We are where we are because we have beaten the crap teams more often than not. If you look at our wins this season you will notice only 1 notable scalp, our first win away against Manure.

We have taken 12 points from Bournemouth and West Ham, two teams that are scrapping it out for relegation and the only other team we have beaten in the top half is Burnley so nothing to write home about there.

Now take a closer look at the results and the goals scored. We have not scored more than 2 goals in any game and only scored 2 goals at home twice for wins:

Man Utd 1-2
Villa (h) 1-0
Norwich (h) 2-0
West Ham 1-2
Burnley 0-2
Bournemouth (h) 1-0
West Ham (h) 2-1
Newcastle (h) 1-0
Brighton 0-1
Watford (h) 1-0
Bournemouth 0-1

I thought I would compare this with the 2015/2016 season, we finished in 15th position with 42 points under Pardew, a points total we could feasibly end up on this year.

Wins in that season were:

Norwich 1-3
Villa (h) 2-1
Chelsea 1-2
Watford (h) 0-1
WBA (h) 2-0
Liverpool 1-2
Newcastle (h) 5-1
Southampton (h) 1-0
Stoke 1-2
Norwich (h) 1-0
Stoke (h) 2-1

So that is 11 wins with 5 of those against top half teams vs currently 11 this season with two wins against a top half club. We scored 23 goals in 2015/16 vs 16 goals this season scored during those wins. If our sole objective is to stay up which we did in 2015/16 and we will this year, then if you compare the two, I know which season I found more enjoyable and exciting. There was the small matter of a cup final thrown in as well. Scalps of Chelsea and Liverpool made for an exciting year.

I'm not saying Pardew was a great manager because he wasn't but there is more than one way to skin a cat and I think overall I much preferred the Pardew way.

Roy has great defensive strategy but it makes for boring football. I would say the two squads were of similar quality overall and if anything I think the current squad would get the nod for overall ability. This rather knocks on the head the point that Roy is working miracles with a poor squad.

In summary, Roy has kept us up, well done. Did I enjoy it, no. Should he go now, yes, definitely if we have a decent replacement who is willing to join us.

Spot on! Other clubs are getting stronger too. We need to have the best squad ever simply to survive.

That Roy has helped us to do more than that this season (some people were dreaming of Europe only a week or so a go) is testament to how good a job he has done.

I, too, want to see more Palace goals at home and more entertainment BUT we can only achieve that if we have the right players. As has been said, when we had RL-C on loan we were more adventurous but the fact remains we don't have proven attacking midfielders in our squad, so what is Roy supposed to do? He can only work with what he's got. I'm still hopeful a couple of the youngsters (Pierrick and Mitchell) will get a decent run out before the season ends.

Whilst I understand your point, surely each season you simply play against the other teams that are put in front of you. If this notion that teams are getting better and better each year is to stand up to scrutiny, then does that mean that the players and teams were bang average 5/10 years ago? Yes you have to improve your squad, but managing a team is not just about going out there and spending loads of money.

Your manager has to be good in the transfer market as well as managing your existing players and this is another reason why I think Roy is no longer a good fit for us. He sees players like Cahill as the way forward. Great signing, great player but big wages and only a couple of seasons left in him. Roy likes and will only use tried and trusted players so there will never be a forward looking Palace team whilst he is in charge.

You don't have to spend massive amounts to stay in the PL especially if you look at say the Southampton model. The converse is that spending a fortune will not turn you into world beaters. Just ask Everton lol.

Have Chelsea had a world beating year by putting Frank in charge and have they spent fortunes, no. However he is building for the future and the young players he has there could end up being the next Man Utd of the Beckham era.

I take your point too. Regarding Chelsea, though, they have so many players on their books and had good young players out on loan in recent years, and yet it took a transfer embargo before the club was prepared to put the better youngsters to the test. Would Frank have been allowed to blood them had there been no embargo? Remember, they are the club who let Lukaku, De Bruyne and Salah go! How stupid was that? Now that the current youngsters in the club have shown what they can do, Chelsea may well be vying for the title in a couple of years.

Meanwhile back to Palace and beyond Pierrick and Mitchell who do we have worth blooding? Dreher? Woods? I don't know because living in the Midlands I only get to the 1st team games.

Perhaps we should start another thread on the subject of which youngsters should be given a chance.

We'll never get a proven attacking midfielder unless he gives an emerging player time, or signs another aging player.

Stats are currently showing our holding midfielders are putting in barely any tackles and their passing is attrocious. McCarthy made 0 attempted tackles against Liverpool. The holding midfielders we have may be better quality than Mayer or Pierreck, but what's the point in them being on the pitch if they aren't doing anything? Jedinak used to have one of the best stats for interceptions and tackles, which is what you'd expect for someone in his position. Roy's far too cautious and is putting far too much emphise on keeping a good shape.

Yes, Chelsea are fortunate that they are able to buy up all of the local talent and then cherry pick. We should be able to counter that by saying, “come to Palace and you will get to play”, trouble is all the youngsters know that means for the U23s and not for the first team.

As for our youngsters, every time I have seen Dreher he looks like he has some quality about him. When you see players like Raymond refusing to sign a contract though and Spurs eyeing up Mitchell you can understand the players frustrations and see that our setup does not allow enough integration into the first team.

A complete change in philosophy is needed in my opinion however the club will be petrified about it not working so will probably stick with its dour approach.