Neil Warnock Must Put Faith Back in Young Eagles

After the surprise (but more than welcome) playoff push at the back end of last season, Crystal Palace fans had high hopes for the 2008-09 season.

With a few promising summer acquisitions, many believed the squad had become capable of making a firm push for promotion back to the Premiership.

Four games and only two points later, the outlook is remarkably different. The team has looked flat and lifeless, a far cry from the performances that lit up Selhurst Park barely three months earlier.

Who is to blame for this disappointing turn of events? It is hard to put a finger on it, but the unsettling turnaround of the playing staff has certainly not helped.

During the summer, a total of eight players have arrived at the club, with another seven leaving for pastures new. Such turmoil does not aid the cohesion of the team, and recent performances have underlined that.

However, another problem seems to be Neil Warnock’s reticence to fully rely on his youngsters, rather surprising considering how successful such a policy was last season, when even the former Sheffield United manager was surprised by how well the likes of Victor Moses, Lee Hills, and (dare I mention him) John Bostock performed when called upon.

Emboldened by their impressive efforts, Warnock even went out and loaned in Scott Sinclair, Kyel Reid, and Nathan Ashton—all teenagers from Premiership clubs—to strengthen his playoff push.

Until those two games against Bristol City, the strategy paid dividends.

Now, however, Warnock seems to have changed tact. Moses has been left on the bench frequently this term, as has Lee Hills, Jose Fonte, and new signing Calvin Andrew.

Instead, old stalwarts like James Scowcroft and Matt Lawrence have occupied the starting positions.

The results have not validated such a strategy.

The lack of another Scott Sinclair-type player has also restricted the team's attacking intent. To remedy the problem, Warnock has admitted this week that he has been looking at Arsenal’s youth team for potential loanees. As a result, he was linked with a move for highly rated 17-year-old, Kyle Lansbury:

“I saw that we were linked with Lansbury—but I was actually their watching Jose Fonte's brother, Rui,” Warnock told the Croydon Advertiser.

Rui, 19, is the sort of player who could potentially fill Sinclair’s old role. However, doubts remain as to whether Warnock believes the youngster is physically capable of handling the Championship.

Such an attitude should have been discarded last season, where evidence to support such a belief was extremely rare. While Moses did get outmuscled in both critical games against Bristol City, this was arguably due to the insufficient threat posed by Clinton Morrison leading the line—allowing the intimidating City defenders to focus more of their attention on the dangerous youngster—than any real weakness on the 17-year-old's part.

With Calvin Andrew—or even recent signing Alan Lee—up front, the Eagles should have the physical attacking threat that would allow Moses, Scannell et al more room to exploit their pace and skill.

Scowcroft, who is currently injured, just doesn't have the mobility to scare even the worst Championship defences.

Speaking of defence, questions surround Warnock’s persistence in picking Matt Lawrence and Paddy McCarthy, especially while Jose Fonte remains on the bench. The Portuguese defender, on loan last season, did enough to persuade Warnock to make the deal permanent, yet he has seen little first-team football this term.

Rumours suggest that Warnock trusts Lawrence and Paddy McCarthy ahead of the cultured former Benfica man, especially against physical opponents—yet both men were in the lineup when Palace got hammered at Leeds in the Carling Cup, 4-0, and against Reading, where the Eagles went down 4-2.

Fonte, however, was not.

On Saturday, the Eagles welcome Swansea City to Selhurst Park. With seven points from their first four games, the Swans will be confident of improving their league position—they currently sit happily in seventh.

Newly promoted or not, they won't want to give the Eagles any help in kick-starting their season.

With two weeks off over the international break, Warnock must be hoping that his team have now gelled, and that he will subsequently be able to witness an improved performance from the lads, one that will bring a much needed victory.

If he puts his faith in Fonte (and what about Austrian international Johnny Ertl?) then he may well see a more solid backline. For now though, Warnock is focussing on improving the attacking threat, having seen only two goals from his side (both against Reading) in the league so far:

"I'm hoping we can create more and go at it a bit," he told Teamtalk.com.

"We've got to commit ourselves a bit more, even if it means that we're going to be caught on the break—we've got to cope with it. I want bodies in the box."

If he puts his faith back in Moses, Scannell, and Andrews, he may just get his wish.