The Eagles Have Landed

N

Nomadic

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Club History

The Eagles have only recently re-established themselves as a top tier side, after Ian Holloway guided them through the Championship playoffs in the 2012/13 season, ending an 8 year absence from the top flight.

The Palace trophy cabinet is pretty bleak slight, winning the now called Championship a couple of time in 1979 and 1994. The clubs best period came in the early 90's, finishing a record high 3rd in the top flight 1990-91 season as well as ending runners up in the FA Cup 1990. However, Palace are currently on a 21 year barren spell for silverware and haven't really looked likely to end that run
(Starting in 2015 so 2016 FA Cup Final is dismissed :p)

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Facilities

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Although the club doesn't possess some of the state of the art facilities currently employed by the top Premier League sides, they do have Selhurst Park, which is renown for its buoyant atmosphere. Despite a capacity of just over 26,000, the noise and atmosphere created by the fans is one of the best in the Premier League.


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Season Expectations

After a couple of decent seasons in the Premier League the club are considered to be a well established mid-table side that shouldn't be threatened by relegation. I don't want to be overly ambitious in my first year, so have stuck with the minimum objectives.

This season is an opportunity for me to assess the squad and taylor it to my liking in preparation for a potential Europa League push next season. I don't really want the added pressure of being overly ambitious in my debut season, especially before assessing the current squad, but with £13 Million in the bank I have the resources to strengthen a couple of required areas.

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Up next the squad...​
 
Me too,my favoutite fm16 save was my first with palace.still have that save and done way better than expected.Bolasie was a beast for me.
 
The Squad

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(Couldn't find a decent up to date one)


Goalkeepers

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It looks likely to be a battle between McCarthy and Hennessey in net. Both are pretty capable keepers and will probably do the job this season, but will likely need to recruit a world class goalie in the next couple of seasons.

Central Defenders

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This looks to be a real area of concern with only really 3 options to choose from. Scott Dann is a very capable player, but his partner option is between 2 ageing players who are beyond their peak. Another Centreback is currently high up on the agenda!

Fullbacks

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Ward and Kelly have the right fullback position well covered but some question marks are out over Souare on the left. He looks a useful player but not really a first team player at a first glance. I may have to play Ward on the left and Kelly down the right depending on what happens in the transfer window.

Central Midfielders

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I am very content with our midfield options, which includes the likes of record signing, French international, Yohan Cabaye (No Townsend). We have a number of decent options in this position and am happy to work with what I have this season.

Wingers

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Some real attacking talents out wide with Zaha, Bolasie, Puncheon and Sakho. We have some decent depth out wide and will again be looking to work with what I have at my disposal for the first season at least.

Strikers

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We have a number of first team strikers on the books, but with our real threats lying on the wings and in midfield I will likely be playing just one up front. This essentially means i will be looking to offload a couple of players with Gayle, Campell and Chamakh all under the radar.

Injuries

The squad is looking in pretty good condition on return to training, with only 2 injuries to note. Both Chamakh and Speroni are set for a considerable spell on the sidelines, but fortunately I don't consider either to be key players for us.

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Kubalionzzale said:
Will be following this.
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Glad to hear it mate :)

djs1 said:
Me too,my favoutite fm16 save was my first with palace.still have that save and done way better than expected.Bolasie was a beast for me.
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Thats good to hear! This will be my final FM16 save I feel and am looking forward to the challenge of managing Palace. Fortunately I am using the winter update so still have Bolasie and am hoping he brings me the same success he did for you!
 
i hope you do well mate.Some very useful players in the palace squad.Gayle,zaha,puncheon,dann,fryers,jedinak....were all solid for me and im glad i didnt get rid of them as i initially wanted too.Even chamakh done well for me!
 
Pre-Season

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We didn't have the most testing of pre seasons, so was a little frustrating not to remain unbeaten. I chop and changed the team on a regular basis, trying out new formations and combinations in an attempt to identify my strongest starting squad for the opening game of the season.

Yannick Bolasie was the undoubtably our star man with 6 goals, 5 assists and an average rating of 7.92 across the 7 matches. As all our strikers struggled to produce goals against pretty weak opposition, I am very grateful to have Bolasie out wide!

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August Preview


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We have been handed the opening Monday night game of the season at Vicarage Road and will have a good chance to get our account up and running for the season. Here is how we will likely line up for the game following pre-season:

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I am still toying around with formations but will be looking to use this formation for mostly away games or tough home matches and then a 4-2-3-1 / 4-4-2 against weaker opposition and home matches.


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We have been dealt a challenging away draw to Forest in the Capital One Cup. I always find it a bit unpredictable playing Championship sides, especially away so know we will need to put in a good performance if we are to progress.


Injury Update

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We suffered a couple of additional injuries in pre season, with Wickham and Hangeland ruled out for whole of August. Our defensive options have therefore diminished even further and reiterates the need to buy a new centreback.






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Watford vs Crystal Palace​


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Not the most entertaining Monday night game you will ever see, with many viewers probably switching over to Eastenders or some other garbage.

We struggled to carve out any decent chances throughout the entire game and clung on to a point through some valiant defending. Some tactical work is definitely required before our first home game against Swansea next week.

