Crystal Palace Buildup: Pardew Wants Eagles Evolution, Puncheon Can’t Come to Terms and Dann Doesn’t Want to Party

Last weekend Liverpool fans were keeping their eyes on more than one result with their slender chance of qualifying for next seasons Champions League still alive and looking somewhat well.

By Monday morning, that was all over. With Crystal Palace coming up short against Manchester United on Saturday and Chelsea holding the Reds to a draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, the beginning of the work week was even more depressing for Kopites all around the world. For Eagles fans though, the mere fact that they’ll be playing Premier League football next season is probably good enough for them. Things were far less assured when Alan Pardew took over at Selhurst Park at the turn of the year, but a drastic turnaround under his stewardship has seen the ship settled and on course for a finish just below the top half of the table.

With another season in the top flight assured, the Palace boss is looking to push on from here with mere survival no longer the clubs one and only objective. “I’ve asked questions of this squad that haven’t been asked before and, so far, they’ve come up with all the answers,” said the former Newcastle United boss at the club’s awards evening. “[But] we have to keep evolving, keep changing. And that’s something I’m happy to do. Hopefully this summer we will invest and make this club a real stable Premier League club.”

While their status as a top flight regular hasn’t been established quite yet, they have made a name for themselves among the big boys as being a tough nut to crack. Liverpool, of course, have felt their sting on more than one occasion, but even last weekend against Manchester United they pushed Louis van Gaal’s almost to the breaking point with a dubious penalty in the first half and a late Marouane Fellaini header sandwiching a stunning free-kick from Jason Puncheon — who thought they had done enough for a point.

“It’s tough to take because the staff have told me that it wasn’t a penalty for them and I think we should have had a penalty for a foul on me after I came on in the second half, but those things happen in football. I think the ball hit Scott [Dann] on the top of the shoulder and that’s not classed as handball so it’s hard to take but those decisions go against you sometimes,” he told the Eagles official website following the loss to the Reds Devils. “It’s been a good season but the defeats to West Brom and Hull were disappointing but in the last two games we’ve got to take a lot of credit going up against two of the top teams in the country and I felt we did really well.”

There’s no question about that — although Chelsea ended up securing the title with a victory over the Eagles the week before, they didn’t go down without a fight. Now, with Palace the opposition for long serving Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard’s last match at Anfield, there’s no indication that they’re going to roll over here. If they’re not prepared to just hand the Blues the trophy, they’re not going to join in Stevie’s party, now are they?

“We need to make sure we go into the off-season on a high and pick up some points in the next two games. That’s the Premier League; it’s so hard to win four or five games on the bounce but then you can go five, six or seven games without a win. We’re on that type of run at the moment, but the positive thing is we’ve played two top teams in the last two weeks and put in a good performance,” explained Palace’s player of the year Scott Dann heading into the trip to Merseyside. “We will take that into the Liverpool game. I think it’s always a good atmosphere at Anfield but it will probably be a little bit more special for them. Liverpool are going to be going for it and will want to put in a good performance for Steven Gerrard and his last home game. But we’re on the back of four defeats, we’ve played well in the last two games and we’ll go to Anfield trying to get a good result.”

Steven

Steven McMillan

Can’t find up from down or tell black from white, but doesn't care cause it’s all Red to him. When he's not pissing and moaning about all things Liverpool, he’s chatting nonsense with his multiple personalities — or his “entourage” as he likes to call them.

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