Before the weekend there had been very strong rumours that Blackpool manager and media favourite Ian 'Olie' Holloway was being coveted by the Palace board as Dougie's replacement. Despite his intense loyalty to the tangerine dream of getting the Seasiders back into the Premiership, it seemed inevitable when it emerged that his three daughters, who are all hard of hearing, lived in London and that he was relishing the opportunity to come back to the Capital to be closer to his family.
A £400k release fee stamped on his contract made it very difficult for Karl Oyston, the Blackpool Chairman, to hold onto his prized Bristolian and on Saturday morning just before a home clash against Blackburn Rovers, it was announced that Ian Holloway was the new Crystal Palace boss.
The news was greeted by rapture amongst the Palace faithful who had picked up not only one of the biggest characters in football but also a manager who on recent form has to be seen as the most qualified to get Crystal Palace back into the the top flight. Having surprised everyone by achieving promotion with Blackpool via the playoffs, he almost managed to achieve the impossible when he took what has to be seen as a very average side to within 45 mins of survival in the World's greatest football league. Ollie then showed incredible bounce-back-ability to shake off the disappointment of relegation and guide his team straight back into the playoffs where they were very unfortunate to lose to West Ham.
As a result, there was a real buzz about Selhurst Park and infront of a more numerous Palace audience than has been experienced thus far this season, Murray headed home on the stroke of half time to put the Eagles 1-0 up against Blackburn. The joy from the opening goal remained as the first half was called to a halt and after being treated to a textbook half time performance from the lovely Crystals, Holloway was presented to the fans and didn't fail to impress in his first interview as Crystal Palace manager. Another Murray penalty secured Curtis Fleming's parting gift, a 2-0 victory that moved us up to 3rd in the league.
The Palace action was coming thick and fast as after three days full of Holloway interviews, it was now time to see him in action as his side faced potential banana skin and bottom of the table Ipswich Town. What was described to me as a sketchy first half, where we fell apart towards the end, still provided a 1-0 lead thanks to an exquisite Bolasie lob. What happened in the second half was indeed a very a pleasant surprise for Palace fans. Three penalty decisions, a Glen Murray hattrick and an impressive André Moritz moustache all inspired what ended up as a 5-0 thrashing of Mick McCarthy's new side.
Crystal Palace are now on a twelve game unbeaten run and will be looking to add to it tomorrow away at Peterborough.
