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TRANSFER NEWS

After seeing us come close to winning games by missed chances I have decided to tap into the loan market for some strikers.

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Harry Kane (Loan)
Tottenham have decided to loan out Harry Kane who has got 5 goals in 16 games for them this season. With Chamakh out injured Kane will certainly add to our firepower in our relegation battle.

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Khouma Babacar (Loan)
Fiorentina have decided to loan out Babacar who has got 2 goals in 9 games for them this season. Once had the world at his feet - It will be interesting to see if he has has the ability to break into the first team.

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This means that Frazier Campbell will certainly be leaving the club with Hull City & QPR leading the chase.

We are still looking at potentially getting either a left back or a centre back in before the window shuts.

 
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Crystal Palace 2-2 Man Utd
It didn't look like we'd get anything from this game as once again we were wasteful - When Utd went 2-0 up we threw everyone forward and were lucky to get a well earned point.

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Bournemouth 3-2 Crystal Palace
What can I say - we went 3-0 down, they made us look like the Championship team. We brought it back but were not good enough on the day to win the game. We didn't look good going forward and this is what prompted the 2 loan signings (Babacar & Kane). Now we're out both of the cups we can concentrate on Premiership Survival.

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Liverpool 1-1 Crystal Palace
We came back from a tough cup result and fought admirably to make sure Liverpool didn't turn us over. A strong well organised performance from us and we are starting to look like a much stronger team than we did at the start of the season.

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Crystal Palace 0-1 Everton
Kane made his first start for us and was linking up well with Gayle as we went to a 4-4-2 and made way for Babacar who came on for his debut. Sadly we couldn't find the net but Everton are very strong and we won't be too disappointed.

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Sunderland 0-5 Crystal Palace
Brilliant result. Puncheon scored 4 goals, 2 of which were free kicks, and could of had so many more. Kane played up front on his own and was fantastic at holding the ball up for the wingers. We are really starting to look strong going forward which is being complimented by some organised defence work.

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Crystal Palace 3-2 Newcastle
New signing Harry Kane has demonstrated exactly why we brought him to here. 2 goals meant we were able to overcome a good Newcastle side who pushed us to the wire. Great victory and our first best run in the League all season.

LEAGUE TABLE
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Big results against Newcastle & Sunderland has eased the pressure massively for the moment. However a spell of bad form will see us back in the relegation zone. 14 games to go and 14 points should see we are safe. Harry Kane has been impressive so far and may provide the much needed fire power to keep us up.

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The Transfer Window shuts in just 2 days and we are still trying to offload Frazier Campbell who is now in contract talks with QPR for a £500k move. He is not needed and we are looking to bring in a defender before the deadline shuts.

 
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I usually try to avoid doing too much on deadline day, but found myself going right to the wire this time waiting for confirmation of ins & outs.

TRANSFERS IN;

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Erik Sviatchenko £1.7m from FC Midtjylland
I've never come across this fella before - 'StevenM92' suggested him in this forum. Very strong all round CB who looks like he will go straight into the starting lineup. Has a min fee of £14m for CL clubs but like Lucas Romero I hope to be able to keep him for a few years or remove the clause in a few years time.

TRANSFERS OUT;
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Frazier Campbell LOAN to QPR
This was a really frustrating transfer - QPR were in talks for a permanent move which was all agreed but they didn't have the funds to complete the deal. I decided to loan him there instead and hope that I can get more than the £500k for him in the summer.

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Scott Dann 500k to Burnley
As we completed the signing of Erik Sviatchenko, Scott Dann went further down the pecking order. He wasn't getting much game time anyway and getting rid of him helped bring the wage bill down.

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Marouane Chamakh £1m to Torino
After suffering from a slipped disk which kept him out for 4 months I brought in Kane & Babacar to strengthen us up front - seeing as Chamakh has just turned 31 along with coming back from injury he was 4th choice and not going to get much game time. His wages were high and Torino were happy to take him off our hands.

SUMMARY
The team is slowly starting to get stronger as seen in recent results. There is still a long way to go but I am very confident that we will beat the drop, then we can look to invest in the squad again in the summer. I will be keeping an eye for players who have contracts expiring as I doubt we will get too much money to spend.

February fixtures;

Chelsea (Away)
QPR (Home)
Arsenal (Away)

 
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Chelsea 1-0 Crystal Palace
We had our chances & made Chelsea work hard for all 3 points. Unlucky not to hold out for a draw. At least we didn't see a repeat of the 6-0 thrashing we received earlier in the season!! Sviatchenko made his first appearance from the bench since signing on deadline day.

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Crystal Palace 5-1 QPR
Massive Massive Massive result. Babacar started up front with Gayle and they linked up superbly causing problems for QPR all game. Sviatchenko & Hangeland looked solid in defence & look to be my preferred partnership at the back now.

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Arsenal 1-3 Crystal Palace
Fantastic result which has all but guaranteed us premiership safety. Arsenal had alot of chances but we manage to hold on. We took our chances which is pleasing to say as that's what we were not doing at the start of the season. Lucas Romero looked solid in possession and was fantastic at bringing the ball out of defence.

LEAGUE TABLE
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11 games to go and we are 10 points clear of the relegation zone. I believe now that we will be safe and now I will be playing to finish as high up the table as we can as prize money is at stake & we will want to bring in some good sponsorship deals.

MARCH FIXTURES;
Aston Villa (away)
Tottenham (home)
West Brom (home)
Leicester (away)

With Jedinak coming back from 3 months out I will be hoping for our impressive form to continue. We will be hoping our goalscoring form continues with Babacar & Kane impressing since they signed on loan. I may look to sign one of them in the summer but believe Tottenham will price me out of doing so.


 
Good read this, Kane and Babacar are great signings as is that CB, results have certainly picked up since xmas, is that due to a change in tactic?
All the best with the end of season run in.
 
Good read this, Kane and Babacar are great signings as is that CB, results have certainly picked up since xmas, is that due to a change in tactic?
All the best with the end of season run in.

Cheers Dean... Kane + Babacar have been brilliant, I am going to look to bring one of them in on a permanent basis but I think Kane may cost too much. We shall see!!

I think that Lucas Romero coming back from his injury has helped massively as he really helps in keeping possession and playing to the flair players (bolasie, zaha & puncheon)

My main tactic has been a 4-5-1 with a holding midfield player.
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But since signing Babacar & Kane I have played an attacking 4-4-2 in games I expected to get a result
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I use a modified version of that same tactic with the holding midfielder and works wonders for me, found it on the steam workshop...4-1-2-2-1 i think it is.
Yeah think the problem with Kane is the fact he HG so think normally commands a bigger transfer fee, enjoying reading this though mate so good job .
 
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Aston Villa 1-0 Crystal Palace
A shame that our good run of form couldn't continue here - we looked average all the way through the game and never really looked like scoring. There were very few 'highlights' in the game and is definitely one to forget.

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Crystal Palace 3-1 Tottenham
Lucas Romero put us in front in the first minute before Puncheon put us 2-0 up at half time. We looked strong put Spurs put us under alot of pressure in the second half. I was delighted with the way we reacted after they brought it to 2-1 with Gayle making it 3-1 straight afterwards. Another brilliant result against a 'Top team'.

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Crystal Palace 2-2 West Brom
A really close game. We were hanging on since we went down to 10 men as Sviatchenko was sent off for bringing down Berahino who was through on goal. When they equalized we went down to 9 men as Lucas Romero went off injured (not serious thank god) and Brunt had a goal disallowed in the last minute. Very relieved and happy with the point.

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Leicester 0-3 Crystal Palace
I knew that a win here would as good as guarantee us safety. Kane fired in 2 goals proving to be me signing of the season. Leicester were poor though - they look like being relegated this season.

LEAGUE TABLE;
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15 points clear now with 7 games to go. We look like we have beaten the drop and are in really good form. With no other distraction other than the PL it will be a case of seeing how high we can finish. We have a good run of fixtures going into the last 7 games and I will be hoping to really push on and finish as high as possible to set the benchmark high going into next season.

APRIL FIXTURES;
Swansea (Home)
Stoke (Away)
Southampton (Home)


 
Some great wins against both Arsenal and Spurs!

Some season highlights for sure! I really excited to see what I can do in the summer transfer wise. Hopefully I get some decent money to spend!!!
 
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Crystal Palace 1-0 Swansea
We should of won by a few more as Swansea rarely put us under any pressure. Bolasie got the winner in the second half but otherwise there wasn't really much to talk about!

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Stoke 3-1 Crystal Palace
Stoke have been really impressive this season. They are currently 4th in the league and the difference in quality showed massively. Arnautovic scored 2 quality goals and had chances to get his hat-trick.

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Crystal Palace 0-0 Southampton
A really close tense game. We had the better chances but sadly didn't manage to break through. Hangeland got his first Man of the Match of the season as he looks to prove he is worthy of a new contract as his current one expires in the summer - I think I am more likely to replace him in the transfer window due to his age, but we shall see!

LEAGUE TABLE
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We have mathematically guaranteed our safety now which is brilliant. I am just looking for us to keep up some decent form and finish as high as possible.

MAY FIXTURES;
West Ham (away)
Hull City (home)
Burnley (away)
Man City (away)


 
4 points out of 9 is not bad considering who you have been up against
 
loved this story just read it all, Hope you continue... :)
 
loved this story just read it all, Hope you continue... :)

thanks - nice to hear you're enjoying it. I will finish the season tomorrow and do a end of season summary, along with a preview for the new season.

really hope I get to spend some money!!!
 
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West Ham 0-2 Crystal Palace
We looked quality throughout the game and West Ham hardly put us under pressure. Great to see us get a clean sheet and win so convincingly away from home. Jedinak missed a penalty which was a frustrating but we won't be changing penalty taker just yet.

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Crystal Palace 1-0 Hull City
Hull needed to win to have a realistic chance of beating the drop and new manager Tony Pulis had them well organised & hard to break down. We had Babacar + Kane starting together up front today and it was Babacar who was on target to get us the 3 points. Hull never looked like scoring.

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Burnley 3-4 Crystal Palace
What a game... We should of wrapped the game up much earlier. I had a dig at Scott Dann before the game and he scored what looked like a dramatic equalizer to make it 3-3 before Zaha got us the winner late in injury time. This isn't the first time we've won points late in games and has been pleasing to see. Our great form continues...

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Man City 2-0 Crystal Palace
I expect Pellegrini told them to get revenge as we beat them 2-0 at Selhurst Park. They were strong and we were wasteful. Bolasie often tends to go on great runs cutting in from the left and then shooting high and wide. All the same we never expected to win the game and the score was a fair one.

END OF SEASON LEAGUE TABLE
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There were certainly times in this season where it looked like we would really struggle to stay up. We really hit good form in the second part of the season though and ended up breaking into the top 10. Finishing 9th is a fantastic achievement and I will now have some tough decisions to make over the futures of Hangeland (Contract ending), Zaha, Kane & Babacar (Loans).

Before going into the new season I will be doing an end of season summary for 14/15. I will be looking at moving some players on as well as bringing others in improve the squad.


 
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2014-2015 Season Review

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Crystal Palace fans celebrate after whats been a fantastic and massively constructive year at Selhurst Park. We were one of the biggest relegation candidates this season and proved that we are certainly in the Premier League to stay for many many years. We finished 9th in the Premier League massively exceeding expectations and have in fact met the expectation for season 2. Which begs the question - "Can Crystal Palace challenge for European Football in 2015-2016?" I would love to say yes but I don't want to make the expectations too high. Teams may of been guilty for underestimating us this season and after a great year I think teams will be more wary of what we are capable of.

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Very importantly the Board are very happy with our performance this season. Being 'Untouchable' after my first season with Palace is obviously a sign of brilliant progress that has been made. I have had the end of season team meeting with the players and have set the expectation of achieving a "respectable league position" next season. However I do believe that we can achieve top 6 with a bit of good luck and good business in the summer but it's all about managing the expectations and not making things too difficult for myself.

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Harry Kane has been fantastic since signing on loan from Spurs, scoring11 goals in 15 games and getting 5 assists. I will 100% be looking to bring him back next season hopefully as a permanent signing but I may consider a loan again if I cant afford him.

Sviatchenko has also been impressive at CB, making himself an automatic pick for next season. I will have to decide whether I should renew the contract of Hangeland as it expires in June. With him ageing I am very keen to not prolong his stay if he is going to start heavily declining. I will be looking at bringing in a CB.

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Otherwise I am quite happy with the squad - I will be looking at bringing in a Left Back to give Fryers maybe someone to mentor him and help him bring his game forward next year. Bolasie has been great but sometimes inconsistent. He does some great runs but then is terrible with finishing. I may look for someone who has a good technical side to their game. I will 100% be looking at bringing in someone creative for Centre Midfield and I feel that with Ledley, Romero & Jedinak I have 3 great defensively minded midfielders but don't really offer too much of a creative spark.

Hopefully the board back me with a good budget in the summer. I think that if we can bring 3/4 players in and moving a few players on who won't be featuring we will be stronger for it.




 
Take a look at Raul Ruidiaz peruvian striker/AMR usually really cheap and has awesome ability

Also Nathan Sinkala Zambian DM/CM

Emil Larsen Danish LW.


Great story good read. Looking forward to the next update.
 
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