STILL IN IT

The manager of Crystal Palace, Ian Holloway, has said that his side is still in line for the Premier League promotion.

The performance of Crystal Palace has deteriorated considerably in the last one and half months. They haven’t secured three points in any of their last 9 matches. They have shared points in 4 and have been defeated in 5.

The last time that they had won a match was in the first week of March when they had defeated Hull City by 4-2.

They are still not certain to qualify for the play offs. They have to play against Peterborough United on Saturday and if they want to ensure their play off qualification, they well have to secure at least one point from that match.

In their last match against Blackburn Rovers, Crystal had certainly shown some improvements, but, they still didn’t manage to get on the winning ways. That match was a draw with both teams scoring one goal each.

Talking to the reporters ahead of the match against Peterborough United, Holloway said, “We don’t need to panic at this point of time. We are still in line to qualify for the play offs and then, get promoted to the Premier League. We just need one point against Peterborough and if we play as well as we had played against Blackburn the other day, we will certainly get that 1 point.”

“I think we have improved a lot off late. A few weeks back, things were looking absolutely dreadful when he had suffered three defeats in a row. But, we have managed to sneak in a few draws and that has certainly boosted the confidence of the side.”

“There is no lack of quality in our squad. We just need not to think about previous matches. We should play freely on the ground.  If we manage to get to the play offs, it will not be easy to defeat us.”

PHILLIPS JOINS

Crystal Palace managed to secure the signing of the former West Brom and Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips on a season-long loan deal from Blackpool. The striker has now said that he wants to repay the faith of the manager Ian Holloway, who has now linked up with him for the second time. Holloway was responsible for bringing him to Blackpool last season. The striker proved to be an immensely valuable addition to the team last season, as he scored 17 goals and helped the team reached the play-offs final. They almost made it into the Premier league in the first attempt.

However, this season has been extremely tough for the 38-year-old who has had to cope with the loss of Holloway. The manager left Blackpool to join Crystal Palace midway through the season. Now, he has worked a deal with his former employers to bring Phillips to the club. The 38-year-old has also scored just two goals in 19 appearances for Blackpool this season. Phillips has said that he cannot be more grateful for Holloway because he could not see any future at Blackpool. He has said that the club wanted him to leave as they looked to bring in someone younger. Phillips is one of the experienced players in the championship.

“I don’t want to let him down. He’s brought me here and I want to repay the faith he has shown in me. There was not a lot of people out there willing to take a chance – not just now, but at the beginning of last season as well. I managed to repay him [at Blackpool] last season with 17 goals and we nearly did it in the play-off final. I don’t want to let him down from now until the end of the season. Every time I pull on a Palace shirt or a training kit I will give 100 percent,” said Phillips.

PROGRESS

The Crystal Palace manager Ian Holloway has said that he believes that his team can match Stoke city in the way that the club has progressed over the years. Ian Holloway has revealed that he is a good friend of the Stoke city manager Tony Pulis, who has managed to get the club from the Championship to the prospect of being an established Premier league team. Pulis remains the only British manager in English top-flight to have not suffered relegation with any of his teams. Holloway, though, has confirmed that he does not want to play in the style of Stoke city.

Holloway has always been an admirer of beautiful football, with his Blackpool team unable to stay in the Premier league as a result of the open and attractive football. Stoke city, on the other hand, have been able to establish themselves in the Premier league by playing pragmatic and defensive football. The two teams came against each other in the FA Cup third round. The match finished as a 0-0 draw and Ian Holloway will now be taking his players to the Britannia stadium hoping to achieve what few clubs have done this season – get an away victory at the Britannia stadium.

“Those Stoke fans should build a statue to him in my honest opinion, it’s fantastic what he’s done. It’s just remarkable. They’ve had European football, they’ve got in the FA Cup final. He gets slaughtered by some people — it’s absolute nonsense. He’s been completely phenomenal. On the whole, when I’ve first come here our stats were pretty awful, 40 odd per cent [of possession] even when we won 5-0,” said Ian Holloway. After a great start to the new season, Crystal Palace have fallen to the third position due to recent run of poor results in the league.

