They escaped relegation in the last round
Crystal Palace had an excellent last season. After the bad start and the second worst seat in November of 2007, the experienced manager, Neil Warnock had brought the renaissance at Selhurst park and managed to grab the play-off with his ‘kindergarten’ (because of the age of the players he played) in the furious finish of the season. Completely free minded, the Eagles were one of the best teams in the spring part of the season only to be eliminated by Bristol City in the semi-final of the play-off. With the lack of money and big names in the squad, young players like Ben Watson, Sean Scannell and Victor Moses gained their complete affirmation.
Ben Watson on ice but Nick Carle is there…
There are some good and some bad news for the new season. Let’s start with the good ones. One of the best midfielders in the Championship, Australian Nick Carle from Bristol City, signed for the Eagles, excellent defender Paddy McCarthy from Charlton also arrived as well as the Austrian Johannes Ertl from Austria Vienna. Flamboyant Portuguese, Jose Fonte from Benfica also signed after one year he spent as loaned player. Bad news is that Ben Watson didn’t want to sign the new contract (although he was the top earner), the offers from QPR and Birmingham were rejected, so the young player is “on ice” with his manager Warnock and he is not count on. The experienced defender Mark Hudson went to the city rivals, Charlton, while Mark Kennedy signed for Cardiff.
In
Patrick McCarthy (Charlton Athletic), Nick Carle (Bristol City), Johannes Ertl (Austria Vienna), Darryl Flahavan (Southend)
Out
Mark Hudson (Charlton Athletic), Jeff Hughes (Bristol Rovers), Lewis Spence (Wycombe), Tony Craig (Millwall), Mark Kennedy (Cardiff City)
Play-off reality for Eagles
Despite the high ambitions, Neil Warnock is not flying high with his statements when steadily declaring that any upper half position would be a success itself. Still, the experienced fox has got the better squad than last year, and should the Eagles repeat the motivation and the team spirit from the spring, play-off would be a reality for them. We predict a fine prospect of promotion to Premiership through the play-off.
Our tip: Crystal Palace to be promoted
Odds 4.50
Bookmaker: Bet365
PROM
PL-OFF
RELEG
