Eagles must start living up to the hype

But, after 14 games, the Eagles occupy the worst position in the league, so can it get any worse?

After another dismal performance against Swansea last Saturday, in which the Eagles eventually lost 3-0, they now have a huge game this Saturday when they face Middlesbrough, who are only one place above them.

This is another good opportunity to prove the critics wrong after such a poor to the season.

I had high hopes going into the Swansea game after two pleasing away performances against Norwich and Preston, when George Burley’s men got their first away victory and goals of the season, but once again Palace were bought down to earth with an embarrassing bump.

It is hard to put faith in the team when they constantly perform below expectations and create minimal attacking chances, as we saw against Swansea.

Rumours that George Burley may be axed and replaced by Selhurst Park great Alan Pardew were rubbished by chairman Steve Parish who insisted that he was looking forward to January when there would be a reshuffle of the squad.

As we have learnt in the past, sometimes it is good to show faith in a manager after a poor start, but my opinion on Burley is mixed.

No one can doubt his talents after successful stints in charge or Ipswich and Derby, but at Palace he has struggled.

Although he has done well in securing the loan-signings of players such as James Vaughan and Antony Gardner, along with the signing of influential midfielder Edgar Davids, he seem to have signed players just to add more numbers in the squad.

There is no doubt that we need more depth in the squad, but it angers me as a Palace fan when players such as Andy Dorman and Jon Obika are getting into the team.

Obika is a youngster and has a lot of time to learn, but I believe at this level and in the situation we’re in, we need players who are dedicated to the cause and have the experience to put in a solid performance.

I know players need time to get used to new surroundings, but nothing I have seen from Andy Dorman’s performances in red and blue has shown me that he can play at this level.

His poor performance last Saturday did him no good in my opinion, but as it seems George Burley is still keeping him in the starting line-up, I suppose it’s a case of playing the waiting game.

With the chairman showing faith in the manager and assuring fans that things will come good at Selhurst Park soon, I believe it is time us fans show faith in him and back the manager.

After Darren Ambrose made his long-awaited return to the fold in the Swansea match, hopefully he can turn Palace’s fortunes and add that creative spark that we have lacked.

To be fair to Burley, he has never had a full team to choose from since taking over from Paul Hart and, once Scannell and Danns return from injury, hopefully he will be able to choose what he considers his best squad.

But it is not looking good at the moment and something has to change on the pitch if we’re going to push up the table and show our full potential.

With my optimism gradually fading away and my views on Palace’s coaching staff mixed, nothing would please me more than keeping faith in Burley and secure an important win against Boro this Saturday.

The season so far has been all talk and no action so I won’t build up too much hype about the game and cross my fingers that Palace start securing the wins we expect every week.

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