Definitely ,a snake coming up, in the fixtures.
If there are no worthwhile signings, sooner than later, and the majority of injuries dealt with before the beginning of Feb, the snakes could become one huge Python, with its tail in eighteenth position.
No matter what the reasons have been, the board have been playing with fire for some time now. If none ,or little of the above happens, then ,Palace, being in the PL come May, will be because we have 28 pts in the bag. and Lady Luck smiles kindly on a regular basis.