Another game, another loss. Another day, no new manager. The season so far feels as depressing as the typical English bank holiday rain. If ever leadership was required, it is now, as Steve Parish and the Crystal Palace FC board must step up to the plate and act. Right now.
Not to even mention the Malky Mackay ‘text gate’ saga and with only one week remaining of the transfer window, the club need direction, ideas and most of all, a sense of passion and drive from its’ ownership, which is certainly lacking right now. Having new toilets in the Main Stand of Selhurst Park is pleasant news to the average fan, but it isn’t going to win football matches, no matter which level of the football pyramid you occupy.
Surely Steve Parish can now see this for himself following the Eagles’ collapse against West Ham United on Saturday. Granted, the club were shorn of key, quality players such as Scott Dann, Jason Puncheon and Joe Ledley, who was cruelly injured in the warm up. The Hammers’ first two goals were of exquisite quality and good enough to solely win a game to be honest. But more importantly, and through the ‘Eagle Eyes’, we learnt two important lessons on Saturday.
Firstly, Palace do not currently have the required squad quality in depth to compete in the EPL. Secondly, the team spirit and ‘never say die’ attitude of last season has deserted the Eagles as quickly as ex-Manager Tony Pulis has taken to the media to stick the boot in on his former club.
Caretaker Manager Keith Millen has once again performed in an admirable, classy way, and one can completely comprehend why Parish and the board have insisted that any new manager retains the services of this good, honest, knowledgeable man who also happens to be a Palace fan. But he now appears to be losing his way, if one were overly harsh, you could say Millen is now ‘out of his depth’, and any claims or ambitions he had for the top gig in SE25 must now be extinguished. Parish must make this clear to the beleaguered Millen, and halt him from throwing his hat into the very public ring any further.
Following a ‘backs to the wall’ dogged and very Pulis-like performance in the defeat to Arsenal on day one, Palace capitulated on Saturday in a performance extremely reminiscent of the early season struggles of twelve months ago, which of course all led to the appointment of Pulis in the first place.
The chaotic working environment that has now filtered through from the boardroom to the football pitch, via the training ground, is a damming indictment on the complete turmoil that currently pollutes the air at Palace. These same players performed miracles for the Eagles only a few months ago, yet have plainly had their confidence drained and team spirit shot in the wake of recent events at the club. Whether you chose to blame Parish or Pulis for our present travails, none of the above can be denied, and throw in the confusion of new players such as Brede Hangeland and Martin Kelly, who signed to play for Pulis, yet now find themselves and their careers on a sinking, rudderless boat in a shark infested ocean.
‘Sharks’ a plenty it would seem at the moment, with everybody having their own opinion on the ‘Palace crisis’, and taking the easy route of ‘kicking the club’ whilst it’s on its’ knees.
The comments of ex-Tottenham Hotspur manager Tim Sherwood regarding any potential employment by Palace were disappointing and smacked initially of an ignorance of the job seeking process we normal mortals have all experienced. No, Mr Sherwood, surprisingly enough, you weren’t the only applicant for the role, or the only interviewee. The real world doesn’t work like that. Yes, in my personal opinion, Sherwood would have been a good appointment to the role, a coach who likes to play good, attacking football in a basic 4-4-2 formation, and also an excellent leader and promoter of young players within a football club.
But the role was never Sherwood’s to lose, and perhaps in time, he will realise that.
Pulis’ odds on returning to SE25 tumbled dramatically towards the end of last week in the wake of ex-foe and now former Sporting Director Iain Moody’s departure from the club. From some quarters it was claimed that Pulis ‘couldn’t work’ with an intermediary such as Moody, who was of course in charge of player recruitment.
However, from Pulis’ quick, dramatic retort when questioned about the bizarre possibility of him returning to Palace just a week after leaving, one could see that he had no qualms about heaping further negative press on his former employers. The ‘Manager Of The Year’ offering no remorse for the predicament the club currently find itself in, a situation that his resignation only contributed to, at the end of the day.
‘My wife nearly left me for the first time in the 38 years we have been together. But I’ll move on. I’m football daft, I’ve worked my socks off for months to keep Palace up and then in the break. It was mutually agreed that we part company, which was disappointing, as I’d spent five weeks getting the players ready for the season’.
All very fair comments, one could fathom, and nobody would seem to be able to disagree with the marital strain Palace have apparently placed on him and his good lady. Yes, eternal gratitude should be shown to Pulis for his achievements last season, but perhaps he could have been more selective with his words, wished his former club well and acknowledged that Palace gave him a chance to resurrect his managerial career whilst not in any kind of demand, and on the scrap heap.
Fans live and hope in the belief that this will be a much better week for Crystal Palace FC. Let’s face it, it couldn’t get a lot worse than the current fare being dished up in SE25.
Ex-West Bromwich Albion manager Steve Clarke yesterday threw his own hat into the picture, and claimed on Sky Sports TV that he would be interested in the Palace role. A talented coach who learnt from the best at Chelsea in Jose Mourinho, and a manager very harshly sacked by The Baggies last season for that vulgar, yet now regular occurrence of ‘over achievement’ by a smaller club.
Unless either Mickey Mouse or my good self are lined up for the role, I couldn’t think of anybody better or more qualified than Clarke to ‘restore the players’ collective smile’ and compliment the wonderful fans, who once again did Palace very proud on Saturday, with their colour, passion, noise and exuberance.
Rant over. Up the Palace!
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