Premier League season preview: Crystal Palace looking for top ten finish under Alan Pardew

Palace are on the up under Alan Pardew. Credit: PA

By Chris Mendes

Predicted finish: 10th

Crystal Palace are starting to think beyond Premier League survival after a resurgent second half of 2014/15.

Signings:

After guiding Palace out of the relegation zone and steering them into the top ten, Alan Pardew ensured a summer of stability – rather than upheaval – was in order at Selhurst Park. Some of his critical business played out during that opening month in charge, when Wilfried Zaha, Jordon Mutch, Lee Chung-yong and Pape Souare were recruited alongside Shola Ameobi, who has since been released. In truth, the most important signing of all was Pardew himself.

He's afforded chairman Steve Parish the luxury of focusing on four or five quality additions rather than an arduous summer overhaul. Yohan Cabaye adds a sprinkling of class, an eye-catching £10m arrival from PSG who has already flourished under Pardew at Newcastle. Arguably the top-flight’s signing of the summer, Cabaye’s dead-ball expertise alone should bump up Palace’s end-of-season points tally. Middlesbrough’s top scorer last season with 17 goals, Patrick Bamford, has joined on loan from Chelsea, desperate to prove that like Charlie Austin, he too can carry his prolific goal-scoring exploits into the Premier League. More on him later.

Austin, meanwhile, is another player Palace expressed an interest in signing, but this looks even more unlikely following the arrival of Connor Wickham from Sunderland. Wickham joins Bamford, Frazier Campbell and Dwight Gayle as Pardew's attacking options, with Glenn Murray edging closer to Fulham. Wickham, 22, has never scored more than five Premier League goals in one season, and failed to reach double figures after bursting onto the scene with Ipswich in the Championship. The reported £7m fee, rising to £9.5m with add-ons, seems a little steep for a player who rarely finds the net.

Even so, the powerful 6 ft 3 in striker offers something completely different to the forwards already at Pardew's disposal, while another big outlay reaffirms the board's desire to build rather than consolidate. Nobody can argue that Palace don't have a stronger squad than two months ago, and considering the kind of ambition at Selhurst Park, there’s nothing stopping them from pushing towards Europa League qualification this season.

Pardew was unfairly victimised by sections of Newcastle's support. Credit: PA

Manager:

It was easy to take Pardew’s achievements at Newcastle for granted considering much of them played out with a backdrop of discontent and disharmony in the stands. For large periods, he suffered as the scapegoat on Tyneside because of a growing sense of detachment supporters continue to feel towards Mike Ashley’s regime.

Granted, there were times when Pardew did himself little favours – pushing a linesman and an opposing manager on the touchline spring to mind, while his ‘head-butt’ on David Meyler was simply cringe-worthy. It’s hardly surprising those emotions sometimes spilled over given the level of ill feeling among Newcastle’s fans. Many of them held up banners demanding his sacking during matches while thousands more regularly chanted to similar effect.

Pardew has found a club where he's appreciated. Credit: PA

The manager's decision to quit in January proved nothing short of a masterstroke, boosting his reputation immeasurably in a matter of months. While the 51 year-old masterminded Palace’s surge up to 10th from the relegation places, Newcastle, the club he’d left sitting pretty in 10th back in January, were almost relegated after plummeting down the table under the hapless John Carver.

Pardew picked up 31 points in his 18 matches at Palace last season, more than Spurs and the same amount as Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool. It will be fascinating to sit back and discover just how much he can achieve at an ambitious Premier League club where everyone appears to be pulling in the same direction.

Bamford bagged a hat-trick inside 20 minutes against Bromley. Credit: PA

One to watch: Patrick Bamford

Youth, proven goal-scoring ability and ambition all rank pretty highly on a manager's wish list when searching for good strikers on a tight budget. These are also attributes befitting of Patrick Bamford, the 21 year-old who bagged 17 goals for Middlesbrough and celebrated scooping the Championship Player of the Year award by reaffirming his intention to break into Chelsea's first team.

He has bundles of energy, an eye for goal, something to prove and for the first in his career, a Premier League club willing to offer him regular football. Bamford's goal against Man City in the FA Cup last season, when his sheer determination forced Fernando into a goal-line blunder, demonstrated why his work rate should trouble the toughest opponents. A disappointing display in May's play-off final was more down to an ankle problem than anything else.

Bamford has already scored 43 goals in the football league during successful loan spells with Boro, Derby and MK Dons. For a young man with the capacity to develop even further, the possibility of senior England recognition this season is certainly not out of the question. He also bagged a first half hat-trick during last week's friendly against Bromley, a promising sign indeed regardless of the opposition.