Just a statistic before you assume we are already relegated:

On the 23rd of November 2013 Palace had 7 points and a -14 GD we ended that season in 11th with a -15 GD something that can quite easily happen again.

Let's see where we are in November the23rd this time found, I believe we will be on more than 7 points.

We just have to get past this Chelsea game and then our season begins against Newcastle.

By then we will have a new Striker and most of our players back unless they get injured again before then.

We never expected anything from these 3 games and Utd have won 4 of there 6 games 4-0 whilst City had scored something like 20 goals in 4 games so not really what pundits/fans really expected.

Keep the faith and be positive.

Marco Van Basten is a free agent, as is Romario.

No one is pretending this season thus far has been anything but poor. We are though six points from being 17th or 16th. Today we played well in patches. Our midfield was working well. We were missing SEVEN first eleven players. I have watched other teams in the EPL and I would be far more worried being a fan of those teams than I am of being a Palace fan ( of 55 years standing). Our fit squad is good. Of course we need more strikers and other positions too BUT we are far far better than our current results suggest. Anyway as a Palace fan does anyone expect a smooth ride? I felt quite odd a couple of seasons ago when things went so smoothly that come January I had no real fear of relegation!

Always remembering walking from the Holmesdale to the Whitehorse end at half time!

The players are, on the whole, good enough individually for the PL: under normal circumstances.They started badly because they were expected to play for a new manager in a totally unfamiliar set up. Under pressure, in particular, they could not have been expected to perform effectively when they were all so unfamiliar with the new set up, especially when the team was being rotated. No one had the chance to get familiar with working together.

Since then, loss of confidence and having to play the best teams in the PL will have impacted heavily on their individual quality, and also motivation. With no expectation of winning or probably even drawing is always going to slow pretty much any player down. Even 1-2% loss of pace will count enormously in this league. Drive and effort count enormously at this level. One or two players underperforming can, against the PL's weaker team, can sometimes be accommodated, but not a collective loss of drive.

If they can pick themselves up to normal levels of confidence against the teams after Chelsea there will remain hope because individually and as a team they have the quality. Last January, what helped, I believe, was the new players that had motivation to perform as they did not have the Pardew legacy to contend with. That brought the whole team on, eventually, under Sam's direction. The new players and Sam, being without the Pardew baggage, revitalised the 'Pardew crew' who then upped their game and together they all pulled through- fantastically.

FDB was not given enough time and he should not have been recruited to attempt to change a squad in a such a short time and with so little money to buy players. If is true that £40m will be available in January then one can't help but one wonders whether that money could actually have been spent in the summer (unless of course S. Parish et al had already decided that FDB was not going to be manager so did not want him to spend any money on players for his system.

Apologies for such a long post.

And the beat goes on.

My worry is that we will flirt with relegation once too often. We may have got away with it before but that makes it all the more likely that some time soon we'll trip up.

Love the optimism. Wish I could share it.