279 England

Palace fighting hard.....

After a poor first half of the season, Crystal Palace turned to Tom Parfitt to try & turn their fortunes around. He seemed to have an instant effect, with the club smashing Hull City 7-0 in his first game in change. There was an immediate fall back to Earth though, with a 4-0 defeat to Reading in the very next game.

Palace have however, become quite a difficult side to beat. Only 4 defeats in 16 in all competitions since Parfitt took over, compared to the 10 defeats in the 16 games prior to Parfitt taking charge tells its own story. The boss himself though admits that they are drawing too many games at the minute, and probably need to win at least 4 of the final 7 games to have a chance of staying in the Premier League. There is the potential for a huge final day showdown though, with Reading visiting Selhurst Park in what could be an all or nothing encounter for both sides.

There are still plenty of games before that though, and Parfitt will be looking to make sure that his side at least have an opportunity on the last day.

He has found it hard to recruit players since coming to the club. A lack of funds has meant that he has been on a real bargain hunt. The loan services of Alcantara Rafinha, lvaro Vazquez & Gerard Delofeu were all secured very swiftly, but the only permanent signings Parfitt has brought in are goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli in a straight swap for Julian Speroni & Jermaine Pennant, Vagner Love, and most recently Walter Montillo to anchor the midfield.

  

Geronimo Rulli        Vagner Love             Walter Montillo

It is unlikely that any more new players will join before the end of the season, so the outcome of the clubs relegation battle is in the hands of the players at the club right now.