January
Transfers Out
We've been busy shipping out some players this window (some for less than we would of liked) but we also managed to get some cash in for players who's contracts were going to expire at the end of the season
The piece of outgoing business I'm happiest with is getting just under £5million for Benteke even if we are paying half his wages for the remainder of the season.
Transfers In
I was mainly happy with the squad but this window and the cash along with some extra the board decided to give us let me dive into the market to purchase some players. As mentioned at the start I was worried about our two main strikers leaving in the summer and it was brought on even more when I realised that if Mateta played 15 games for the club we would of been forced to pay £13.3m for him and that wasn't in my plans so he's now been dropped to the reserves after 13 games. But we did sign two new strikers in this window.
First is Mexican Jose Juan Macias who we signed from Deportivo Guadalajara for a costly £16m but he will be a starting striker from now on.
Next we signed Kaio Jorge from Santos for £5m and again will be our other new starting striker
These two players will hopefully be our main strikers for the next couple of seasons now.
Finally the last permanent player I signed is goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic from Dinamo Zagreb for £14m and he will replace Guaita who turned 24 in this window so was never going to be a long term solution
The only problem now though is that the club is now £20m in the red so hopefully that doesn't impact us too much come the end of the season.
Everton v Crystal Palace
We did well here to get back into the game twice but sadly it wasn't enough.
FA Cup 3rd Round
Crystal Palace v Burnley
We managed to throw away another 2-0 lead to force the game into extra time but it seems I made my subs at the right time as it meant we had fresh legs in attacking positions and it paid off as Jorge and Macias got debut goals for the club.
Crystal Palace v Man City
What a game, I expected to lose this going into it but we held onto our 1-0 lead for so long and then Macias got a header with the final touch of the game to win it for us.
Sheffield United v Crystal Palace
These were the games I thought I would need to win to avoid relegation but its just become part of the parcel now as we score from 2 set pieces and a clean sheet debut for Livakovic.
FA Cup 4th Round
Crystal Palace v Southampton
Zaha finds some form in this game with a great goal cutting in off the wing. It also turns out its a lot better on the players to win in 90 minutes as we now travel to Fulham in the 5th round.
Aston Villa v Crystal Palace
We've reached the halfway mark of the season now and we looked good value after taking the lead after only 2 minutes but two pretty much identical goals from Watkins where he lobbed the keeper within 10 minutes got Villa the win.
Crystal Palace v Southampton
A much harder game that the FA cup tie a couple of games ago as we fell behind but Jorge seems to have adapted well to English football as scores the first and then set up Van Aanholt for the winner.
League
We still sit in the European spots and we're nearly at the 40 point mark as first and foremost is securing Premier League football next season
February
3 big games this month in the league but the Tottenham and Chelsea games are even bigger for us as they both sit below us in the league at the moment.