Dowie believes Palace can put record straight

 
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Simon Johnson16 August 2013

If a lengthy cast of leading pundits are to be believed, Crystal Palace should not even bother turning up for kick-off against Tottenham on Sunday.

The arguments for them returning to the Championship in May are many and convincing, namely that Palace simply do not have the money or the squad to compete with the Premier League’s rich kids.

There is one dissenter among their ranks and it is a man who knows more than most just what Palace and head coach Ian Holloway are up against — their former manager Iain Dowie.

He was in charge when the Eagles last played in the top flight in the 2004-5 campaign having won promotion, just like Holloway’s side, via the play-offs.

Unfortunately, the club’s stay among the elite proved to be short-lived, although they were within eight minutes of safety in their final game, only for Charlton defender Jonathan Fortune to head home an equaliser to drop them into the bottom three.

But Dowie is convinced history isn’t about to repeat itself, as long as Palace can learn from some of the mistakes made last time around.

He told Standard Sport: “I am not one of the naysayers who think Palace have no chance at all in staying up. I think there are a number of clubs that finished near the bottom last year, as well as the other promoted clubs, that they can finish above.

“No one will enjoy going to Selhurst Park this season, it is a tough ground to play at, as many Premier League sides found out during my time there.I still look back and take a lot of responsibility for not keeping the club in the division. I made a number of signings in the summer [11 in all] and I made too many changes to the team at the beginning, when I should have stuck with more of the players that got us there.

“It is a fine line between playing the old and the new players. I know Ian has spent very wisely so far this summer and it is key to get that balance right.

“I believe it played a part in why we got off to a bad start, which proved costly in the end.

“We didn’t win in our first seven games which meant we had a lot of catching up to do. This Palace side must make sure they keep in touch until Christmas and then they will have the chance to spend again in January to give them that final push.”

Dowie feels that the club’s summer spending on forwards this time around has put them in a strong position. Dowie relied heavily on Andy Johnson to score the team’s goals that year, with his tally of 21 putting him second behind Thierry Henry in the list of top scorers. However, the rest of the squad managed just 20 between them.

Dowie added: “Andy was great for me that year, but you need more than one forward to find the net so I think the signings of Dwight Gayle (below), Marouane Chamakh, plus the experienced Kevin Phillips coming back, is great for them.

“I think Gayle has the pace to cause problems and Chamakh has a point to prove. I thought he got off to a good start at Arsenal and then it didn’t just work out for him for some reason.

“But no matter what happens, the team have to go out and play with confidence. Concentration is the key, little mistakes can prove costly in the end.

“For example, my team would have stayed up if we’d not conceded a late equaliser the week before the Charlton game against Southampton, but we gave the ball away unnecessarily when the three points were in our hands.”

Lastly, Dowie is adamant that Holloway can really make the difference, having already experienced one season in the Premier League with Blackpool in 2010-11.

“Ian is a great character and a top manager,” Dowie said. “He is getting better and better and what he went through with Blackpool will really help him.

“He can lift the players if results start going against them and keep the dressing room upbeat. He has already done a superb job to get them promoted and I believe he can go one better and keep them up this season.”

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