An opinion piece about the departure of Tony Pulis from Crystal Palace FC. Published in the September 2014 edition of the Croydon Citizen.

1. thecroydoncitizen.com September 201416
Copyright © 2014 Citizen Newspapers Ltd@CroydonCit
THE SPORT CITIZENmany goals - many wickets
The king is dead.
Long live the king!It’s farewell to the manager who led Palace
to their highest league finish since 1992, as
Tony Pulis and his trademark baseball cap
left the club amid a sea of controversy and
uncertainty. Yes, the timing was terrible.
Yes, the probability of signing several much-
needed squad reinforcements has lessened.
And yes, the Malky Mackay–Iain Moody text
controversy has not helped matters. However,
the hard work that the stern-faced Welsh
manager put into the club will not be undone
overnight.
During an era in which ongoing managerial
spats, incessant mind games and artsy-fartsy
analogies have become the norm, Pulis breaks
the trend. He is a what-you-see-is-what-you-
get,no-nonsensekindofman.Thus,hewasthe
perfect fit for a club which has endured more
ups and downs that an Eastenders omnibus in
recent seasons. An uncompromising centre-
half during his playing days, he was equally
determined to avoid getting sucked in by
media malarkey as Palace boss.
An equally professional stance has been
adopted by players and staff at SE25 in
light of the past fortnight’s events – the
furore surrounding the departure of the
club’s manager and footballing director
being handled with measured competence.
Caretaker manager Keith Millen highlighted
the importance of taking the developments
at Selhurst Park with a pinch of salt. Baying
journalists asked how his players had
responded to Iain Moody’s exit on Thursday.
They laughed, replied Millen. Then they ran
around the training pitch, just like normal
footballers do, he added.
Tellingly, the Eagles’ fans have also shown
an ability to derive humour from this bleak-
looking situation. The travelling faithfuls’
exuberant cries of “Who needs a manager?”
after Brede Hangeland’s opening goal at the
Emirates Stadium on the opening weekend
were mirrored by similarly sardonic remarks
on social media outlets. “Another 11th-placed
finish under Pulis would have been boring
anyway” and “We’re Palace fans, we’re used
to this!” were among the most common
reactions. For followers of a club which almost
disastrously disintegrated into non-existence
just four years ago, the current climate of
things really isn’t that bad at all.
The players are capable of
digging deep enough to conquer
the current malaise
The Malky Mackay affair was not a massive
blow, but a setback. As Millen has stated
though, it is of vital importance that a new
manager is installed as quickly as is feasibly
possible. If this fails to happen, that is when
unrest will really start to creep in. Just look at
recent developments at Southampton.
The domino effect of Mauricio Pochettino
joining Tottenham and several first-team
players heading out of the exit door at Saint
Mary’s led to the press sensationalizing the
situation to a ridiculous level.
The lack of rumours of dressing-room bust-
ups and first-team members handing in
transfer requests portends to the incoming
manager having little work to do in terms of
rebuilding team spirit. Of course, the players
will be hurt and confused by the fracas. But if
they can bring themselves out of the doldrums
to produce a terrific turnaround as they did
after Ian Holloway’s departure last term, then
they are capable of digging deep enough to
conquer the current malaise.
However, Yannick Bolasie’s delay in signing
a new deal is a cause for concern. His
performance against West Ham was perhaps
affected by the ongoing saga regarding a
contract extension.
The worry is not that he will jump ship
before deadline day next week, but rather the
possibility of the player leaving for free at the
end of this season when his current contract
terminates. Ensuring the winger puts pen to
paper has to take priority for Palace’s next
manager.
The emergence of Bolasie and his fellow wide
man Jason Puncheon last season is another
example of Palace triumphing in the face
of adversity. The squad’s attacking options
looked worryingly limited on the dawn of
their first Premier League season in eight
years.
Local lad Wilfried Zaha had returned to parent
clubManchesterUnitedafteractingascatalyst
for Palace’s impressive promotion from the
Championship. Rumours of a comeback to his
former club proved accurate, but Zaha will
find it very difficult to oust either Puncheon
or Bolasie out of the starting XI.
The Eagles’ display against West Ham
on Saturday 23rd August was a bitter
disappointment, especially after the spirited
showing at Arsenal on the opening weekend.
Inordertomutetheongoingmediacacophony,
the players must do their talking on the pitch.
The reality is that the table reads zero points
and an awkward feeling will remain until a
first win is secured. Losing the first game of
the season due to an injury-time goal was
unlucky.
To add insult to injury, Palace was also
deprived of key player Joe Ledley in the
warm-up prior to the West Ham encounter.
Surely unfortunate incidents of this nature
will cease in the near future.
Then again, this is Palace we are talking about.
Little old Palace, who are experts at spotting
light at the end of the tunnel, only to watch
it flicker away in an instant. Now, it’s back to
the future: Palace appointed former manager
Neil Warnock on 27th August. Naturally, the
question on everyone’s lips is “what next?”
Giving it a jolly good go this season and
nothing less, that’s what.
Nadim Lilani is a recent
Hispanic Studies graduate
from the University of
Birmingham. A keen football
fan and blogger, he enjoys
expressing his love for
Croydon by documenting all
things Crystal Palace. Learning about different
cultures is another one of Nadim’s passions –
he is an avid traveller who speaks Spanish
and has recently begun to learn Swedish. He
is keen to make a wider audience aware of
Croydon’s proud sporting heritage.
Photo by IFCS Media, used under Creative Commons.