Defintely going to be a grind to get to 30. Realistically, a bunch of nil nil draws going to be the only way to avoid the inevitable relegation scrap. 11 behind the ball and steal points on the counter.

Bouenemouth and Forest games at seasons end could be very meaningful when it previously it appeared as though they wouldn't matter.

As I posted earlier - the fans wanted a cup run, the team has failed once more. Seriously, I would be looking to cancel bonuses and cut wages. Lazy and incompetent players, intermingled with some who think they're better than they are and about two or three genuinely decent ones. When a business fails to deliver to its customers repeatedly, it should not be rewarding its staff. f*** this lot. I noticed tickets are available to many matches - a sign of the times. I don't blame any fan in being pissed off with this.
The one I don't blame is PV, our problem is boardroom investment, amateurish scouting and "the squad is good enough" my arse. There are several players not worth a fee and whose contracts expire this season. We're actually going to need several replacements in the summer. Does that look likely? The squad is an aging, ticking time bomb.

Red and Blue Army!

By all accounts Southampton were awful, we played well for the most part but currently we couldn’t score in a brothel and our goalkeeper chucked a couple of goals in the net. We need a decent goal scorer. Ayew was his usual busy ineffective self. PV clearly doesn’t rate Mateta or Richards for some reason.

Wilf is having his normal January slump and will be off in the summer. Time to take anything we can get for him and Mateta, buy a striker and hope that Ayew picks up an injury so that PV is forced to play him and give Edouard a run on the left. Stick Johnstone in goal.

The club is lurching towards relegation Palace need a complete overhaul from top to bottom Parish Viera Roberts and some of the players are failing the club badly - personnel replacements are essential if we are to stay in the premier league

He may have been 'backed', but those signings weren't a gift to him personally. They were needed because the squad was desperately short. Bare in mind the bulk of these were two summers ago, since then we have lost more than we have gained. Meanwhile those around us will invest and evolve, invest and evolve, with succession planning mapped out.

Ward has been a stop-gap for about 5 years. Our midfield engine room is a choice from Shlupp, Doucourè, Milivojevic, Hughes, MacArthur, Ayew. Only one of them is currently good enough for a first 11 in my opinion.

Part of our issue is that we so rarely recoup a transfer fee. Bar Wan-Bissaka, you're going back to Zaha to Man Utd for anything substantial. All the players signed in PL era have basically left for nothing at the end of their contract, or ar best some kind of nominal fee. Benteke, Cabaye, PVA, Milivojevic, MacArthur, Sakho.... and probably many others i can't recall... there's just no resale value, so we have to break the bank to replace them.

It's partly why we always seem to need to seek investment to buy players. We used to spend all the income on wages and nothing else.

We are investing in youth these days, but we are yet to reap any reward, through ability or finances. Everything takes time, and I am confident we aren't going to get relegated. But my God, we do need a couple of additions of a higher calibre to those already there. And Chuba Akpom doesn't strike me as any better than the two strikers we already have.

Yet another home defeat to continue our downward slide.
Better out of the Cup at this stage,so that we can harness maximum effort to avoid relegation without this distraction.