Its has been pretty much all change (and not so much for the good) at Selhurst Park this offseason. Out goes the safe hands of Roy Hodgson. He rode off into the sunset having kept his boyhood club of Crystal Palace up in the Premier League.
And he wasn’t the only one to exit. If you have a look at the list of outgoings below, you’ll see the Eagles have culled a litany of former Premier League stalwarts and stars. After a very prolonged managerial search, they ended up trusting Arsenal club legend Patrick Vieira with the rebuilding task. Good luck with that.
Crystal Palace
Ins
– Marc Guehi (Chelsea U/23s) 23.4M (CB)
– Joachim Andersen (Lyon) 17.5 (CB)
– Michael Olise (Reading) 9.3M (AM)
Outs
- Andros Townsend (Everton) FREE (RW)
- Patrick van Aanholt (Galatasaray) FREE (LB)
- Mamadou Sakho (Montpellier) FREE (CB)
- Wayne Hennessey (Burnley) FREE (GK)
- James McCarthy (Celtic) FREE (CM)
- Stephen Henderson RELEASED (GK)
- Nathaniel Clyne RELEASED (RB)
- Gary Cahill RELEASED (CB)
- Scott Dann RELEASED (CB)
- Connor Wickham RELEASED (CF)
- Sam Woods RELEASED (CB)
I fear that appointment could be fatal to Palaces chances of remaining a Premier League side. After moderate success in the MLS with NY City, Vieira’s only other managerial experience was a run at OGC Nice that yielded only a 33.3% win record. The Premier League is going to be a lot tougher for the legendary Frenchman and he is my candidate to be the first gaffer sacked in the new season.
I’ll be surprised if he is there still at Christmas. And the South Londoners wont be able to stop the rot. Dead last and relegation for mine. Keep an eye out for Crystal Palace to potentially set the record for fewest points in an English Premier League season.
Crystal Palace Finish Last Year – 14th
Crystal Palace Predicted Finish This Year – 20th
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