Today it is being reported that Crystal Palace boss Ian Holloway has left the club, either by mutual consent or being relieved of his managerial duties, with Palace sitting in the relegation zone after a 4-1 defeat by Fulham on Monday night, a game in which Palace had taken the lead.
Holloway's job has been in question for a while, the only points they have won this season came in a win against Sunderland, who are currently bottom of the league with only one point to their name. Sunderland have also decided to change manager, appointing former Brighton boss Gus Poyet.
Not many people gave Palace much hope of surviving in the Premier league this season, considering they do not have the funds or squad that looks like being able to compete, even Holloway said it might come down to whether there are three teams who happen to be worse than them, although at present it looks as though there may only one.
Holloway strengthened where he could, bringing in former Arsenal striker Chamakh, however they also missed out on key target Darren Bent who decided instead to move to Fulham. Bent would have added the goalscorer that Palace need in order to have a better chance of competing.
Being honest, Palace still look like a Championship team which will do extremely well to stay in the division no matter who the manager is, however the argument is as to whether Holloway is actually to blame for this, would other managers have been able to put together a better squad with the same budget and reputation of Palace?
Holloway is well known for his witty press conferences but there has been question as to whether he is really just a funny man or a football manager, a reputation he wanted to change this season. Last time Holloway was in the Premier league he was in a similar situation with Blackpool who were eventually relegated on the final day of the season after a great season that nearly saw them stay up. This season his Palace side have not got off to the same start and so have made it harder for themselves but not impossible.
Holloway only took over Palace midway through last season, continuing their brilliant form and guiding them to promotion via the play offs, including knocking arch rivals Brighton out in the semi finals. Since then they have lost key man Wilfred Zaha to Manchester Utd, considerably weakening their squad despite the step up, Palace do not appear to have replaced Zaha with the funds they recieved for him.
Holloway's tactical ability was highlighted as Palace beat Watford in the play off final at Wembley despite being given no chance by pundits and spectators. However this year Palace are still yet to keep a clean sheet.
In my opinion, Holloway is still the right manager for Palace, I don't think they would be able to attract anyone better for the job than him so to sack him would be a bad move for me and I can't see Palace having any chance of staying in the Premier league.
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