A world
class strike from Fulham’s Pajtam Kasami against the run of play and a strike
from Steve Sidwell on halftime cancelled out Adrian Miriappa’s opener to give
Fulham a 2 – 1 lead at halftime. Things went from bad to worse for Palace at
the start of the second half as Dmitar Birbatov was left unmarked to head home
a third, and Philippe Senderos completed the hammering with a forth, volleying
home a corner ten minutes into the second half.
Reality is
biting hard for the Palace faithful as the size of the task at hand Palace have
to stay in the Premier League becomes all the more stark. Even Fulham despite
their poor form put four goals past a haphazard Palace defence.
It started
so differently for Palace. Yannick Bolasie was making his first Premier League
start of the season combined well with Jason Puncheon on the opposite flank and
Palace’s Young Spanish Midfielder Jose Campana caused Fulham problems with
their pace. A goal from Adrian Miriappa gave Palace a deserved lead on seven
minutes. What followed showed the quality of the Premier League as Palace’s
progress towards a second home win was blitzed and derailed by two quality and
world class strikes.
Kasami’s
equaliser for Fulham came out of nothing and brought comparisons with Marco Van
Bastan’s world class volley for Holland at Euro 88. Palace was left reeling and
still recovering when a free kick for Fulham deflected off the wall back to
Steve Sidwell who shot an unbelievable drive into the top corner to give the
cottagers a halftime lead against the run of play.
Palace had
the fight taken out of them by halftime as in the second half the ruthless
finishing of the Premier League was drummed into Palace as even a team
struggling in the league such as Fulham was still ruthless enough to drub four
goals past the Palace backline.
The reality
is this is not a very good Palace side and within forty eight hours they would
have cost Ian Holloway his job as the manager fell on his sword with true
dignity as he felt unable to continue in his post. The fact is the
unquestionable team spirit that had lifted Palace in to the Premier League was
missing this campaign and Holloway’s decision to bring in fifteen new faces in
the transfer window had back fired as he did not know his best team and his
decision to bring in journeymen and mercenaries had lost him the dressing room.
Who next
then for Palace? I thought Holloway’s tenure would be eventful and exciting if
not long. So it proved with him delivering Freedmans’ team to the Premier
League. Ultimately his decision to dispense with the players who got him there
like Garvan and Dobbie cost him the team spirit and the dressing room. Tony
Pulis is a frontrunner to be the new boss his disciplined and direct style
would make Palace difficult to beat and may ultimately give Palace the best
chance to stay in the division.
Pulis’s hard
taskmaster reputation may drill the team kicking certain mercenaries’ backsides
into actually putting in performances for the team. Another manager on Palace’s
radar whose star is on the wane could well be Martin O’ Neil his success at
Wycombe and Leicester showed he liked a certain style of football, even though
he spent a lot of money at Aston Villa and was less successful at Sunderland.
The choice
for Steve Parish and the board of directors may be an unexpected one given how
keen they were to hold onto Holloway’s services. Yet both sides can hold their
heads up high as both came out with great dignity as Holloway accepted he had
lost the dressing room and Parish conceded Palace did not have the
infrastructure in place to make Holloway’s tenure a more successful one.
Up next for
Palace is Arsenal on Saturday with Keith Millen, Holloway’s assistant in
temporary charge. Things do not get any easier in the Premier League, but with
thirty games left there is enough time and points available for Holloway’s
successor whoever that may be to make a real impression.
The question
remains over Palace’s next manager. It is that question that may well decide
Palace’s fate this season and into the next campaign. The choice over the next
manager may decide whether has any long term legacy or is simply setting up a
strong squad for a promotion campaign in the Championship in 2014/2015.
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