PALACE FOOTBALL TEAM....facts...THE PLAYERS WHO ARE CAPABLE OF WINNING MATCHES ARE ALL injured. There is no reasonable replacement for each of them. The remainder of the squad are either newly acquired and not yet have found their feet, or the others are just not that capable of creating a winning game. One can only do so much with handleable when that is all that is left to work with. Reasonableness needs to prevail.

Here since 81...(LAST CENTURY !!).. x-Dunraven School, early 1960.... Palace 'nut' since 58....

If we end up playing the likes of Bristol City and Coventry in the Championship next season I'm sure that we can console ourselves with the thought we went down with the very best of excuses and for the solid reasons that you outline!
Alternatively,we could stop making excuses to justify failure and look at the remaining 15 games and how we can maximise our points return with the players who are actually available.
'Fail to prepare, prepare to fail' is the old saying that springs to mind.
'The real crime is to aim low and still miss' is another.
We sometimes seem guilty of both under Hodgson.

You use the word "Excuses", my comments can be filed under the category "Explanations".

Suffice to say should we slip through that dreaded relegation trapdoor there will be a great deal of comment as to quite why we have found ourselves in the Championship.I suspect that reasoned debate will focus on the "reasons" whilst of course Mr Hodgson and Parish will face shot and shell.

Unfortunately, it seems Hodgson doesn't fall into that category of person because he keeps doing the same thing and is surprised when he gets the same results.

The degree of unrealism that is being displayed by some of our fans makes me feel quite ashamed.

We are enjoying our longest ever run in England’s top division, widely regarded as the best in the world. Compare that from where we used to be and we all should be immensely proud of our club and its management.

We aren’t able to just buy ourselves out of trouble. When it hits, as it always will, it hurts. We have though managed to pull through in the past with the management, players and fans united and determined. We need to play our part and not expect the impossible.

Roy was brought back to hold the line for another year. No one expected most of our key players to get injured in the way they have. No manager has the capacity to deal with that easily. We always knew a change would happen this coming summer. Getting on Roy’s and the player’s backs now is not going to help them at all. It will demoralise, demotivate and depress them. They need to be encouraged and supported.

Just imagine if you were Steve and now searching for Roy’s replacement. How would they feel coming to a club with such toxic fans? Imagine Roy gets so affected by the mood he walks away and there is no replacement of anything approaching the same quality available.

This is not how we are. Put away the banners and start supporting. Everyone knows the football is uninspiring but grinding out points when you have a restricted list of names available is what you do. Survival is the target.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

I think the question is should he be getting more out of the players he does have at his disposal. There has been no improvement seen in most of the players, some of whom even look worse. Brighton were not littered with great players on Saturday but they had a shape, a structure and a clear way of playing. We weren't playing Arsenal or Man City. Most of their passes were no more than 10-15 feet meaning even an average player could achieve that. What was Hodgson's plan? I am struggling to work it out these days. We do seem to win a lot of free-kicks but there doesn't seem to be any plan as to what we're going to do with them. Same with the corners.

Hodgson's plan of containing teams for 70 minutes and turning it into a 20 minute game is not working any more in most games. His tactic of packing out the centre is being exploited by teams targeting our wide areas. When Eze and Olise are out we don't have the pace to counter and he won't play the players that have it (Ahamada and Franca).

On Saturday he had Colombia's first choice right-back, a player who was voted one of the best Danish players in 2023, a regular England centre-back, a former England left-back, an England goalkeeper, A US regular international, a Colombian international and Bournemouth's POTY last season, a player who led Ghana in the AFCON and in JPM a striker finally making the most of a chance in the team. On top of that he had one of the most promising young midfielders in England in Wharton. This is not a bunch of has beens, the team on Saturday was made up almost entirely of regular internationals. If they can't pass the ball, can't defend, can't attack and look clueless that is the manager. He looks out of touch with the modern game.