The forest win today was very much like us under Hodgson. They got dominated at home, created probably 2 chances, took one and mostly defended solidly. It looks like it'll keep them up. Hodgson did brilliantly for us but I wouldn't want to return to that style of play.

We're not great at the moment but I think despite the current tough run of games there have been some signs of improvement. The next 4 games are clearly massive as we play a big rival, an out of form team and two midtable teams. We need to show we're competitive in all 4 of these and be picking up points. I'm hoping for 4 or 5 points with some decent encouraging performances.

A few counselling sessions and I'd forgotten too.

Red and Blue Army!

Perhaps it’s who the teams have left to play?

Is the Pakace DNA being a yo yo club? Perhaps we are trying to get away from that. At the end of the day if SD was undermining PV, he had to go. I’m not a great believer in “his Palace, so can do no wrong”. Think Ian Wright

Havent forgotten De Boer, impossible to judge after 4 games

“That’s a joke son, I say, that’s a joke.” “Nice boy, but he’s sharp as a throw pillow.” “He’s so dumb he thinks a Mexican border pays rent” “ “Son… I say, son, some people are so narrow minded they can look through a keyhole with both eyes.”__ Forhorn Leghorn

Really good post, but to some extent I have to take issue with the paragraph above, not because the facts stated are wrong (you're entirely right) but because it ignores the denouement of the story.

Everything you've said is true and, in the end, Allison left but not after "two years of failure", but rather after two years of failure to achieve promotion which is slightly different.

What cannot be contested is that while Allison never reaped the fruit, he did plant the tree. He changed our style and led the transition to and initial success of what was then the best youth setup in the country. The reinvention of Palace occurred under his watch. Yes, he didn't get us over the hump; it was Terry Venables who did that (and reaped the dividends) but without Allison doing the legwork and rebuilding our entire philosophy, there's a strong argument that the Team of the Eighties would never have happened.

All this leads to a valid question. If Vieira is, as you suggest, possibly a latterday Malcolm Allison and we moved on from him at the end of this season but, in two years' time we found ourselves in Europe, how much more fondly would PV's critics today look back on his time as our manager? And equally, if we had stuck with Big Mal for another twelve months, would we have won the promotion that Venables led us to anyway? Just food for thought.

Sydenham by birth. Selhurst by the Grace of God.