Why Crystal Palace's league position is misleading

After an odd start to the season Crystal Palace find themselves in 8th, however it’s not the best overall indication of their abilities.

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew

Many Palace fans have been calling for the head of manager Alan Pardew for a while now, and it doesn’t seem as if that will change despite their position in the Premier League. A strong start can often be misleading for fans, but this is more of a fortunate start than anything else.

The club’s early fixtures have been extremely fortunate, with the game against Tottenham being the only contest where they’ve faced a big side. In their first five league fixtures they’ve come across teams that they’re likely to battle in the relegation scrap this season, and they’ve had mixed results.

In their first two home league games they managed to secure just one point from games against West Brom and Bournemouth, with fans having much higher expectations given their summer spendings.

Crystal Palace's Andros Townsend Crystal Palace’s Andros Townsend

An unconvincing League Cup victory over fourth tier Blackpool didn’t do much to stem the worries, and their two league triumphs have come against a Middlesbrough side who had an off-day defensively and a Stoke team with just one point from their first five games.

Whilst some may see this as being picky, it is interesting to note that the Eagles’ fixtures will get progressively harder from this point on. Pardew has a habit of riding the momentum of his teams way beyond his own qualities as a manager. Having spent over £50 million in the summer transfer window, it appears as if the resolution to his problems is to throw money around.

Crystal Palace's Jonathan Benteke comes on as a substitute to replace Crystal Palace's Christian Benteke Crystal Palace’s Jonathan Benteke comes on as a substitute to replace Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke