Crystal Palace Fan View: Sam Allardyce departure plunges the Eagles back into uncertainty

The original end of season piece that you should have been reading was one that focussed on a campaign best described as tumultuous, but one which ultimately ended in success, a fifth consecutive year in the Premier League.

The summer signings provided a pre-season of promise for Crystal Palace but it was followed by months of disappointment, leading to a yule-tide pay off for Alan Pardew. His replacement? ‘The survival specialist’ Sam Allardyce of course, a man that divided opinion on both a footballing and moral level, a man that just months earlier was dismissed from England’s top job after a single game in charge. His immediate impact, or rather lack of, led to question marks over whether he still had ‘it’ – had his experience with England so shaken him that he could not save us?

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Of course not. When his impact did come it was astounding, wins against Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool followed hotly on one another’s footsteps and in a matter of days quiet resignation had turned to boundless optimism in south east London. A combination of injuries and poor performances meant it went a little closer to the wire than we’d have liked but ultimately we secured safety with a game to spare.

The point of that now-redundant review was, hopefully, to provide a fitting swansong to a season that we would hopefully not see again for a little while. Sure, we stayed up, but for a while there each and every one of us had at least one or two moments when we really considered our future. We flirted with relegation, and this time we won, but nobody wanted a repeat of that next season.

More than that though, with Allardyce at the helm nobody believed it would be repeated. If there is any reason that this hurts, it’s for this reason. As fans we were feeling safe, secure, exempt from the craziness for a summer, safe in the knowledge that Allardyce and Parish had what it takes to bring in the kind of quality which could ensure we didn’t see another near-miss next season.

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As expected, the blame game is already well under way just hours on from the news breaking but the truth is, fans who have no more idea about this situation than a Brighton fan does about winning the Championship. For that reason I have no intention of speculating on the source of Allardyce’s departure because I have no more idea than the next man. I’m willing to take Sam at his word regarding his retirement because for me, the reasons don’t matter – it’s done.

This football club is not about Steve Parish, it is not about Sam Allardyce. It is about you, your son, your daughter, your friends, your wife… and of course the miserable fella that sits near you every week. It’s about the people that traipse to Selhurst Park to watch our club, our team. Sam Allardyce is just one manager in a history littered with managerial changes, as disappointing as this may be this is not the end.

I said it when Pardew was sacked; there is a fantastic club to be built here. A loyal, dedicated following, a responsible owner and so much untapped potential. Sam Allardyce didn’t fancy the job of building Crystal Palace – someone else will.

Sam Allardyce is gone. We must be grateful for the job he’s done in ensuring we sit at the top table again next season but now we must pull our socks up and battle on. As we did when we faced illiquidity 7 years ago, as we did when we looked doomed to relegation to league 1 just after that and as we did when just 10 games into the Premier League campaign we looked down and out.

So here’s to the summer, here’s to the irrational belief that it’ll all be alright and here’s to another rollercoaster Crystal Palace season following the red and blue.

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