How good are Crystal Palace?

I hope for nothing more than avoiding relegation. West Ham are a classic example of what could happen to us.:- established team, good team (on paper).

We start the season with a new manager and very poor end-of-season league form. We will have a lot of players with very short pre-seasons and I suspect will be a selling club this Summer to recover some of that January spend. Might take a couple of seasons to recover from what appears (so far) to be that poor recruitment.
 
rollercoaster said:
I hope for nothing more than avoiding relegation. West Ham are a classic example of what could happen to us.:- established team, good team (on paper).

We start the season with a new manager and very poor end-of-season league form. We will have a lot of players with very short pre-seasons and I suspect will be a selling club this Summer to recover some of that January spend. Might take a couple of seasons to recover from what appears (so far) to be that poor recruitment.
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You've ruined my evening. But only because the comment is spot on and reminds me of the down-side of our club having more players at the World Cup than any other club of equivalent stature. A good thing or a bad thing ? After a season of 60 matches I can't see it helping us next season.
 
I agree that having so many players in the World Cup is not ideal after a 60 game season. Delighted Wharton and Mitchell will get a rest. I see Richards is struggling with his ankle injury still. Makes the win in the Conference league final all the more remarkable doing it with Riad and Canvot playing in an unfamiliar lineup.

Ideally, I would like us to hang on to all our players but I think Mateta and Kamada will both leave most likely to AC Milan to rejoin Glasner. A big priority is a midfielder to play alongside Wharton as Hughes and Lerma both look a bit past it now and are not particularly creative. We should hang on to Guessand, I always find him to be bright and impressive. Obviously if Mateta leaves we need to replace him with someone good. Maybe Sage will bring back Edouard? I never thought he was that bad to be honest.
 
MarkA333 said:
I agree that having so many players in the World Cup is not ideal after a 60 game season. Delighted Wharton and Mitchell will get a rest. I see Richards is struggling with his ankle injury still. Makes the win in the Conference league final all the more remarkable doing it with Riad and Canvot playing in an unfamiliar lineup.

Ideally, I would like us to hang on to all our players but I think Mateta and Kamada will both leave most likely to AC Milan to rejoin Glasner. A big priority is a midfielder to play alongside Wharton as Hughes and Lerma both look a bit past it now and are not particularly creative. We should hang on to Guessand, I always find him to be bright and impressive. Obviously if Mateta leaves we need to replace him with someone good. Maybe Sage will bring back Edouard? I never thought he was that bad to be honest.
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The fact that Richards is still injured and may not be fit for the start of the world cup is an indication of how far away he was from being fit for the Conference final.
I'm sure none of us want to see him breakdown during the tournament and miss the start of our season.
I'm pleased that Wharton and Mitchell are having the summer off and wish the same could be said for others in our squad, even if some don't feature much in their international teams.
A complete break after a 60 game season makes eminent sense allowing them to return refreshed under a new manager.
Early exits from the tournament for our players would be most welcome (at least by me)!
 
Qualifying for the Europa and last season's record tally of gruelling games points to the need for notably bigger squad that can be rotated over a 50-plus games season (hopefully). Doubt our small squad can punch above weight in continental away days at new higher level.

Can we afford to operate at this requirement next season?
 
ASCPFC said:
Don't count your chickens. We're ok. But we're nearly always a manager or one or two players away from 17th/18th. We still skirt that at some stage every season.
We seem to manage to get away from it every time so far but the liklehood is one year we won't.
It's just the way it is.
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Agreed. You can never afford to sit still in this league which is why Parishes comments about a quiet window worry me. First team players become squad players very quickly, and former squad players need replacing with new first teamers every season if we are to remain at our glass ceiling. Hopefully the new manager has watched us quite a bit and can see where we can be improved.
 
Oh I hate you for obvious reasons 😂

But you are very good. Underrated. A top manager should be banging that door down.

I’m heading into a busy life period. I’ll come back at points I’m sure. Just want to say how happy I was to see you with that trophy this season.

Go strong Palace fans 🏆
 
We won the FA Cup, Community Shield and Europa Conference League in back to back seasons. Next year we'll be playing in the Europa League.

But then we did finish 15th and lose in the first round of the FA Cup to Macclesfield. We're good when we want to be.
 
could be a different thread but it's related, but I don't think we are a 'small' club either. Never have been, some regular huge attendances back in the day, and if we ever do upgrade the stadium we would get 30k+ a week. We are medium sized, not small, don't let anyone tell you otherwise, be proud of your club, but don't wave it around in public.
 
MarkA333 said:
We won the FA cup, the Community Shield and the UEFA Conference league in one year.
Our players are valued at the same numbers as the top squads. We have 12 players in the World Cup, only Man Utd have more players appearing and I wouldn’t take any of theirs even their horrible captain. Isn’t it time we actually realised that we have a potentially great team. Let’s keep it going. One more good year, then another
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Brighton won this
 

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elgin eeagle said:
Agreed. You can never afford to sit still in this league which is why Parishes comments about a quiet window worry me. First team players become squad players very quickly, and former squad players need replacing with new first teamers every season if we are to remain at our glass ceiling. Hopefully the new manager has watched us quite a bit and can see where we can be improved.
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Ignore Parishs comments. He will be saying that as a tactic. If he said we are after a striker etc everyone puts their prices up knowing you are desperate for one like Wolves did with JSL. It will be like everyone other summer, a few sold and a few bought. You rarely get to keep every one you want or buy those you need, everyone else is doing the same thing. The new manager will want some new faces, hopefully we keep hold of all the ones we have. Expect Lacrouix, Mateta and Wharton to go for big money too much to turn down, thats life until you get in the CL. Anyway Palace are now the eighth longest serving EPL club after the big six and Everton. Onwards and upwards.
 
