Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
If you are to believe what has been written in the papers this week then there is a lot riding on this game. It’s not quite a six pointer due to the two sides respective league places but Alan Pardew could be looking at his final game in charge of Crystal Palace should he lose this afternoon.
Should Palace lose then it would represent a first win not only for Bob Bradley since taking charge of Swansea but would also be a first victory since the opening day of the season when The Swans who at the time were led by Francesco Guidolin edged to a 1-0 win away at Burnley.
Swansea have had a bleak run over the past few months but as of late the picture hasn’t been particularly bright for Palace either. 5 straight defeats has seen Alan Pardew’s men slip to 16th in the table and they are just one point from safety.
Last weekend saw them undone by a Yaya Toure brace at Selhurst Park with Manchester City running out 2-1 winners in what was a tight game. Perhaps Palace were unlucky not to get a point but they can’t keep bemoaning bad fortune each week at some point they are going to have to hold their hands up and take the flak for this run of results.
Alan Pardew is known for being an incredibly streaky manager and once again his Palace side are in the midst of a bad streak. Last season the tailspin of bad results at least started before Christmas and they at least had enough of a buffer to avoid the drop. But with results going against them so early you do have to wonder if they can avoid the drop twice with such few wins on the board.
Their opponents and hosts Swansea have forgotten what it’s like to win and that run of bad form has now seen them drop to the foot of the table as Sunderland have finally started their campaign with successive wins against Bournemouth and Hull.
That has made a difficult job even harder for new American head coach Bob Bradley and even though they came away with a respectable point away at Everton last Saturday they still now find themselves rooted to the bottom and 5 points from safety.
In fairness it was a point more than anyone expected them to earn last weekend but this is a Swansea side which is worrying short on goals. They were fortunate enough to be gifted a penalty against Everton but scoring in open play is becoming too much of a rarity in South Wales. Just 11 goals in their first 12 league matches.
Swansea will use last weekends point as a platform to build on and will feel that Crystal Palace are there for the taking. The South Wales side want a first win since August but Alan Pardew can’t afford to lose. I have a feeling that these two sides will cancel each other out and we will end up with a draw. A share of the points for me.
