Sam Allardyce had anticipated a difficult week. He had to rebuild confidence after a five-goal drubbing and in liaison with an overworked medical department piece together a defence to secure survival from Crystal Palace’s massed ranks of walking wounded. Yet, with the situation already tense, he probably had not envisaged his onerous workload playing out to regular and unnerving references to all things Oldham Athletic.
At first mention, Palace’s manager of almost five months must have been perplexed at the apparent relevance of a distant club languishing in League One but there are enough figures down at the Beckenham training ground who remember. Former players turned coaches such as Richard Shaw or figures around the club such as Eddie McGoldrick. For anyone with a long association with Palace, Oldham 1993 is still the stuff of nightmares. Had anyone mentioned it to him? “Yeah,” Allardyce said. “Too many.”
To rewind 24 years, Palace had won their final home game and, having moved eight points clear of the bottom three, even conducted a post-match lap of appreciation at Selhurst Park, sensing safety had been secured. Yet 24 hours later third-from-bottom Oldham ended Aston Villa’s title aspirations with a win at Villa Park no one had anticipated, then exploited David James’s indecision to defeat Liverpool in midweek while Palace were drawing at Manchester City. Joe Royle’s Oldham would overcome Southampton 4-3 at a nerve-wracked Boundary Park on the final afternoon while Palace succumbed at Arsenal, tormented by Ian Wright, the striker whose career they had kickstarted.
The final whistle curtailed a four-season stint in the top flight with Steve Coppell’s side, in a 22-team division, relegated on goal difference with 49 points. The world rightly focused on Oldham’s remarkable recovery but Palace were scarred as victims of the Latics’ unlikely act of escapism. Allardyce, made familiar with the scenario and a manager who has performed feats comparable to Royle’s to benefit Bolton Wanderers and Sunderland, knows there will be anxiety all around at midday on Sunday as his players tear into Hull City, a team four points beneath his own. “I can ask the crowd not to be nervous but they will be,” he said. “There will be a nervous pressure to this game. We have to ‘entertain’ the crowd not by the way we play but by showing we can handle the pressure and deliver a performance. It’s in our own hands.”
It has been for a while. Palace guaranteed their top-flight status last season with victory in their penultimate fixture but their predicament feels more fraught this time round, even if, in reality, Swansea and Hull would prefer to be in that position. A point on Sunday would keep Allardyce’s team in the division. They will be as good as safe at kick-off should Sunderland, apparently liberated by demotion, defeat Paul Clement’s side at the Stadium of Light on Saturday. The frustration at Selhurst Park is that this team appeared to have edged clear of the condemned last month. They had been 12th after winning at Liverpool three weeks ago, a burst of form having also included notable victories over Chelsea and Arsenal.
Then the injuries kicked in. Mamadou Sakho, James Tomkins and Scott Dann succumbed, and Yohan Cabaye’s class was missed in midfield. The past three games have been lost without a goal scored. Allardyce described his makeshift team’s display at City as “rubbish”, which was probably being kind. “If all those players had been available we’d have been top half of the table by now,” he said. “But we’re not and now we have to deal with this situation. The preparation is already in place. The players have to make sure that on the day they remember it. That’s the key.”
Cut out the basic errors that blighted them against Burnley and Manchester City, and rediscover the incision that led to Arsenal being thrashed, and they are home. Anything else could leave them in a world of pain, needing reward from Manchester United on the final day or reliant upon Tottenham Hotspur or West Bromwich Albion and Tony Pulis, their former manager and, until recently, the subject of a bitter legal dispute, to take points off those immediately below them.
That scenario seems unthinkable. There have been times when Palace, overanxious, have cracked. Some are drawing comparisons to the FA Cup final last May when they shipped a late equaliser and were beaten by United’s 10 men in extra time. The emphatic home loss to Sunderland in February has also been cited. “But that was a different team, before we’d incorporated the new players,” Allardyce said. “The lift the new signings gave us allowed us to play very, very well and gain confidence, so it’s about thinking back to the results we’ve gained. Say to yourself: ‘We don’t want to waste beating Chelsea away, Liverpool away, Arsenal at home. Don’t waste it lads, because those were terrific performances.’
“We’d actually put ourselves in a very positive position with five games to go but have slipped back in. We’ve had three chances to get some points and we’ve failed. Sunday is another opportunity, so I’d ask my players: ‘How many chances do you want? Take this one.’ I won’t sleep easy on Saturday night – but I never do before games. I’m usually reduced to watching box sets but I’m running out at the moment. Billions has finished. I’m gutted about that.” Palace must now ensure they are not left contemplating life without the millions guaranteed in the money-flushed Premier League.
