As we build up to the penultimate game, the last at Selhurst, of the season we welcome Liverpool fan Lauren Draper-Wood to the site. Lauren is a big fan of US sports particularly the Dallas Cowboys and runs the UK Cowboys Fans website. You can follow Lauren on Twitter here.
Liverpool challenging for the title. Palace floating around mid table. This wasn’t in the script, not how it was meant to be.
Coming into the season, Liverpool were undoubtedly showing signs of improvement under Brendan Rodgers, and rightly or wrongly kept hold of Luis Suarez in the Summer. Champions League qualification the aim.
The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was somewhat different for Palace. The now boys would want survival. But who knew what they were bringing to the Premier League party. Funny man Ian Holloway in charge, former Arsenal flop Marouane Chamakh leading the line alongside a squad full of Championship mainstays. Finishing top of the bottom three would be an achievement right?
My pre-season predictions were as follows starting with the top:
- Chelsea
- Manchester City
- Manchester United
- Tottenham Hotspur
- Arsenal
- Liverpool
And those destined to be relegated:
- Stoke City
- Hull City
- Crystal Palace
I’m 28 years old, have been a football fan since I was in the womb but there’s no shying away from the fact my predictions were beyond a shadow of a doubt, wrong.
It would have taken an injury crisis of all crises to see Chelsea and Manchester City fall below the top four. Anyone who follows me on Twitter will be aware I never felt David Moyes was the right man to follow in Sir Alex Ferguson’s footsteps at United.
Naturally, as a Liverpool fan, I’m not disappointed to see them in seventh and although I didn’t believe Moyes would work out, I wasn’t predicting quite this bigger fall from grace for them.
Married to a Gooner meant I spent last summer with my husband discussing how Suarez would look in Arsenal gear. This certainly impacted my decision on placing them in fifth but as I should have known, come rain or shine, Wenger always finds a way to get the fourth place trophy.
Perhaps my worst prediction this year was the expectation that Roberto Soldado would be a goal machine in leading Spurs to Champions League qualification.
Where Liverpool were concerned I just felt, and still do, that we’re in transition. Suarez and Sturridge would be a force to be reckoned with in any team in any country but I was concerned a lack of a dynamic midfield maestro would hold us back.
There is no doubt that having just the league to focus on has been an advantage, but Rodger’s management of players on a footballing level as well as personal has galvanised the club and has had a huge impact on the performances this year.
As for relegation, I very much felt Stoke City had lost their mojo and without a player capable of scoring double figures was sure they’d struggle. They still lack that potent goalscorer but Mark Huges is making steps to change their style and tenth 10th will be satisfying for the fans no doubt.
Hull City under Steve Bruce have been impressive, a cup final to come and his decision to move for West Brom’s Shane Long and Everton’s Jelavic in January should all but seal their survival. The lack of goals in the team, like Stoke City were where my concerns had lay.
But what about Palace?
My knowledge of Palace is relatively slim although rapidly improving courtesy of your editor Jay and all at The Eagles Beak!. I have vague recollections of Palace games during the nineties. A brace for one of my nineties heroes Steve McManaman in a 5-0 win at Anfield and again in a 6-1 win at Selhurst Park.
A perhaps more positive Palace memory though is one of Ian Wright. I was only five when he signed for Arsenal but still have memories of my Dad raving about the Wright and Bright partnership for Palace when watching Match of the Day. Very high praise indeed from a Luton Town fan!
Coming into this season, I just couldn’t predict survival for a squad full of Championship calibre players. That’s not to say I didn’t want you to succeed however.
Early in the season I saw Mark Bright’s piece on Crystal Palace on Football Focus. To call it an education was an understatement. Palace came across as a traditional, time honoured stadium and club. Worlds away from the likes of the Emirates. In the ten minutes slot, Mark Bright’s love and respect for the club came across in all the right ways.
No doubt Brighton fans would disagree, but Palace express everything that is good in English football. A throwback to the bygone eras before multi-million pound contracts, but at it’s core it is a traditional, family orientated club. Since watching the extract on BBC I’ve had a soft spot for the club, and although that will be pushed aside on Monday, I’m glad your Premier League survival is secure.
Coming into the season, Liverpool and Crystal Palace had targets which were significantly different. We’re both ending the season, having considerably surpassed those targets and more.
Both Brendan Rodgers and Tony Pulis, regardless of the last two games, will rightly be in the running for the Manager of the Year award. Rodgers has created a dynamic Liverpool side but one which has rediscovered it’s successful roots of team unity and spirit. Pulis has quite simply performed a miracle with Palace. Scraping to survival would have been a success to most, but fine January signings and drawing on the unswerving Selhurst support, a mid-table finish would be no less deserved.
Two clubs with two very different targets and contrasting manager styles. Two teams who’ve questioned the Premier League norm and expectations.
What’s not to like about that?
