A loss at the hands of Everton was not the only embarrassment for Crystal Palace last weekend; to make things worse, fellow relegation battlers Swansea City garnered an unexpected yet a spectacular win over Liverpool at the Anfield and leapfrogged Crystal Palace to move to the 17th spot. No matter how appealing Sam Allardyce’s track record is as far as being survivalists is concerned, this campaign would be arguably one of the most hostile ones he has ever had to encounter.
With not much time left in the shutting down of the transfer window, the Eagles know that the signing of Jeffrey Schlupp merely would not be enough to drag them out of the relegation dogfight. Big Sam has been assessing his targets going into the last week of the transaction period and apparently, he is intrigued on getting his hands on Rubin Kazan’s Yann M’Vila and free agent Christopher Samba to strengthen his squad going into the ultimate stages of the league campaign.
M’Vila flourished under Allardyce last term during his loan spell, saving Sunderland’s blushes who stayed clear of the relegation zone. He knitted the side together during the 37 appearances he was handed, scoring a goal, creating 45 chances, clocked an average pass accuracy of 81% and made 6 defensive actions on an average. The French midfielder rescued the Black Cats from drowning and the former England national team’s manager is optimistic of such an important aid from the 26-year-old yet again.
Christopher Samba is the other veteran to have been linked with a move to the Selhurst Park. The Congo international has been handed a trial by the Eagles after being released from Greek outfit Panathinaikos. The 32-year-old is still weeks away from being fit enough to be engineered into Crystal Palace’s setup but it is arguably Allardyce’s desperate measures which have seen the club resorting to the former Blackburn Rovers and Queens Park Rangers defender.
Defence still is a major cause of concern for Crystal Palace, and only time will tell whether the knack to rope Samba would be fruitful or not.
The Eagles haven’t yet managed to get past their bad patch and the ramification in the managerial position hasn’t borne any noticeable result. They need to take big strides before they wither away and pass into nothingness. Although the former of the two aforesaid experienced campaigners still has the flair, one might question Allardyce’s mentality and intent as far as signing Samba is concerned.
