Season Review 2014/15

So the season 2014/15 has come to an end and Crystal Palace five years on from near extinction find themselves finishing tenth in the league, with new manager Alan Pardew winning ten of his first fifteen matches in charge. For the second season in succession Palace bettered their points total recording their highest points tally in their Premier League history.

What was the highlight of the season? Possibly beating Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool as Palace improved their performances from last season against the top five clubs improving their performances against Chelsea last season.

So in review of a good campaign what other highlights are there? Without doubt the understated top form of defenders Scott Dann, Breta Hangeland and Joel Ward along with the undoubted consistency of long serving keeper Julian Speroni in his testimonial season against Dundee United. Other highlights include the continued good form of wingers Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha both of whom continue to improve the good form of wingers Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha both of whom continue to improve coming into the campaign with questions over their form Zaha because of his failed move to Manchester United and Bolasie as he continues to improve since his move from Bristol City. An undoubted highlight of the season was Bolasie’s hat-trick in the 1 – 4 demolition of Sunderland at the Stadium of light.

Another highlight of the campaign is that the team continues with a team largely built in the Championship with the likes of Speroni, Ward, Delaney, Jedinak and Murray stepping up to the plate and evolving from a Championship to Premier League squad. The fact that Dann, Hangeland , Kelly Mutch and Ledley have also added to the depth of the squad can only be a good thing. The team are enjoying arguably their best run of form since the heady days of Steve Coppell in the early 1990’s.

So what next for season 15/16  Palace like a good beer or cider have evolved slowly and next season could be dependent upon the careful signings made in the window Indeed depending on who Pardew brings in could influence how the season turns out. Yet reality says the table does not lie and what goes around comes around in a cyclical style, so if Palace invest astutely in the whole team then eventually next season if investment is shrewd than Palace can advance and eventually and hopefully the squad will be solid enough to amalgamate new recruits and advance upon the league like a solid military unit.

Competitive football in 2015 is very much like a business with expensive marque signings often bearing the brunt of whether a team succeeds or fails. Indeed it is shown with top heavy clubs like Aston Villa or Newcastle that success does not always follow investment in Newcastle case in point.

So finally what next for Crystal Palace. After finishing 10^th this season and improving their global profile much excitement remains at the prospect of stadium redevelopment and fresh investment under the day to day stewardship of Alan Pardew, Keith Millen Phil Alexander and Hari Jani. The future for the immediate term 2015/16 season looks very fulfilling and exciting