4. Pardew's First Major Mistake?
When Glenn Murray was sold to Bournemouth at the end of August most fans said goodbye with a heavy heart but accepted that
around £4 million was good value and that he needed to play games. We knew that Pardew was gambling on the fitness and form of the strikers we had but we trusted that Alan Pardew had made the right decision. It's looking more and more like Pardew didn't. One of the main reasons we have been given for Murray's departure was that he wasn't going to play many games but with Connor Wickham struggling with fitness this season (and over the last few seasons), Frazer Campbell struggling, Maroune Chamakh trying to play his way back to form and Patrick Bamford not up to it, he probably would have started more games than any other striker this season. It looks like Pardew's gamble has backfired massively. Had Murray started ten games this season, I struggle to believe Palace would still only have one goal between all their strikers so far. With Murray not getting much game time at Bournemouth, it looks like both parties would have done better holding out until January.