Needs a few months I think. especially with the run of fixtures coming up. Still got Eze and Ferguson to wait for too (approx November) so if we can gel by then it will make it easier to bring them into the side too.

Been happy with the changes so far, and wasn't it great to actually have some possession and look threatening again against West Ham.

Now we have a natural goalscorer, if he can adapt quickly this could be a very exciting team to watch.

What a fantastic transfer window...

Some people are like Slinkies … not really good for anything, but you can’t help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.

I used to read Shoot! magazine when I was a kid - I've still got a copy of the first edition. Whenever a new player joined a club, it was invariably written that he would need 3 to 6 months to "settle in". How times have changed, eh?

Palace since 19 August 1972. Palace 1 (Tony Taylor) Liverpool 1 (Emlyn Hughes)

Well hopefully fairly quickly. We have already bedded in three newbies in Gallagher, Guehi and Andersen, so we won't be having to introduce all the new ones at the same time.

Given the limitations of our financial resources and the status of our club, I think it was a pretty good window. At least there appeared to be some strategic thinking behind the recruitment strategy. I know some wanted a winger, but, at least we did get a striker.

We will have a younger, energetic team more capable of playing on the front foot.
Looking at the risk/reward aspects of making the transition to a new style with new players there is one potential downside that seems obvious.
If we replace Kouyate with Hughes and Benteke with Edouard we do lose two accomplished players at defending set pieces with their height and heading ability.
Guiita is not particularly commanding and arguably we would only be left with Anderson, Guehi and possibly Ward to defend set pieces .
This could be something for teams such as Burnley and Everton to exploit.
I’m not suggesting Benteke and Kouyate should be included merely because of their aerial presence and it may be a case of us trying to avoid conceding too many set pieces and corners.

String.

Unfortunately a lot of my "stuff" is in storage at the moment. We had to de-clutter in order to accommodate some waifs and strays during lockdown, and they are still here!!

Anyway, here's an image from the t'internet. Two things of interest:

1) the cover price of one shilling (5p). That was a bit pricey back in the day, so I was well chuffed that my parents agreed to buy it for me each week.

2) "Terrific New Football Paper For Boys". A girl-free zone; those were the days!

Attachment: Shoot.jpg (14.95Kb)

Palace since 19 August 1972. Palace 1 (Tony Taylor) Liverpool 1 (Emlyn Hughes)