Alan Pardew is pressing on with plans to identify possible signings at Crystal Palace in next month’s transfer window while his future as the club’s manager may depend on his team checking a dismal run of defeats against Southampton this weekend.
Palace go into the match at Selhurst Park on Saturday having lost their past six league games which has left them outside the relegation zone only on goal difference. The club’s three major shareholders – the chairman, Steve Parish, and the American investors David Blitzer and Josh Harris – have held talks this week and, despite alarm at the recent collapse in form, opted against making an immediate change in the dug-out.
That stance is likely to change should Palace suffer a seventh successive defeat this weekend at a venue where only two clubs, Stoke twice and Norwich, have been beaten in the league throughout this calendar year, particularly if the performance is as chaotic as that in the 5-4 loss at Swansea last Saturday. The hierarchy have made clear that a team who have shipped 17 goals in five matches must show a dramatic improvement if Pardew’s tenure is to extend into the festive period.
Perhaps significantly the Americans are understood to have been made aware of Sam Allardyce’s credentials, with the hierarchy conscious of his availability and apparent eagerness to return to top‑flight management, a reality that is heaping yet more pressure on Pardew to instigate a swift revival.
The manager was asked to demonstrate a willingness to make radical changes in the team’s approach this week and it is understood he has looked at switching to a three-man defence as he seeks some defensive solidity with Palace having not kept a clean sheet in the Premier League since mid-April. The 3-4-3 system is in vogue, with Chelsea having won seven league games in succession adopting it at the top of the division, and it could mean Scott Dann, Damien Delaney and James Tomkins operating across the back-line against Claude Puel’s team.
Pardew – who has lost Connor Wickham for the rest of the season with knee ligament damage and will be without the suspended Yohan Cabaye – has been lacking a left-footed left-back since Pape Souaré was seriously injured in a road traffic accident. The absence of the Senegalese has made a replacement a priority in the January window, with Pardew still overseeing the club’s approach to recruitment.
There is interest in Newcastle United’s Paul Dummett, a player with whom he worked at St James’ Park, while extensive scouting reports have been compiled on Leeds’ Charlie Taylor and the Celtic full‑back Kieran Tierney. Luke Shaw, out of favour at Manchester United, has apparently indicated he would not be willing to move to the south London club on loan. Palace have also scouted another Senegal international, the midfielder Badou Ndiaye, currently at Osmanlispor in Turkey.
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