HOLLOWAY DELIGHTED

The Crystal Palace manager Ian Holloway has said that he is extremely delighted with the response of his players after two matches without a victory. The players finally brought an end to the poor form in the last two matches after the 3-0 win over rivals Brighton and Hove Albion. Prior to the match, the former Blackpool manager expressed his surprise at the way this fixture has become one of the fiercest rivalries, despite the two teams not sharing any common geographical link. Despite this, Crystal Palace supporters will have lot of advantage when it comes to gloating over the Brighton supporters, as they managed to win 3-0 to return to the top of the table.

The two matches without a victory in recent weeks have meant that Cardiff were able to take Crystal Palace at the top of the table. Gus Poyet also said that this match will be a real strength tester for Crystal Palace, but they were extremely comfortable throughout the match. However, Holloway did admit that the red card to the Brighton player in the 8th min of the match made a huge difference to the outcome. Murray scored before the first half to open the lead, and two penalty goals in the second half helped Crystal Palace to return to the top of the table.

“I’m glad I was in our dugout because Gus will be very disappointed with the way things went against his team. I have to say we earned that with the skill of the wide man. Yannick was on that so quickly, I’m sure Gus won’t argue about the sending off. What pleased me was what we did after, which was control the game. I’m delighted with the professionalism of my lads,” said Holloway, who will be facing his former club Blackpool next weekend.

COPPELL CONTACTED

Crystal Palace have revealed that he will be contacting the former Reading manager Steve Coppell over the possibility of taking over the managerial job at the club. Crystal Palace recently lost the manager Dougie Freedman after they gave permission for Bolton Wanderers. They have been looking to bring in a swift replacement for the outgoing manager. They have now identified the former Reading manager Steve Coppell as an ideal candidate. Steve Coppell is famous for having taken Reading from the Championship to the Premier league. Even though he has not been as successful in his subsequent jobs, Coppell would be a great fit for the club according to the chairman.

Steve Coppell has often not expressed his interest at returning into football management. He is currently at Crawley town as the football director. He has enjoyed for different spells as the manager of Crystal Palace. The Crystal Palace chairman has said that he will be consulting with Steve Coppell before taking any decision. Steve Parish has said that he will be looking to appoint a swift replacement such that their ambitions of the club do not get changed midway through the season. Crystal Palace have been struggling with finances for a long time, but they are currently fourth in the Championship table after a good start to the season.

“He’s always someone we would consider. But the situation has to be right for Steve and he would have to want to do it. I’m sure we’ll be taking his counsel at the very least. We’ve got to be respectful because he works for Crawley. He has always been a great friend to the club from when I took over with Steve Browett, Jeremy Hosking and Martin Long,” said the co-chairman of the club in a recent interview about the replacement for Dougie Freedman.

SEASON STARTS NOW

The Crystal Palace manager Dougie Freedman has said that he feels that the season for the club will finally start to kick off following their first win of the season over Sheffield Wednesday. Crystal Palace have made very bad start to the new season after they have lost the opening for matches in the league. Crystal Palace have suffered defeat at the hands of Watford, Bristol city, Middlesbrough and Preston prior to this match. It was a very surprise result given that Sheffield Wednesday were coming into the match after having not lost a single match since February.

The amazing run came to an end after they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace. The manager Dougie Freedman has said that he finally hopes that this victory will provide his players with enough confidence to take into the next matches. He has said that the club needs to win as many matches as possible in order to get out of the relegation zone as soon as possible. The club are currently just one place above the bottom of the Championship table. They have only three points on the board after having played four matches.

“I believe this team will get better and get stronger. We were low on confidence but we ground out a win against a team, let’s not forget, who were unbeaten in 18 games, who had all the momentum with them, a team who won promotion last year. They were against a team bottom of the league with no points, who everyone was writing off. That just shows you the character we have in this team,” said Freedman after the 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday. Crystal Palace will be having tough matches against Nottingham Forest and Cardiff city in the next few encounters.

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