PatrickA said:
I understand the reservations expressed about our league position aspirations.

However, I note that last season placings were as follows,
6) Bournemouth
7) Sunderland
8) Brighton
9) Brentford.

We should be aiming to achieve similar positions with our squad, and three of the aforementioned teams will also be in Europe next season with the same demands.
Of course it’s highly likely that Spurs and Chelsea will be stronger so that has to be factored in as well, and of course a lot will depend upon how the new manager settles in and what the make up of our squad will be.
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None of those sides played in Europe last season.

Bournemouth and Sunderland will struggle with the Europa workload. We will too, but will be slightly better equipped due to experience gained last season.

Would expect Spurs, Chelsea, Fulham, Newcastle & Leeds to be stronger than us. Expect another tough season in the League with a run to the semi/quarters of the Europa League.

The following season (27/28), with no European distractions, we can realistically push for top 8.
 
martinelliff said:
Ignore Parishs comments. He will be saying that as a tactic. If he said we are after a striker etc everyone puts their prices up knowing you are desperate for one like Wolves did with JSL. It will be like everyone other summer, a few sold and a few bought. You rarely get to keep every one you want or buy those you need, everyone else is doing the same thing. The new manager will want some new faces, hopefully we keep hold of all the ones we have. Expect Lacrouix, Mateta and Wharton to go for big money too much to turn down, thats life until you get in the CL. Anyway Palace are now the eighth longest serving EPL club after the big six and Everton. Onwards and upwards.
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That's the crux isn't it. If Mateta, Lacroix and Wharton were to all leave and not be replaced as well by the ex wolves guy I could definitely see last season being as good as it got. We managed to still win the conference league after Eze and Guehi left but only because Dougie had amassed a great squad.

Equally were all three to stay and we managed to sign competition for Mitchell and Munoz in the summer I could see us giving the Europa League a really good go, much like Villa and Spurs did. Asking and expecting the same squad to repeat a 60 game season again without freshening up is bordering on stupidity though imo. Hopefully they know who is done and make the hard calls.
 
elgin eeagle said:
That's the crux isn't it. If Mateta, Lacroix and Wharton were to all leave and not be replaced as well by the ex wolves guy I could definitely see last season being as good as it got. We managed to still win the conference league after Eze and Guehi left but only because Dougie had amassed a great squad.

Equally were all three to stay and we managed to sign competition for Mitchell and Munoz in the summer I could see us giving the Europa League a really good go, much like Villa and Spurs did. Asking and expecting the same squad to repeat a 60 game season again without freshening up is bordering on stupidity though imo. Hopefully they know who is done and make the hard calls.
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even if wide were to retain all our current players, our biggest need IMO is strengthening our back 3 options and midfield.
  • Our back 3 options because Sage will probably utilise 343 or 3421 more often than not a nd we only have 4 proper CBs.
  • Our midfield because once you take Kamada and Wharton out we are toothless. Hughes and Lerma can do a holding job when the main two tire but not much more than that, Doucoure is now an unknown quantity.
As for competition for Mitchell and Munoz, IMO we have adequate cover already. Sosa showed towards the end of the season that he can play a bit and in Cardines and Imray we have players who can rise to the challenge.

Of our current squad, I only expect Mateta to leave. Kamada may leave depending on where Glasner goes and if he still wants him. I expect Wharton to stay unless really silly money is offered (£100m plus given what Forest are wanting for Anderson).

I will probably be proved to be totally wrong, of course.
 
doombear said:
even if wide were to retain all our current players, our biggest need IMO is strengthening our back 3 options and midfield.
  • Our back 3 options because Sage will probably utilise 343 or 3421 more often than not a nd we only have 4 proper CBs.
  • Our midfield because once you take Kamada and Wharton out we are toothless. Hughes and Lerma can do a holding job when the main two tire but not much more than that, Doucoure is now an unknown quantity.
As for competition for Mitchell and Munoz, IMO we have adequate cover already. Sosa showed towards the end of the season that he can play a bit and in Cardines and Imray we have players who can rise to the challenge.

Of our current squad, I only expect Mateta to leave. Kamada may leave depending on where Glasner goes and if he still wants him. I expect Wharton to stay unless really silly money is offered (£100m plus given what Forest are wanting for Anderson).

I will probably be proved to be totally wrong, of course.
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It's hard to know at the moment isn't it. Sometimes it all happens in the final week in August, which sometimes makes you wonder what the point is in having transfer windows at all.

It would be nice if players like Ozoh, Bendmar (sic),Cardines and Imray could all break through. They must be quite close. It's going to be another mammoth season isn't it. Personally I'll be gutted if we lose Mateta. I think we need him and Strand Larsen.
 
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