this is the part that has really pissed me off.

not sure who I want in as the new boss. whoever it is I can only see a season of struggle ahead for us now.

today's line-up:

Speroni, Kelly, Dann, Hangeland, Ward, Puncheon, Jedinak, Ledley, Bolasie, Chamakh, Campbell.

Subs : Hennessey, Delaney, McCarthy, O'Keefe, Bannan, Gayle, Murray.


not happy with Delaney starting on the bench, nor Campbell ahead of both Murray and Gayle.

Good effort from the lads today but you can't just defend for 90 mins and ultimately we paid the price.

yeah, the effort was good but I'm not happy with the tactics. we did the same against the top sides last season, try and defend for the 90 minutes and hope to get away with a draw. Arsenal weren't great at all and we should have had a proper go at them.

We really need to improve our attack before the end of the window. Bolasie and Puncheon weren't good enough today and we have no one to replace them.

But it was a great effort. Anyone that thinks we're automatically down should look at that today and realise we still have enough about us to pick up points.

I thought we got what we deserved. Sure, we put in a lot of work and a few of the lads ran themselves in to the ground but we had no intention of even trying to win the match. I would rather get beat having a go at these top sides then try and play out an entire match for a draw. We showed them far too much respect.

We need a new boss in this coming week especially if we want to strengthen before the window closes.

Didn't really learn much from the MOTD interview last night.
Lets hope things are resolved soon.

In the more in-depth interview Parish says that he hopes the new manager will be in place by Tuesday or Wednesday.

two moments of poor defending cost us yesterday...ok, we didn't really offer much going forward but i don't think arsenal were that good or really threatened us that much despite all the possession they had...

... as for the new boss, hopefully we can get someone in by mid-week but i'll believe it when i see it... still not sure who i really want to be honest or who i think might be the best man for the job...

Oddschecker - Next Palace boss.

Mackay the obvious favourite. I hadn't considered Steve Clarke. Worth a shout maybe? He certainly fits in to Parish's criteria of "having intimate Premier League knowledge".

Popovic mentioned near the top, too, but I would be hugely surprised to see him get the job.

And strangely, I'm beginning to warm to the idea of Tim Sherwood!

If you had played open football against Arsenal they would have convincingly beat you, they simply have too much class. Picking up the odd point against the top sides is all you need when trying to avoid relegation.

The only problem with Mackay and Sherwood is there relative lack of experience in the top flight and the fact that neither has kept a struggling team up before, that said both seem at least reasonable choices.

99% of the time I would completely agree with you, but sometimes you get one of those days where the top side is clearly off their game and for want of a better expression are there for the taking. IMO yesterday was one of those days. I know we couldn't possibly take them on at their own game but Arsenal's passing was all over the place, and as pointed out in another post they really didn't threaten Speroni. Instead of taking advantage of this by showing more intent going forward or at least trying to be more positive we were quite happy to settle back and see the game out for a point. That disappointed me.

The problem though is that you need to plan tactics before the game, there's no way of knowing Arsenal weren't going to be on top form before the match began.

but once it's clear they are not on their game is it not down to the man in charge to change tactics accordingly if they feel the game is now a win-able one?

Possibly, the thing is with the changes at the club Palace were hardly going to be on top form come game day and TBH they didn't do that badly all things considered.

We always lose against your lot anyway. Glad to get that one out the way early!


The Croydon Advertiser reckon Tim Sherwood is the hot favourite now.

Link.

Yep, odds slashed on Tim Sherwood taking over. Could be a great appointment.

All betting suspended - an announcement supposedly imminent. Looks like Malky Mackay has got the job.

Hmmm not convinced Mackay is the man to keep you up.

He kept Cardiff out of the relegation zone last season but barely (and he spent a lot of money) - think he gets a bit of a let off because people remember it as 'he kept them out of the relegation zone and got sacked unfairly'.

I guess he is a decent guy to have a crack though, good chance to redeem himself and prove to people like me how good a manager he is.

Good luck to Palace think they will need it.

Was always likely to be him really. There's a lot of crap around amongst the out of work managers, so I think Mackay is probably the safest choice.

Hopefully his connections with Iain Moody will help them, along with Steve Parish work as a decent team.

Hope I'm wrong but I could see Malky Mackay getting Palace relegated.

so, on saturday parish says it will be someone with an intimate knowledge and experience of the premier league... and now it looks like it's going to be mackay who's top flight management knowledge is a whopping 18 games...?!

parish talking bs again...

SSN still insisting it's a three-horse race between Mackay, Sherwood and Hoddle.

The best manager for Palace would be Sam Allardyce. Malky is 1/100 at the bookies so surely he has the job unless the sources are very wrong?

Allardyce?! no thanks!

Mackay is probably the sensible option, perhaps even the logical one but it's hardly exciting. and I do think it will be a long season of struggle now.

i would loved it to have been Hoddle.