Like everyone else I was utterly disappointed with yesterday. Everyone keeps saying 'we're down' etc and at first I said the same but I stood back and thought about these points:

Sam has only been here for about nine, ten days and has had 3 games in that time. He probably hasn't had anytime to get to know the players and his best team.

He managed to keep a very poor Sunderland side up last year when they were in the bottom three, we aren't and I very much suspect that for the FA Cup game he won't be playing our main side, so he now has two weeks to work with the team and work out the players and how to get the players back to their best form.

2 days before the Swansea game we played Arsenal, and although they weren't at their best either, they are still a great team with the ball and would have knackered out players out and I generally believe that if we would of had longer to rest and talk tactics etc, we would of won that game, so that is a bit of bad luck.

So what I am saying is, don't give up and get behind the team. A few seasons ago everyone would of been happy staying up and our team isn't fantastic anyway, and it has also been played about by Pardew. In two weeks time I think we will see a much better display at West Ham and if I am wrong then fair enough, but don't give up yet as we have been able to turn these relegation situations around before with a worse side.

Just trying to find some positive thinking and get the fans believing again

Edited by speediej (04 Jan 2017 1.58pm)

COYP

Very good post. There are many twists and turns to come this season. We'll stay up.

True, we have stayed up before with a worse side. But that worse side was full of leaders and had an abundance of team spirit and togetherness, which, quite frankly, seems to have abandoned us this season. The individuals were not brilliant in the worst sides of old, but we showed grit and determination to raise our game beyond our expectations and quality level. A true team effort.

This season, the quality in terms of individuals is most definitely there but we are not seeing the level of cohesion we had seen from teams of old.

Perhaps this has something to do with the soul being ripped out of our side. The first instance of this was when Jedinak was replaced as captain whilst he was still a Palace player - which was poor management in my opinion. The second instance where the soul disappeared completely was with the sales of Jedinak and Murray (and possibly Gayle). The character of these players being in and around the dressing room, i feel, was key to our success.

Like you said, we shall see in the coming weeks and months what the future will hold for us. Right now it does not bode well. I think by the West Ham game we will still be a bag of nerves.

Hopefully we recruit well and as fans we get behind the team to retain our premier league status.

I think SP made the decision he did knowing we'd probably still struggle through this period.

We now have a less hectic schedule and the opportunity to work with the players, and bring some new ones in.

Employee of the month is a good example of how someone can be both a winner and a loser at the same time.

The management sold or benched it and now we are left with mentally lightweight players with no never say die attitude. Deeply depressing

The ups and downs of Palace have left me older than my years