Crystal Palace 2016-17 season review: Results, roster changes, and summer transfer targets

It was something of a mixed season, to put it mildly. Crystal Palace began their campaign in a mood of considerable optimism, collapsed into a relegation battle, had to sack club hero Alan Pardew and replace him with firefighter extraordinaire Sam Allardyce, and ended up a quite respectable 14th. And then, just when everything looked like it might calm down, Allardyce resigned his position and retired from the game. At least it wasn’t boring.

Not very much for quite a while, and then an awful lot very quickly. When Pardew was sacked, just before Christmas, Palace had a mere 15 points. Allardyce took over immediately, but Palace could only muster one point from their next six games.

And then: click! Inspired by the domineering Mamadou Sakho at one end and a revived and energised Wilfried Zaha at the other, Palace beat (among others) Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool to emerge from the mire. In quite some style, too. Turns out that there were some pretty decent players in that squad, and all they needed was a quick dose of tough love, Allardyce style.

It feels a bit odd to hark back to the beginning of the season, since it’s largely irrelevant now, but Palace were quite remarkably appalling for a good few months. There seems to be a strange cycle to Alan Pardew’s sides: They overachieve for a few months, and then the pendulum swings right back and they suddenly don’t know how to pass to one another. Or mark at set pieces. Or even run. Most peculiar.

A week ago, this would have been fairly straightforward. A glorious, Allardyce-shaped future stretched out in front of Palace. All the good stuff: defensive solidity, arguments with Rafa Benitez, the occasional bitter snipe at the fact that the Barcelona job went to somebody more exotic …

Now, things are less certain. But Allardyce’s departure shouldn’t overshadow the evidence of the end of the season. This is a talented squad that can, when organised appropriately, mix it with the best of the Premier League. Roy Hodgson is the favorite for the job, but his appointment is far from certain.

First of all, to hang on to Wilfried Zaha. The young Ivorian was brilliant towards the end of the season, looking every inch player that Tottenham were trying to buy last summer, before they gave up and gambled on Moussa Sissoko. That didn’t go so well, and it would be a surprise if the north Londoners didn’t have another shot at tempting Zaha across the Thames. Zaha’s new contract suggests that he won’t be moving this summer, and if Spurs or any other club wants him, they’ll have to pay an exorbitant sum.

A likely departure is Steve Mandanda, who will probably return to France having failed to secure a place in the first-team. Palace may, therefore, end up chasing another goalkeeper: Wayne Hennessey has many admirable qualities, but he’s not the best at diving. Which is a bit of a problem for a goalkeeper. Precisely who they target will likely depend on the new manager, but they should at least give Joe Hart a call. Just on the off-chance.

As for acquisitions, there’s a reason that Mamadou Sakho made Palace’s Player of the Year shortlist despite only arriving in January: he was exactly what they needed. Whether they’ll be able to pick him up permanently depends on the price Liverpool will be asking for, and on the extent of the ligament injury he sustained towards the end of the season. But if he’s too expensive, or too crocked, then they’ll have to look elsewhere. They’ve been linked with Anderlecht’s versatile Kara Mbodji, who would presumably be cheaper.