By Simon Wright – Follow
me on Twitter @Siwri88
Following
Sunderland’s dramatic victory in the Tyne & Wear derby on Sunday lunchtime,
Crystal Palace are now propping up the Premier League table.
With just
three points from nine games and six successive defeats, the Eagles need a
severe change of fortune if they are going to beat the drop. Favourites with
the bookies for relegation in pre-season, it became too much for Ian Holloway
who stepped aside on Wednesday in an honest and frank press conference in a
London hotel.
Holloway
looked stressed and strained when making the announcement and is expected to
take an extended break from the game to spend more time with his family.
His 11-month
reign at the helm has come to an end but who will come in to try and steer the
tide against an almost inevitable return to the Championship?
It won’t be
Keith Millen, who took caretaker charge of the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal this
weekend. The former Bristol City boss has already ruled himself out of taking
the job on in a permanent capacity but is happy to step in until co-chairman
Steve Parish finds the right man for the role.
In that
instance, there can only be one contender for the position and that is the
ex-Stoke City manager Tony Pulis.
Pulis (pictured) is
heavily tipped to get the role and is miles ahead with any of the bookmakers
you would want to ask. Only Avram Grant with decent Premier League pedigree
seems to also be in the race.
So why would
Pulis be a good appointment for the south Londoners?
It is fair to
say that the style of football his sides play is not very attractive to watch
and can get quite tedious. His Stoke City side were so dreary to watch in the
second half of last campaign, watching paint dry might have been more worth
watching.
However,
despite only relegated QPR scoring less goals than his Potters club, Pulis did
the job of keeping Stoke in the elite for a sixth successive season. While he
never managed to guide the club into the top half of the Premier League table,
he also never finished lower than 14th in the top flight.
That is a
good record in the circumstances and Stoke did show they could get the ball
down on the ground and play decent football. Liverpool got a bit of a lesson at
that on Boxing Day last season and Arsenal were outplayed at this game in an FA
Cup fourth round defeat at the Britannia in January 2010.
Under the
Welshman, Stoke made their first steps into Europe with a Europa League
campaign two years ago and reached the FA Cup final in 2011, dismantling Bolton
Wanderers 5-0 in the semis before coming up short in the showpiece event
against big-spending Manchester City.
He has all
the credentials for the post at Palace should he want it. Pulis admitted in
midweek while doing some punditry for ITV that he needed a break but has itchy
feet and is keen to get back into the dugout. At least in the short-term, it
should be the right solution.
He knows how
to get his players to play for him, defend well as a unit which wasn’t shown in
Holloway’s final games in charge and keeps teams alive in the Premier League.
Since the league was formed in 1992, Crystal Palace have featured in four full
campaigns and been relegated in every single season. The fans do not want
another touch of déjà vu.
The brand of
football that Pulis gets his sides to play is unattractive, so don’t expect six
goal thrillers if you went to Selhurst Park but common-sense would suggest that
he is the logical candidate who would tick all of the boxes that Parish would
be looking for in selecting the replacement for Holloway.
A decision
should be made within the next week so a permanent manager is expected to be in
place before next Saturday’s trip to West Brom.
While playing
great football and producing electric performances will win the plaudits, the
game is still a results-driven business. Therefore Palace need experience and a
man who could offer them a Premier League lifeline. If that is the avenue the
board take, Tony Pulis should become a top flight manager again before the week
is out.
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