking any real direction. Sorry to say but, it all sounds rather familiar for us Palace fans and if you didn’t laugh then you would cry for ever more and I still wouldn’t change it for the World.
Below is the video of Eric the Eel which also doubles up as the Crystal Palace 2013/14 Season Review to date.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQbKCHsRIyk
I was thinking of doing ‘Eddy the Eagle’ from the Winter Olympics due to the obvious name link but decided against it even though he spent ages climbing the steps to stand with the others at the top, we looked on with anticipation only to find that he was soon on a downhill slope and expecting a hard landing on his feet and from a reality perspective as the scores and positioning came up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7MmJIy0bjo
Anyway, back to football and the game against West Bromwich Albion. Not going to dwell on this as it would reflect and be too similar to pretty much every other article that I have written this season (except Sunderland). Palace did pretty well, had plenty of the play, lacked composure at times, didn’t take our chances, defended poorly as a complete team at times and ultimately lost by two goals.
Many of the guys played really well again with stand-out performances from Ward and Moxey in particular. KG and Jedi also played their part and Pep also played well until he was nobbled in the ribs after only twenty minutes. Puncheon was poor with some fans questioning his commitment to the club and Chamakh was again the target of some upset from fans.
There is still a great deal of uncertainty around Chamakh as although he has been disappointing at times, you have to wonder about the quality and type of service that he has received to date.
If only the Jedinak header had found the net then we could have moved on from the weekend in a much more positive manner with more confidence and maybe a cheeky point or three. It would have surely changed the game and possibly the result too.
Still the main item this week is the small question on who our future manager will be. It appears that we may get a new man but could also get a Director or Football and a Resource Manager too perhaps.
Amongst the names touted again we have seen Coleman, Pearce, Mowbray, Southgate, Di Matteo, Warnock, Coppell, McLeish, Pulis, Karanka, Dyche, Pardew, Tisdale, Gary ‘@foxintheboxGary’ Fox , Matt ‘@mattcpfc77’ Morgan and Hughton to name just a few.
Other than this, the subject of our new manager has been avoided in this article due to a number of reasons which are as follows.
- It is all still speculation and nothing concrete or confirmed has been reported (at the point that I finished the article at 8pm on Monday). My rule around new signings still applies in this instance and I refuse to believe anything until I see the individual smiling with a shirt (or other piece of quality club shop merchandise with the exception of play-off foam hands!) or until it is officially announced by the club.
- Further to this, the last time I even mentioned managers in an article Ian Holloway had the audacity to resign making my article instantly out of date. I still cannot believe this happened and the fact that I was not even consulted in relation to the timing and content of my article. I just hope that the new man has a little more respect!
- Finally, only CPFC2010 know the real truth of where we are in the proceedings and who the candidates are that have been approached and short-listed
This is going to be a tough wait for us fans as this is the biggest decision in our recent history and one that will shape our future and destiny this season, in this league and beyond. No pressure Steve and Co!
This is also going to be a very difficult search as we need to balance getting the right man for our long term aspirations against a number of names that will or may want big money to come to our relatively small club at the bottom of the league with limited resources. Again another harsh reality but true.
All we can do is wait, stand behind the decision (whether we agree or not) and get behind the Board, new manager and Palace squad. The twelfth man (woman and child) is one of the big constants at this club and the support that it provides is going to be absolutely critical in having a glimmer of surviving in this division.
This is not to mention getting behind the boys to put in the right performances to hopefully get us a few points and end the season with our heads held high whatever the outcome.
I am afraid to say it (and it is not defeatist) but, true committed fans would also accept this even if we end up back in the Championship caravan again with the building project next door being planned for another go in a year or two.
As they say, Selhurst and CPFC wasn’t built in a day.
Article written by Paul Price
