It was a very impressive ending to the transfer window for Crystal Palace and many fans will be excited to see the club’s new men in action.
After seemingly falling behind in the market during January to their relegation rivals, the Eagles miraculously made five signings on the deadline day of the window. However, one of these signings was already a familiar face to Selhurst Park. Already a loanee at the club, Jason Puncheon was signed for an undisclosed fee (believed to be around £1.75m), from Southampton after making a strong start to his Palace career.
Puncheon is a local boy to Selhurst Park, having been born in Croydon in June 1986. He began his footballing career at Wimbledon, shortly before the club relocated and changed their name to Milton Keynes Dons. He was given his professional debut in March 2004 against Walsall, in the old First Division. The following season saw Puncheon make his break into the first team, notching up 31 appearances in the 2004/05 season.
His fortunes soon changed though, and during the 2005/06 season Puncheon fell down the pecking order, resulting in MK Dons releasing him in January. Settling down at another club was not easy for the English midfielder. He experienced brief spells at non-league Fisher Athletic and Lewes for the remainder of that season, managing only a single appearance for each.
It was Barnet where Puncheon eventually settled down, signing for the League Two outfit in June 2006.
He enjoyed two very successful seasons with the Bees, making 93 appearances and scoring 17 goals, earning him a place in the PFA League Two Team of the Season in 2008. His form did not go un-noticed, and subsequently Puncheon was signed for a fee of £250,000 by Plymouth Argyle during the summer of 2008. Unfortunately he struggled to make the jump from League Two to the Championship, and was loaned back to MK Dons later that year in October.
Despite his apparent inconsistency from club to club, his form at MK Dons in League One caught the eye of Southampton. After a second impressive loan spell at the Dons, the Saints signed Puncheon at the end of the 2010 January transfer window. He had a decent start to his time at Southampton, making 19 appearances and scoring three goals in the remainder of the 2009/10 season.
However, the next season didn’t prove to be as successful for Puncheon, where he was injured for the majority of the pre-season and failed to make a good impression on the new Saints manager, Nigel Atkins. He never reclaimed his starting spot, which had been taken up by the then 17 year old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Facing a far too familiar story of bench warming, Puncheon was sent out on loan in November 2011 to Millwall. Now, a number of Palace fans will distinctly remember this particular loan spell because of one game that they will want to forget. I apologise now to those fans for refreshing this unwanted memory, but this proved to be a turning point in Puncheon’s career.
He had an extremely successful spell at The Den, scoring on his debut against Middlesbrough after just 25 minutes. On his final appearance for the Lions, a London derby with arch rivals Palace, Puncheon netted a hat-trick, scoring all three goals in a 3-0 win over the Eagles. After scoring five goals in seven appearances for Millwall, a permanent move to the Lions was on the cards at the end of the 2010 calender year, but failed to materialize due to a break down in negotiations between the two clubs.
Puncheon then moved back to Southampton to make his eye-catching comeback in an FA Cup tie against Blackpool, where he gained a new admirer in the shape of Ian Holloway.
Holloway preceded to make a loan move for Puncheon later that month, and captured his target who proved to be more than useful in the latter half of the Tangerine’s debut season in the Premier League. Strangely, being a player that was struggling to get a game at then League One Southampton, Puncheon did not look out of place in England’s top division with Blackpool. He excelled in their fearless, attacking brand of football, attaining 11 appearances and scoring three goals. This cemented a personal record for Puncheon, being one of few players to have scored in every tier of the Football League. However, he wasn’t able to help the Tangerines stay in the division, and he returned back to St Mary’s after suffering relegation with Blackpool.
Unfortunately, after seemingly enduring a change of fortunes, Puncheon’s hit and miss reputation grew once again as he suffered a very unsuccessful loan spell at QPR in the top flight, only managing to make two appearances. He also made eight appearances for Southampton during their promotion season in the Championship in 2012, with three of these being from off the bench.
Despite the off-field disputes between Southampton chairman Nicola Cortese and Puncheon, the Saints could hardly ignore the winger’s fine form whilst he was at Blackpool, and Puncheon laboured his way back into the Premier League side starting line-up during the 2012-13 season. He racked up 32 appearances for the south-coast outfit; scoring eight goals in what proved to be an impressive first season back in the top flight for the Saints, as they finished a respectable 14th in the Premier League.
What proved to be a shock for many Southampton fans, and some Palace fans alike, Puncheon was granted permission to move from the club once again during the summer of 2013 to Holloway’s newly promoted Crystal Palace. This sparked speculation that Puncheon still had rifts with Cortese, possibly being the reason why he was allowed to leave, even after a remarkable previous season with the Saints.
Undoubtedly, the relationship between Holloway and Puncheon also would’ve been another reason behind the move.
We all know that the Eagles had endured a difficult start to life in the Premier League, and very few names in the Palace squad can safely say that they were happy with their personal performances during this spell. Tony Pulis’s revival in Palace’s form and style of play seems to have had a positive effect on most of the squad.
With the defence improving since the arrival of Pulis, the Eagles have unfortunately struggled to score many goals. The chances are being created, with the counter-attacking brand of football showing that it can be very dangerous on the break after soaking up the opposition’s pressure. However, to be effective and to win games whilst playing with this philosophy of football, teams need to have clinical finishers in the squad to take their chances when they do come. There have been signs of this for the Eagles, with Chamakh executing a tidy finish against Cardiff, and Dwight Gayle’s stunning strike against Aston Villa, but unfortunately not quite enough, as the statistics would suggest.
Puncheon has showed his attacking threat in recent games, effectively winning two games for Palace in 1-0 score lines. He also scored a penalty against Norwich in a 1-1 draw. These score lines do indeed prove my point, as you can’t rely on single goals when you’re down at the bottom of the table, even when boasting one of the best defensive records in the league (since Pulis’s arrival). Many fans will not want to take the chance on trusting clean sheets in every game.
In my eyes, Puncheon received a lot of criticism for his atrocious penalty miss against Tottenham a few weeks back. Yes, it was an awful attempt of a penalty which potentially could’ve significantly changed the game, but every player has their bad day, and the fans needed to be reminded that Puncheon has done a lot more good than bad for the Eagles, winning the club points individually in some respects.
He is a player with good Premier League experience, skill and flair that suits their style of play, and has reportedly been signed for a mere £1.75million. This is an absolute coup for a player of his calibre and experience, and he can be regarded as a valuable member of the first team, providing another attacking option for the Pulis. Along with the new signings, hopefully Puncheon will help Crystal Palace achieve the unforeseen task of staying up this season.
