Very weird season, I’m ecstatic we are not in the relegation battle , and that is a great achievement for this stage of the season, however , I do understand that the large section of the fan base are fed up with our performances , with the quote “be careful what you wish for” I get that aswell , we havnt been in the relegation zone for three years so that’s a great achievement and maybe we have “gone up a level” however , as a hardened supporter I do think many of our games this season have not only been poor but absolutely shambolic , in my option , Roy has made his own fate and it’s a shame because he should be the manager who is put down in our history as “steadying the ship” and making us a established premier league side but his refusal to change things up when we go a goal or two down is not only frustrating but down right idiotic! A quote from Chris Coleman springs to mind when he was commentating on the Tottenham game and we conceded , the main commentator said “what’s palaces plan b?” Coleman replied , “roys plan b is to work harder at plan a “! Now that to me just about sums it up, nowadays if we go a goal down, to me, that’s it! Game over! I have never felt like that before watching palace. I’ve also felt we are in with a shout with the passion of the players and us as fans when we are in the stadium
I would be amazed if we havnt got a plan in place to succeed Roy at the end of this season , who that will be ? I don’t know and I do absolutely trust Steve parish so I’m not really that concerned .

What I do want to see for the remainder of this season , for Roy’s own sake and his memory in palace folklore for what I said at the start as seeing us through 3 years in the prem , is a shake up to the starting lineup , there is no way that we should start with the same team who put that dross on the plate yesterday.

Luka and Jairo I feel are our main problems , Luka , when he first came was solid and the “the next jedinak “ but now, I feel he offers absolutely nothing as a player and a captain. I know this will annoy some people aswell but I also think Jairo offers absolutely nothing either.

So this would be my lineup for what it’s worth
Guita
Ward Kelly Cahill (C) Mitchell
Zaha kouyate McCarthy Schlupp
Benteke batshuyai

Eze isn’t doing the defensive duties he needs to do and he needs to mature ,

This I hope would allow us to have a real go and also please the fans that he is trying to change things.

And if things go wrong ? Make a substitution!
I said to my old man at half time yesterday , that a change or two needed to be made at half time because on no way was them players performances acceptable , so it should be noted you play like that? You get dropped , but he didn’t!!

Anyway let me know your thoughts , I wanted to get out my thoughts on our situation, and believe me , I’m very happy we are still a prem side and although we have lots out of contract and it’s worrying , it’s also a time to be optimistic because If the board get it right, we could really make our stamp on the league , but yes get it wrong, and we all know what could happen , either way COYP!

“This is a crisis, a large crisis.... in fact if you have a moment, it’s a 12 storey crisis, magnificent entrance hall, carpeting throughout, 24 hour portage , and an enormous sign on the roof saying “This , is a large crisis” - Edmund Blackadder

Luka and Jairo I feel are our main problems , Luka , when he first came was solid and the “the next jedinak “ but now, I feel he offers absolutely nothing as a player and a captain. I know this will annoy some people aswell but I also think Jairo offers absolutely nothing either.

I agree with you completely on this. The majority of games are played in the middle of the park and it is where we get battered every week. Luka is a defensive midfielder and that is where he has been good the last few seasons, especially in a midfield 3 but when he plays with Jairo he always struggles. Jairo on the other hand could play in a midfield 8 and still look like a 4 year old lost in the park.

Roy's midfield favourites lack the ability to shield the ball, carry it 10 yards, look up, and pick a pass. Eze can do it, but he is isolated out on the left.

injuries haven't helped but Roy's reluctance to change hasn't helped.

Changes for Leicester will probably be Mitchell for PVA and McCarthy for Jairo - i suspect both would have been done earlier if both were 100% fit.

Eze has been shocking for a while, both on the left and in the centre so i'd expect Jeff to come in on the left.

I'm not expecting many other changes.

Spot with the midfield issue.

Kouyate would provide a presence in midfield which we don't have at the moment. Put him alongside McCarthy, if he is fit.

I would have Eze playing as a No. 10, but he needs a centre forward that will run off the ball. Benteke simply won't do that, and Batsuayi doesn't do much running either (although he is dec ent finisher). I would play Ayew upfront with Eze behind.

Guaita
Ward
Kelly
Cahill
Mitchell
Kouyate
McCarthy
Schlupp
Zaha
Eze
Ayew

Because he's better, perhaps?

Remember, there's still money up for grabs based on where we finish in the table. Top 10 isn't out of reach either, which I'm pretty sure is the goal. And for an incoming manager/players...a team finishing 10 in the premier league has more appeal than a team finishing 15th. We should be throwing everything at the finish.