The Eagles Have Landed

Dulwich Hamlet 1-4 Crystal Palace - for more photos, click here

Back in the big time. Crystal Palace, the side relegated from the Premier League more times than any other, go into this season looking to shrug off its ‘yo-yo team’ tag and enjoy the feast of football beyond the hors d’oeuvres to become regulars at the game’s top table.

Palace have come a long way since 2010, when rationing was required to stave off debtors while the club was in administration. The threat of famine was overcome both that year and the next with the Eagles narrowly avoiding demotion to League One and starting their path to that of the TV ‘raisin bombers’, whose parachute payments will ease the hunger pains even in the event that the team does not survive to see a second sitting.

Ian Wright; David Hopkin; Neil Shipperley…Kevin Phillips added his name to the roll call of Palace play-off heroes by gobbling up the spot-kick opportunity that saw off Watford at Wembley in May and took the Eagles back to the top flight for the first time since 2005. The nerve-shredding 1-0 win was carved out with a steely determination; the result celebrated wildly amidst tears of joy and the inevitable strains of Glad All Over, the fans’ song of choice since the 1960’s.

The Selhurst Park faithful will hope that, having never survived longer than a season since the league’s rebranding due, at times, to the cruelest of circumstances, this experience plus that of manager Ian Holloway, whose Blackpool side went down on the final day of the 2010-11 season, will act as food for thought in their approach to the upcoming campaign.

For starters, they will want the coaching staff to show the same tactical nous that tamed two of the Championship’s top attacking teams in the play-offs, which may involve reinforcements at both ends of the pitch.

Having only been in charge in South London since November last year, Ian Holloway’s business acumen has already accounted for a number of astute signings this summer, including record £4.5m front man Dwight Gayle from Peterborough United, who appears to be a player possessing lorry loads of raw potential, the likes of which ‘Olly is renowned for eking out with his oft-bizarre brand of man-management.

This unique style has been reflected in his employment of hypnotist Glenn Catley, citing Ivan Lendl’s influence on Wimbledon champion Andy Murray as precedent and branding criticism of his methods and their impact on the dressing-room atmosphere, simply, as “bullshit”; a claim given credence by his side’s run of four wins out of five in pre-season, with 13 goals scored, as they prepare for the London derby against Tottenham Hotspur next Sunday.

Goals appear to be the order of the day in SE25, as attacking midfielder-cum-striker Stephen Dobbie has made his move from fierce rivals Brighton & Hove Albion permanent along with Phillips, while Marouane Chamakh looks set to seal his switch from Arsenal in time for the friendly against Lazio this afternoon and last season’s top scorer Glenn Murray hopes to recover from cruciate ligament damage by the turn of the year. Darren Bent’s name has also been mentioned in the quest to escape reliance on the goal scoring exploits of the less-than-prolific Aaron Wilbraham this time around.

Spain’s Under-20 skipper and midfield orchestrator Jose Campagna was snatched from Sevilla to add fluidity and wingers Jerome Thomas and Elliot Grandin have also signed up, with Scott Sinclair potentially following suit, to ensure that the new-look strikeforce will not be feeding off scraps this season.

The highly promising Campagna will likely jostle for playing time with South African midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi and deep-lying lynchpin Mile Jedinak, with the much-improved Owen Garvan offering a more direct approach from the middle of the park.

The return of captain Paddy McCarthy, who missed the whole of last season with a groin complaint, is sure to firm up the rearguard and in Joel Ward and Jonathan Parr, the club boasts a pair of full-backs with great talent and age on their side to complement a defence founded upon the experience of Danny Gabbidon, Damien Delaney and Peter Ramage.

The board has had a lot on its plate during the off-season, between purchasing their Beckenham training ground at auction for £2.3m and refurbishing the Main Stand at fortress Selhurst Park, while also going full throttle to make sure facilities are up to the required standard so as not to incur fines at the hands of the league’s governing body, leaving the stadium “like a builder’s yard” according to Holloway.

They may yet face uproar from their own supporters, after news emerged that the club was considering re-naming their home of 88 years as the 12Bet Stadium, in line with a reported sponsorship deal with an online betting company.

Hands were also forced by the manager after he expressed his frustration that “the kit didn’t turn up on time” and admitted “the grass isn’t right” at their Croydon headquarters, where the club were beaten only twice last term and which has seen a doubling of season ticket sales to 15,000 for 2013-14, and this, in spite of losing the division’s break-out player Wilfried Zaha to Manchester United.

Popular belief suggests that those remaining on the books, especially incisive teenager Jonathan Williams and the energetic Yannick Bolassie, posess sufficient poise and pizzazz in equal measure to give those starved of success of late a staple diet of celebration on the big stage.

If one or two others of the desired quality can be added to bolster the backline, such as rumoured target and Sierre Leone international Umaru Bangura, their most consistent performer, Julian Speroni, should not be required to produce too many miracles between the posts to guarantee their latest reservation to eat with the elite amounts to more than merely a Last Supper.