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Transfer Activity
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Our first transfer target was Udinese defender, Thomas Heurtaux. We had agreed a fee of £5.75 Million and were midway through contract negotiations, when Spurs decided to come in and match our bid.

Knowing that Spurs had a bigger pulling factor in terms of prestige and European football, I decided to increase the previously agreed contract from £31k p/w to £40k p/w in a last ditch attempt to lure him to Selhurst Park.

Unfortunatley he decided he would rather earn less money and most likely spend his time sitting on the bench at White Hart Lane.....


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My second target was Mainz centreback, Stefan Bell. He is a young German defender, that has previously represented his Nation at U21 level and at the age of 23 can add some much needed youth and enthusiasm at the back.

I perhaps came in a little heavy on my opening bid offering £7 Million in cash upfront, which was instantly accepted. Fortunately nobody else was in the running for him and we could negotiate out a 4 year contract on a reasonable wage.

The fans feet as though I overpaid for a relatively unproven player, but only time will tell if it was a worthwhile spend.

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Crystal Palace 4 - 0 Swansea
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Jason Puncheon pulled the strings today in a advanced playmakers role sitting in behind Dwight Gayle in our more adventurous 4-2-3-1 formation. His early brace set us on our way to a bit of rout over the Swans, with Gayle and Bolasie also getting in on the action.

We went into a bit of cruise control after the 4th goal and allowed Swansea some late chances to get back into it, but Hennessey was a colossal figure in goal, saving everything that came his way.

Yohan Cabaye limped off midway through the second half, whilst Stefan Bell came on in the 55th minute to make his club debut.

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Yohan Cabaye suffered a pretty nasty gashed leg and will be out for the remainder of August but can expect him back following Septembers international break.

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Great result against Swansea, good luck with your next fixtures and the rest of the season!
 
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Stoke 2 - 2 Crystal Palace
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Well it wasn't quite the infamous cold, rainy night in Stoke but we did prove we could at least get a result from the Britannia Stadium. Looking at the stats we were probably unlucky not to get all 3 points. I made a few tactical adjustments from the Watford game and appeared to make a big difference to our play, despite finishing with the same result.

Joel Ward's late equaliser brought him immediate redemption, after giving away an 89th minute penalty for a clumsy trip.

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Notts Forest 2(p) - 2 Crystal Palace
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As I anticipated we were given a really tough game at the City Ground, before eventually falling in the shootout.

Pape Souare's red card midway through the second half really left us in the lurch and were fortunate that Fraizer Campbell's wonderful solo effort even managed to get us through to the shoot-out stage. It was a heavily rotated team, but still strong and I expected us to get the job done.

Although it is only the Capital One Cup, our early exit has immediately put me under the boards scrutiny following a pre season objective to reach the 4th Round. The positive spin is to say we can focus on the League, but in truth I am gutted to get knocked out so early in the competition.

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Crystal Palace 3 - 1 Southampton
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We immediately bounced back from our disappointing performance at Forest with an inspired win over the Saints. I fielded a familiar looking line up, used in our previous home games as Bolasie and Gayle ran the show.

It was a fantastic attacking display, as we tore apart a well proven defensive line on numerous occasions, creating 5 clear cut chances. We did however, concede a rather comical own goal as Hennessey's clearance smacked Scott Dann square in the face, before ending up in the back of our own net.

All in all a very nice result to round off August.

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August Review
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Following our unbeaten start to the League, we are sitting at the dizzy height of 2nd in the table! I know only 4 games have been played and we are yet to really face any of the top sides, but it still makes a very pleasant viewing!

I failed to identify a quality leftback within our transfer budget, so have decided to hold off until January. We have enough cover in the side with Ward and Souare, so can afford to be patient and not rush into anything. I have a couple of targets in mind, but will have to see if I can afford to sign one of them!

Despite not signing any more players, I did allow Jonny Williams to join Villa on a season loan deal. He isn't really in my first team plans and is likely to see much more first football at Villa to hopefully aid in his development.

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Player of the Month

Yannick Bolasie - 2 Goals, 1 Assist

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We had a number of good performers throughout August in Hennessey, Puncheon and Zaha but decided to give it to our star man. He has been used down both flanks and looks a constant menace every time he gets the ball. Any success we achieve this season is likely to come through him.


September Preview

September brings us a couple of tricky away fixtures against both City and Arsenal, as well as a more routine home game against Newcastle.

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For anyone following, would you prefer having an individual post for each match like it is now or would a monthly review post which includes all games be easier to follow?​
 
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Nomadic said:
For anyone following, would you prefer having an individual post for each match like it is now or would a monthly review post which includes all games be easier to follow?​
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What a start, 2nd! Also for the reviews, I feel like a monthly review would allow you to move faster in the game and progress faster which would probably be more fun for people to read, at least that's my opinion :)
 
Linecoigne1998 said:
What a start, 2nd! Also for the reviews, I feel like a monthly review would allow you to move faster in the game and progress faster which would probably be more fun for people to read, at least that's my opinion :)
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Thanks for the feedback - Think I will do monthly Premier League updates but may do separate ones for Cup Games and Transfers and stuff :)
 
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