Thursday 14 August 2014 was a dark day for Crystal Palace. Deserted by the Premier League’s ‘Manager Of The Year’ just two days before the opening game of the campaign, the resignation of former manager Tony Pulis was supposed to represent the beginning of a slow, painful Premier League death for Palace. A fatality that would bring about a final nail to its’ coffin sometime in May 2015, or perhaps even by Christmas, if certain people got their genuine wishes.
Speed forward sixteen days though and one can see that there is plenty of life in Crystal Palace. The real truth is this though– apart from a very poor home defeat in week two against West Ham United, Palace have not been as bad as most of our English media friends would have liked to have portrayed them to be. Yes, the Eagles currently lie in 19th place, with a solitary point from the first three outings, but the opening day grit shown at the Emirates against Arsenal was matched with quite a bit of flair on Saturday against Newcastle at St James’s Park.
Palace scored three times in an away game but failed to win, which is without doubt a huge source of frustration. Yet right up until the final final whistle, the game was totally in the balance, which shows the improvements already made post that West Ham debacle.
So, who, or what, has made the difference? Well, this is a job tailor made for returning “new” manager, Neil Warnock. Primarily known better in England as a manager of great success in the Championship and below (seven promotions speaks for itself), the wily outspoken fox has not only thrived on proving people wrong when his teams have been written off, but he has also been harshly labelled as ‘not up to’ managing a Premier League side.
Perhaps a fair claim, given his relegation with Sheffield United after just one season, and his mid-season dismissal at Queens Park Rangers. Although it should be pointed out that Rangers were not in the bottom three there when Warnock was sacked.
However, one only needed to look at the glint in Warnock’s eye at the final whistle on Saturday to see how motivated the Yorkshire man is for this particular role. The other clear and obvious reasoning in the improvement of Palace would appear to be the morale boosting return of the Eagles’ prodigal son, winger Wilfried Zaha. Sold to Manchester United in January 2013, at only 19 years of age for a fee rising to nearly £15 million, it would be fair to say that nobody at United felt they got any real “bang for their buck” during Zaha’s stay at Old Trafford.
Did Zaha get a fair crack of the whip at United, or was this one that was just never going to work?
Reported disciplinary problems blighted his stay with the club, and a “loss of form”, in spite of never really getting any kind of game time there (a poor loan spell at Cardiff aside) all halted Zaha’s progress for sure. He waited around for the preseason, in the hope of impressing new manager, Louis van Gaal. However, van Gaal delivered the fatal, final snub of Zaha’s United career by ensuring the winger wouldn’t even see game time with the Reds 4-0 down at Milton Keynes Dons last week. And to think that Zaha thought that David Moyes was harsh.
But with a point to prove to both his parent and boyhood club, Zaha is an incredibly happy and motivated young man right now.
With a very strong reassuring, fatherly word in his ear from Warnock, he is a player with a huge point to prove, which is only good news for Palace. His impact was of course immediate on Saturday, where as a 70th minute substitute, Zaha answered the prayers of every single Palace fan when he crashed in a very late equaliser, to make that first, incredibly important contribution to the blank points board.
All attention now turns to the closure of the transfer window today. Warnock has reportedly stated that four new players are needed at Palace, which seems is a bit much, given that the club signed five on deadline day last year – and none of them worked out.
A left back is a certain requirement, and the young Tottenham defender Zeki Fryers is rumoured to have already been seen at the club’s Beckenham training ground. He is an exciting young player, who will certainly do a job on loan, and add some pace to the defence. James McArthur is a good £7 million signing – the Wigan Athletic midfielder is itching for Premier League action again, and would absolutely bolster the middle of the park for Palace.
Norwich City striker Gary Hooper is also a target of Warnock. If he signs, it is highly likely that Eagles’ favourite Glenn Murray will be allowed to move on, which would be a shame given Murray’s cult following in SE25. Hooper is an exciting player though, but has only really done it in the SPL and in the lower leagues – as relegated Norwich found to their cost last term. [Editorial note: Hooper is still at Norwich.]
Exciting times ahead now for the Eagles. A decent transfer window plus a good perfomance at Newcastle; the season really will have re-started on Saturday and August 14 will be a bad but distant memory.
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