Tenth!! Really?
Top half!!
How on earth did that happen?
If you take nothing else away from this review, please just consider how wonderful it is for Palace to finish tenth in the Premier League!
If you are keen to take two things away, then the other thing is Glenn Murray, but I will get to that.
Tenth place (or ‘Top half’) means that it has been another remarkable season of over-achievement for Palace.
We are one of only a handful of sides who can be satisfied with the performance on and off the pitch, and we could be set for the most successful sustained period in the club’s history.
“Could” is the key word here. History shows that the club tends to find a way of shooting itself in the foot, and this season could have been a disaster after the pre-season resignation of Tony Pulis, and the loss of form under Neil Warnock.
A positive decision from the board to prize Alan Pardew away from Newcastle United was vital, but the spirit within the squad, and the ability to adapt to different tactics under different coaches through the season was crucial.
The squad can revert to the ‘Pulis’ method, when required, as Pardew acknowledged after the Manchester City victory. Perhaps more important, Keith Millen was able to shore the defence up after the poor form which led to Warnock’s sacking, when the team got crucial away draws at Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa.
Those draws saw Palace at their most disciplined, but the squad was able to adapt and thrive when Pardew asked them to keep possession and move the ball around.
It was not as if the team were in the dark and uninspired until Pardew’s arrival. Warnock’s reign saw two notable performances – the home win over Liverpool, and the away draw at Spurs. The Spurs game is best remembered for Yannick Bolasie’s magical skills, and Bolasie has attracted more attention than most at Palace for his efforts this season.
And Bolasie has been wonderful on a number of occasions – ruining Steven Gerrard’s swansong at Anfield, destroying the poor child that Queens Park Rangers put at right back, and most memorably when scoring that second half hat-trick at Sunderland.
The attention that Bolasie and Pardew have garnered might have been shared out more evenly, but the national media tend to look for bullet points and stick with them.
Bolasie is a great role model – he carries himself so well off the pitch and he has a wonderfully positive outlook on life. If he has had proportionately more attention than others in the team this season, I am not going to complain.
Ignoring the world outside SE25, the supporters recognised the excellent contribution of Scott Dann in awarding him player of the year, and it is hard to remember a more consistent and capable central defender since Fan Zhiyi in the early 2000’s, and before that Andy Thorn and Eric Young.
James McArthur was another fantastic Pulis signing, complimenting Jedinak and Ledley’s physical presence with excellent distribution and support play.
Wilfried Zaha has shown flashes of the brilliance that got us promoted, and he looks to be back on course. Any doubts as to his commitment to the cause were erased the moment he crashed into the post moments after diverting Bolasie’s cross into the Queens Park Rangers goal.
My best memories this season are based around the other attacking hero of the 2012/13 promotion run – the return and revival of Glenn Murray.
In the first half of the promotion winning 2012-13 season, Murray was fantastic. Not as skilful as Wilf or Yala, but brilliant in his positioning for all those goals, and selfless leading the line.
Then came ‘that’ turn in the penalty area in the play-off semi-final against Brighton, when his knee never followed the rest of his body. In the moment, we knew it was a bad injury, and the joy of promotion was tempered by the fact that the main source of goals would not be there for months in our first season back.
In his first game back this season at Dover Athletic in January, he did look a little laboured, and with the arrival of Yaya Sanogo on loan, and Shola Amoebi on a short-term contract, the chances of much game time for Murray seemed small.
But with injuries to Marouane Chamakh and Frazier Campbell in January, Murray was back in the fold. It may have been Pardew genius, it may have been fortune, but Murray got his chance and took it.
When Palace embarked on the run of wins that took us out of trouble, Murray led the charge. The away win at Upton Park should be celebrated as ultimate Murray Day going forward. There is something heroic about winning the game then getting sent off that is wonderfully bonkers!
He did not just score that day, but in most of the games in the epic run that ended up with us finishing tenth – still tenth!!
By the end of the season Chamakh was back leading the line, and Chammers may well be the better player going forward.
But, even if he never plays again, I love that Glenn Murray can retire with ‘Premier League Striker‘ justifiably on his CV.
