da 888casino： Going into January, Crystal Palace were already down to the bare bones.
da bet sport： In fact, New Year’s Day – the very first 24 hours of the month – saw 18-year-old Brandon Pierrick involved in a 1-1 draw against Norwich, such was the extent of the Eagles’ lack of squad depth.
Reinforcements were a necessity, to say the very least.
To end the month in a weaker position personnel-wise would then seem unfathomable – incredibly, that is the reality of things as we enter February.
In terms of first-teamers, the south Londoners are actually two men down in Victor Camarasa and Connor Wickham, who left the club to join Deportivo Alaves and Sheffield Wednesday respectively – the Spaniard left for good, the former Sunderland man on loan.
Cenk Tosun’s arrival on loan was the only first-team addition made.
Wickham’s exit was especially baffling – last time out against Sheffield United, Roy Hodgson had no strikers on the bench and a desperate search for an equaliser late on saw Gary Cahill lumped up top and Cheikhou Kouyate on the wing.
Furthermore, as many as five youngsters also departed the club – Giovanni McGregor, Dion-Curtis Henry, Jason Scott Banks and Jason Lokilo all left on loan, while James Daly exited on a permanent basis.
That means that, while Banks was actually signed in January before leaving on loan, only Tosun arrived to bolster the first-team while Camarasa, Wickham and the five departing youngsters saw a one in, seven out scenario during January, in truth.
Staggeringly, The Athletic reveal that the 16 players who were kitted up to take on Chris Wilder’s men last time out were the extent of Hodgson’s senior options with Tosun, Jeffrey Schlupp and Mamadou Sakho out injured – in that case, the former England manager can only just name an 18-man squad, permitting everyone is fit of course.
“Indeed, with Tosun joining the injured Jeffrey Schlupp and Mamadou Sakho on the sidelines, the 16 outfield players kitted up on Saturday represented the extent of Hodgson’s senior options as the team spluttered through another goalless afternoon.”
Club chairman Steve Parish and Sporting Director Dougie Freedman simply had to back Hodgson this month given his excellent efforts in the first half of the campaign, although they failed to do so in miserable fashion.
After the Boxing Day win over West Ham, Crystal Palace had 26 points to their name – three off fifth-placed Tottenham, and only six points off the Champions League positions.
Calling all transfer experts! Can you get all 15 questions right on our Deadline Day quiz?
A successful January may have supplied the wind behind the sails heading towards a push for the Europa League, at least – now however, only six points separate the Eagles from the relegation zone.
A desperately poor, and naive, transfer window means the south Londoners quite frankly deserve a mediocre end to what could’ve been a memorable campaign.
In other news, these Crystal Palace fans were left fuming with this “game changing” moment against Sheffield United…