Another week, another loss.
Yet another disappointing game day passes with no points gained, and more fears of the impending relegation zone that is getting ever closer to us as we drop further and further down the table.
It is a little troubling, given the record Alan Pardew had at Newcastle United. What is happening here?
With only two points gained in 2016 so far. Any other manager would have faced the axe by now. The status Pardew has as manager being kept safe by his history with the club, and the affection he always gets from the fans.
Truth be told though, I am very worried. Not so long ago I was talking about how we were performing so well we could challenge for Europe. Now, whilst we could still make Europe courtesy of the FA Cup, we are languishing near the foot of the league with very few positives to be taken from any recent performances.
Something has to change, and fast, as we are looking cautiously over our shoulders at a crucial time of the season.
On a brighter note, we are now in an FA Cup semi-final after a relatively dominant performance at Reading. They put up a strong fight but the Premier League quality of our players did eventually shine through and two goals was enough. Despite this, there were still some concerning performances, especially from Emmanuel Adebayor who is not turning out to be our saving grace like most of us thought.
It is a shame, because this season was turning out to be the most unlike Palace like ever. We were winning games, not making silly mistakes and dropping points when we should be winning. It was all looking so promising, so now I am going to try and piece together some scenarios, merely speculative of course, as to why things have gone so horribly wrong.
Could the players be deliberately under-performing to try to get rid of the manager?
It is a possibility. We all know what footballers are like. It happened at Chelsea where it was so blindingly obvious, and eventually Jose Mourinho, who has no shortage of history with Chelsea himself, was sacked. Post sacking, Chelsea started miraculously climbing the table at an incredible pace. Funny that. It is easy to say ‘Palace players would never do that’ but some of these guys are not Palace players. I do not think Adebayor, Yohan Cabaye and Bakary Sako are Palace players, the typical, not so great but hard working kind of player. It could be these influences causing difficulties in the camp.
Injuries coincided with our poor form, is it a psychological issue affecting our players?
More than likely. Palace work on the theory of being underdogs, and until recently, we were not playing like underdogs. My personal feelings are that we became complacent, and let our good performances get the better of us. It is a hard lesson to learn, but we must continue to push on, as long as we survive this year, that is the most important thing.
Furthermore, this is the year that the new finance package comes into force. It will mean security in our finances for years to come. I suppose it is difficult for most people at the moment, but we really must look on the bright side of everything that is going on. We have been in far worse places than this.
At the end of the day, no matter what happens, we still have a club to love and support. We are still in the top tier of English football and should remain there. I always think of it like this – there are more than three teams in this league who are worse than us, we should be staying up by beating these teams. Just because we are not at the moment, does not mean we cannot do so in the future. We should continue to be patient, bide our time and try to keep cheering on the boys each week. You just never know when this poisonous run will end. When it does, and it will, we will be there to celebrate and bring the good times back to Selhurst.
It is a repeating cycle. We always get our hopes up, but something stops us from really achieving what we are capable of. I know this is a top half team, most people have seen it, and now it is up to the club to make the right decisions to get there. And somehow, I do not know how, we will achieve it one day, but for now lets keep it real, and most importantly, keep it Palace!
I will see you after the international break for what I hope is a dramatic upturn in fortunes.
