The Premier League era has not been kind to Crystal Palace. Four immediate relegations make for an infamous history and that past generates a sense of foreboding and inevitability about the outcome of the Eagles' fifth attempt at top flight survival. Desperate to confound the critics and break out of this familiar cycle, Ian Holloway recruited en masse over the summer. Palace were the busiest Premier League club signing 16 players in the transfer window. Holloway later admitted this was a mistake. "We changed too much too quickly," he lamentably told reporters at a press conference last month as he quit Selhurst Park by mutual consent after 11 months in charge. The whirlwind promotion via the playoffs came too soon for the Eagles. That dressing room full of new faces was said to have eroded the spirit forged as Palace defied the odds by coming up from The Championship. A "tired" and "worn out" Holloway is yet to be permanently replaced. His assist Keith Millen holds the reins in caretaker charge at the moment, but the procession of defeats has simply carried on. Given all these ingredients it can come as no surprise that the Selhurst hotseat is a job nobody seems to want. Click next for more...
Jamie Clark is a qualified Web Journalist after undergoing professional training at the University of Sheffield. A prolific and accredited sports writer, he also enjoys classic comedy, historic fiction, 80s music and heritage.
