A little over a year ago, Palace suffered a home loss that signalled the end of our then manager.
Holloway and Parish mutually agreed to part company soon after in arguably the most honest press conference that you will ever see in the game of football.
In truth, it had been heading this way for a while as not much had gone in favour of Holloway since the opening game at home to Spurs. The result of which he was fined and banned for his post match comments.
Maybe even the moment that the play off final was won against Watford there was a sign that things always going to turn a little sour for the once passionate Ollie. He had looked a shadow of his former self, seemingly shackled by the powers that be one too many times in an effort to rid the game of another character.
The catalyst for Holloway’s departure was a 4-1 home defeat to Fulham in front of the live television cameras. Palace took the lead early on in the game through Adrian Mariappa which gave the fans a much needed boost in a game that we desperately needed all three points. Two stunning strikes before half time put paid to that and the scorers Pajtim Kasami and Steve Sidwell will readily admit that they unlikely to scores goals of such calibre again. That was just the way it was going for Palace at the time and the Cottagers went on to score two more goals courtesy of Dimitar Berbatov and Philippe Senderos.
Fast forward twelve months and it has been a simply unbelievable turnaround, It is hard to believe the two completely different directions the two clubs have headed ever since that game. Quite a contrast in fact which was no more evident, and the cue for this article, when watching Fulham host Watford in the Championship last week. They lost by five goals to nil and continue to struggle in the lower reaches of the division.
Many Palace fans would have had similar thoughts after seeing the result. Now you know how we felt, touché or just lots of laughs as only football fans can at the disappointment of others.
Oddly enough and with the benefit of hindsight, that night at Selhurst Park back in October 2013 could not have come at a better time. Well, for Palace at least, perhaps quite the opposition for the victors. Palace lost, Holloway left, Pulis arrived. The rest is pretty much history and how we have revelled in it, deservedly so.
That result for Fulham was one of few highlights for them in a season that culminated in relegation to the Championship while Pulis oversaw a Palace revival and exceed all expectations with a mid-table finish.
What this proves is that in at a time in our lives when everything is available to us almost immediately, you have to sometimes consider that waiting and allowing some time to pass just to see how things turn out can be worthwhile.
Sometimes, it just so happens that things do work out for the better so patience may well be a virtue.
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