The problem for me is that Palace fans have suddenly adopted a set of very misplaced expectations, on the back of what was a deceptively poor transfer window. We signed a very good young player and brought Bats back, granted. But all of a sudden people were waxing lyrical about how great the squad is - and how we should now push on - as if we were signing world beaters left right & centre or something.

Truthfully, the squad still still had a significant lack of investment for years prior to that & is still inferior to the vast majority of clubs in the Premier League. At no other Premier League club will you find Jeffrey Schlupp starting as centre forward. Even in the very worst teams, there is more potential to build than at Palace. Just look at the squads of the clubs most tipped for relegation and you'll see a small selection of young talent at the very least that just needs nurturing & put together properly.

So where does that leave us in the context of Roy? Well, he frustrates the life out of me at times & I don't have confidence he will nurture young players. And, sure, we can get rid of the guy. But generally, I'd suggest he's actually quite underrated & we should all be careful what we wish for.

The fact of the matter is, in Roy we have a manager who maximises what he has at his disposal. That is evidenced in his entire tenure at the club. Arguably, he had a stronger squad when he first joined (Cabaye, RLC, AWB, Sakho at his best etc etc) than what he has now & contrary to popular sentiment, we actually played some very decent, attacking football under Roy in his first season.

I hate to break it to a few of you lot, but there are very few managers available in English or World Football that would keep the squad of players we have at the moment in the Premier League consistently. And, yet, despite all of the hysteria that follows a couple of bad results, we are absolutely not going down under Roy. That's why he's still at the club despite how frustrating he can be.

Fans are also probably misplaced in directing all of their grievances towards Parish. However you feel personally about the guy, he deeply cares about the club & he has the immense responsibility of ensuring we maintain our status & stability in the Premier League. Going down is not an option for the long term future of Crystal Palace.

I think everyone really has to start asking what they're expecting from the club at this stage. I'd love us to integrate more young & attacking players & push for Europe as much as any Palace fan. But whilst your best centre half is a 34 year old, your most expensive striker scores 1 goal every 2 years & your owners lack the buying power of your competition - progress really isn't as straightforward as some make out online & make no mistake about it, that progress will be stalled drastically if we go down.

Whilst all the above remains true, Roy probably isn't going anywhere. And in fairness, it's probably right that he isn't, too. He's still leagues ahead of the old school British managers we've had in the past & I suspect there are a number of clubs in and around us who'd be far more grateful to have him than some of us are at times.

Roy has brought a certain level of stability & longevity that we were desperately crying out for prior to his arrival. What's more, he's done it on very little. Managers were backed financially to the hilt prior to him - just look at the investment both Pardew & Allardyce were afforded during their reigns. He hasn't received that level of support at any point & he's quietly gone about the business of maintaining our status as a Premier League club. Whatever the future holds, I will personally be eternally grateful to him for that.

As I said earlier in the post, be careful what you wish for.

Edited by Mstrobez (28 Nov 2020 8.52am)

Is that you Roy ;-) Think most of us realise the gamble replacing Hodgson and Lewington but we have got to a stage where we are going backwards and entertaining the fans has completely gone. We had two international forwards on the bench last night and played a defender/midfielder up front. I’m fairly sure Dyche would have those two forwards playing regularly if he had them at Burnley and they would be.scoring goals against teams like us and Newcastle. And how did Dann and Townsend get starts last night with one being to old to play so soon after Monday and the other being awful last Monday. And then having played Townsend he brought on Benteke and took off the player that may have supplied the crosses for him. I believe we should take that gamble even if it’s for our sanity as I’m beginning to lose it ;-) and ;-(

As I said, be careful what you wish for. There aren't many clubs in the Premier League where Scott Dann would be playing week in, week out. Let alone making the bench. The football is pretty dire. And, yes, we are probably worse now than when Roy first joined. But he has had little to no investment when you compare him to managers who have gone before him & managers of other clubs in the league. I reckon you're seriously overestimating what he actually has at his disposal. Although he really should've done more to integrate Max Meyer & Jairo Riedewald (earlier). I also openly accept Roy can be frustrating as hell at times. But for me he is still massively underappreciated/rated by a growing set of fans.

Edited by Mstrobez (28 Nov 2020 9.17am)

Finishing 9 points clear of relegation and never really being in trouble at any point of the season with the squad we had last year is actually some achievement that would take some doing to replicate IMO. People would cite someone like Big Sam. But let's not ignore the fact that we were sinking fast under him prior to very big investment in the January transfer window under him.

Roy really isn't a bad manager at all.

I wanted Roy to leave at the end of last season .
This was not a knee jerk reaction to the terrible form in the last few games, but was based on his overly defensive approach over the whole season where we were at or near the bottom for goals scored, chances created, efforts on goal etc.
This season he has changed his approach and we have looked more threatening and are creating more chances.
The last two defeats are largely due to player errors.
Personally I was not happy with the selection of Schlupp and Ayew up front last night when he had Benteke and Batshuayi on the bench, but on the other hand they have not pulled up any trees when they have started games.
There is little likelihood of Roy leaving this season unless we are in danger of relegation or if a manager becomes available that we don’t want to miss out on.
Neither situation looks likely at present.