• Manager says team’s slide has pitched them into relegation battle
• Palace players and staff told to end ‘daydreaming and get on with it’Alan Pardew clearly thought the time had advance for some domestic truths. Crystal Palace acquire been able to cling to their best FA Cup run in more than two decades as cause for optimism,or to point to premature injuries sustained by key personnel as an explanation for shoddy Premier League results, but a straight question provoked a blunt answer. Are his team now embroiled in a relegation fight? “Yes, and of course we are,” he said. “We keep losing and we need to click into gear. So, as much as I’m looking at myself, and I’m looking at my players and staff and saying: ‘advance on,end daydreaming. Let’s get on with it.’ ”The impression was that he had just delivered that very message to the ranks. Palace’s slide from European contention to a precarious position above the relegation scrap has gone nearly unnoticed to all apart from those scarred by this club’s ability to conjure catastrophe from rare opportunity.
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Source: theguardian.com