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Premier League preview No2: Crystal Palace

By on August 13, 2013

We continue our countdown with another newly promoted side who will be fighting to stay up next season, Crystal Palace.

Crystal Palace

Ian Holloway has a tough task ahead of keeping Palace in the Premier League.

Ian Holloway has a tough task ahead of keeping Palace in the Premier League.

In: Dwight Gayle (Peterborough, £6m), Stephen Dobbie (Brighton, £850,000), Jerome Thomas (West Brom, Free), Kevin Phillips (Blackpool, Free), Elliot Grandin (Blackpool, Free), Marouane Chamakh (Arsenal, Loan)
Out: Alex Marrow (Blackburn), Jermaine Easter (Millwall), Andre Moritz (Bolton), Dale Banton (MK Dons, Loan).

Finally, after eight years, Crystal Palace have another chance to keep themselves in the Premier League. So far, luck has evaded them during their four previous visits to the Premier League. Although during the 1992/93 season the club ended the season on 49 points, enough for an eight place finish last season, Palace were relegated, and during their next stay in the top flight they finished fourth from bottom but were relegated as the league was downsizing to 20 teams.

Now though, back in the Premier League via the playoffs following their amazing 5th place finish in the Championship manager Ian Holloway must brush off the club’s history if he wishes to keep his side among the big boys. Holloway will be keen to tap into the spirit his lads held during last season’s run, but the question remains on whether Hull have the talent to challenge rivals such as Aston Villa and Norwich City. Palace’s loss of the youthful talent that Wilfred Zaha had displayed at Selhurst Park is obviously a blow, yet Holloway is lucky to retain most of his experienced and better players. Although he will be missing the club’s top scorer last season Glenn Murray, who netted 30 league goals, due to injury for the first part of the season, the signing of Marouane Chamakh on loan from Arsenal is a promising piece of business.

The club also managed to snap up former West Bromwich Albion midfielder Jerome Thomas, a talented player who has much experience in the top flight, on a free transfer, and the signing of Dwight Gayle from Peterborough has caused some excitement. Gayle, who move through the ranks of Arsenal’s youth academy, is a natural finisher at the age of 22 and has the potential to be a future star. Another starlet the Bluebirds have signed is Jose Campana, captain of Spain’s Under-20’s, from Sevilla, and the deep-lying midfielder could also be a key player in the future.

Still, Holloway will need to sign more experienced players if he hopes to challenge the likes of Villa and Norwich in the relegation battle, so luckily for the club they have two more weeks to finalize their squad.

But even if Palace become the first side promoted to the Premier League via the playoffs since the 2010/11 season to be immediately relegated, the promotion will be a big boost for the club on the whole. With the extra cash from television deals, sponsorship deals and improved ticket sales the club is already set to expand their stadium and Palace bought a new high tech training ground in Beckenham for £2.3m at an auction earlier this summer, so even if their Premier League stay is short lived, although the club will not go down without a fight, they will benefit from it nonetheless.

Last season’s position: 5th, Championship

Alex’s predicted position: 19th

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.