Ian Holloway and Crystal Palace have parted company by mutual consent, with the manager admitting the club need some fresh energy.
The Eagles soared into the top-flight on the back of a playoff final win over Watford in May, but they have found it hard amongst the elite of English football. A 4-1 home defeat to Fulham was their seventh reverse in the opening eight matches, meaning they are already five points adrift of safety at this early stage of the campaign.
Since the inception of the Premier League, Palace have never managed to remain in the division for more than one season having been relegated in each of their past four spells. And it appears as though Holloway has had to concede that he may not be the man to buck this trend, after announcing his departure at a press conference on Wednesday.
“This club needs an impetus of energy,” the 50-year-old, who had been in charge for less than 12 months, said. “But I just feel tired to be honest. I’m worn out. I have to hold my hand up and say we didn’t keep the spirit that got us up. We changed too much too quickly. Someone with a tad more experience at this level will have 30 games left.”
Life is unlikely to get any easier for the Eagles this weekend when Arsenal visit Selhurst Park. Arsene Wenger’s side were beaten by Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, but inspired by the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Olivier Giroud and, of course, £42million Mesut Ozil, they are top of the Premier League with six wins from eight.
It remains to be seen if a new manager will have been installed by the time the Gunners show up. At the moment, former Stoke City boss Tony Pulis is the early frontrunner for the position, whilst Roberto Di Matteo, who led Chelsea to UEFA Champions League glory in 2012 before being sacked six months later, is also a potential candidate.
