January has a strange effect on people.
Sick of having turkey for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Become a vegan.
Tired of feeling hungover on those Saturday trips to Selhurst? Try drinking milk.
Had enough of fearing you are going to burst out of those trousers? Take them off.
The month of January is a month for solutions. Solutions to problems that are very real, and many solutions which merely stem to create problems.
Chelsea’s visit to Selhurst Park today is significant for a number of reasons.
While calendar years do not mean much in football (the importance of the Ballon D’Or is an argument for another day), a review of the timelines of both Chelsea and Crystal Palace over the past twelve months provide a frightening glimpse into how quickly a good thing can go awry.
With Alan Pardew watching on from the stands at the turn of 2015, Palace battled to a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa while Chelsea remained in top spot despite leaking five goals to Tottenham Hotspur.
Palace were on the verge of appointing a club legend who many felt had the requisite skill to guide them out of the relegation zone where they had sat for large chunks of the season.
Chelsea had their own messiah at the helm, ‘The Special One‘, who could do no wrong and would lead them to title glory eventually.
How the tables have turned. While January is a time where pipe dreams find traction, not many would have dreamed Palace would begin 2016 in fifth position. Such notions last year were laughable.
The notion that Chelsea would find themselves so terrifically knocked off their position of power with Mourinho falling victim to the Abramovich sack was inconceivable.
Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Watford are turning heads with good performances and startling results. Yes, Leicester. Rock bottom this time last year, embroiled in a title race this season.
Chelsea seem rudderless, while the vastly expensively assembled Manchester United side have only just won their first Premier League game since November.
There are not many resolutions that Palace fans will be making, outside the signing of a striker with an eye for goal. Talk of continued self improvement is rife, but the key word there is ‘continued’.
Crystal Palace enter the New Year equipped with a backpack full of realism and heart full of fire. This is not a denial of reality where we convince ourselves all will be okay. This is merely a continuation of the hard work that has gone in the twelve months previous.
While there is work to be done in the transfer market, Pardew’s task list will be relatively small.
The opening of the January transfer window is much like the spike in gym memberships across the country this week. Panicked, under-performing clubs splurging cash in a bid to correct the rampant wrongs of the previous months.
Has your Christmas gut taken on more mass? Here is a dumbbell. That will be £25 million pounds please. Sorry, we do not do refunds. You will just have to make a go of it.
Boasting the second best defence in the league and a potent midfield, Palace are better positioned than most to keep the upward trajectory on track.
Crystal Palace will not be seen nervously bench pressing twice their body weight in a bid to speed up the progress.
Crystal Palace will not be seen stopping for a cigarette break halfway through a pre-work ten kilometre run.
Crystal Palace do not need too many new pairs of trousers, because the trousers they have invested in have proven to be of extreme quality.
Crystal Palace also just got a nice increase on their credit card limit, so now have the ability to invest in new trousers, should they wish to complete the wardrobe.
There will be no resolutions at Selhurst. No lying to each other. Merely an acknowledgement of what needs to be done to continue last year’s good work.
That starts today with a team still trying to figure out where it all went wrong, as they dust off their shiny new gym membership in the dugout.
