In three weeks I would expect to see players having a better idea of their roles without the ball. I'm not talking about being error free, I'm talking about defence in a straight line not a snake, compact, CBs closer together etc. Three weeks and five games in do I expect miracles? No but I haven't seen anything encouraging so far either.

The whole issue with the team is around confidence. Poor play and a number of horrendous refereeing decisions have taken our guys to rock bottom on confidence. Good players do not become bad overnight, but good players without confidence are bad players. Therefore SA needs to rebuild confidence from the back through the team. Hennessy must be dropped. He always has the look of someone about to drop a clanger (yesterday he had 3, 2 were goals) and last season when he started away to Villa he went on to drop changers in consecutive games. Speroni has the confidence of Dann, Tomkins, Damo, Wardy etc and this means a lot. A new left back (due imminently) will make a huge difference to the defence. In midfield we need a fit Jimmy Mac and Flamini to give us the basis of cover for the central defenders. We then need 3 creatives and a centre forward. Wilf will obviously be a shoe-in on his return and Punch is a good club man and trier. Cabaye is safer in a forward position and Remy seems to want it more than Benteke. Having said that we take far too long to get the ball forward to Benteke. I would give Kai Kai a run against Bolton and see if we can leave Townsend on the bench for a few games. He looks shell shocked right now.

On what basis do you say that? For example, he's never even been in the same team as Tomkins! You're just making up 'facts' that are not such to support your theory.

Jules has been a much much better goalie for us than Wayne will ever be. He's still our player and is fit and available to play. It seems a no brainer to at least give him a go in between the sticks. We're on a hiding to nothing at the moment. He has the ability to win us games as the last line of defence, as he has done many many times over the seasons he has been with us. We're at a critical point where we need heros to stand up and save us. Julian Speroni is just that.

"We love you Palace, we f@cking hate Man U, We love you Palace, we hate the brighton too, We love you Palace we play in red 'n' blue, so f@ck you, and you ...

Sadly I suspect Speroni is past it. But it's got to the point where he can't be any worse than Hennessey. I think Hennessey's presence is reducing the confidence of his defence as well.

Totally agree ,I think it has got worse not better. A new manager normally brings a new belief as players try to prove themselves. This has not happened. The question is Why?