After a disappointing end to their 2015/16 Premier League campaign, Crystal Palace are struggling for consistency.
Despite flexing their financial muscles over the summer, Crystal Palace have struggled to find a run of consistent good form this season.
As they continue to linger near the wrong end of the table, Palace have now parted ways with Alan Pardew, and hired former England manager Sam Allardyce, who they’ll be hoping can turn around their season in 2017.
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew
The beginning of the year was a sour one for Crystal Palace fans, as the Eagles not only went the entire month without a win, but instead lost every single Premier League game, including defeats to Chelsea, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.
Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha and team mates look dejected
Their run of bad form in the Premier League would continue until the end of the season, with the Eagles picking up only two top-flight wins between February to May. That form, which seemed to hit Palace only at the turn of the year, could have meant relegation for Pardew’s side, had it been a factor all season.
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew looks on in dissapointment
Despite their poor league results, Crystal Palace made it to the FA Cup final, facing Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United. Though Palace took the lead through Jason Puncheon, United equalised through a goal from Juan Mata, and then went on to win the game through a late goal from Jesse Lingard.
Crystal Palace’s manager Alan Pardew with Emmanuel Adebayor and teammates dejected after losing the final
After the disappointment of missing out on a rare piece of silverware, Palace were faced with a poor end to what had been a poor season. Over the summer, Palace fans knew that improvements were needed both in the forward positions and at the back, and so Alan Pardew went about finding reinforcements, starting with Marseille’s world class goalkeeper, Steve Mandanda.
Crystal Palace’s Steve Mandanda
As well as the France international, Palace splashed the cash on two more impressive forward signings, in the form of Newcastle United’s Andros Townsend, and Liverpool striker Christian Benteke. Hoping that these new additions would add extra firepower, Palace fans now faced the 16/17 season with an understandable sense of optimism.
Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke applauds his new fans
However, despite the new signings, Palace didn’t pick up their first Premier League win of the new campaign until the 10th of September, beating Middlesbrough 1-2 thanks to goals from Christian Benteke and Wilfried Zaha.
Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha scores their second goal against Middlesbrough
The win, it appeared for a time, would go on to be somewhat of a catalyst for Palace’s season, who then went on in September to beat Stoke City 4-1, as well as beating Sunderland 2-3. With Zaha, Benteke and Townsend all in form, things were starting to look up for the Eagles.
Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke scores their third goal
However, it would end up taking until the 3rd of December for Crystal Palace to pick up another Premier League win, as the Eagles suffered 6 straight defeats over the course of October and November. With Palace now languishing dangerously close to the bottom end of the table, the club have decided to part ways with Alan Pardew, replacing him with Premier League veteran and former England manager, Sam Allardyce. Will a change in management be enough to turn around the Eagles form in 2017?
Former England manager Sam Allardyce
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