Statistics that show Crystal Palace on course for safety
By Andrew McSteen
With a break from Premier League action thanks to the FA Cup third round match against rivals Brighton, Palace boss Roy Hodgson had time to reflect on his sides’ last Premier League match – a 2-1 come-from-behind victory against Southampton – and their current position in the table.
Those three points gained on the south coast put the Eagles on a total of 22 for the season so far – the same as games played in the league, and the first time this season that the club have not had fewer points than matches completed, a monumental effort by the team from SE25 after a disastrous start to their league campaign which saw eight losses in the first eight games and no goals.
It is generally agreed by observers of the game that if a team can get as many points as Premier League games played – 38 – then they will be safe in the elite league and this is borne out by simple facts: since Palace returned to the top flight in the 2013/14 no team has been relegated with 38 points or more. In 2013/14, 34 points or more were confirmation of safety, in 2014/15 it was 36, 2015/16, 37 points and last season Hull were the last team to be relegated, on 34 points.
Despite the current statistics and previous evidence highlighting his side in a position of relative safety, Hodgson told the South London Press that it was not a mental hurdle overcome to finally get to an equal points/game played ratio, but it was not something to be dismissed either.
“Are 22 points from 22 games any different from 21 from 22 or 23 from 22?” said Hodgson. “I’m not 100 per cent certain on that, I can only answer from myself – it doesn’t have that affect. I couldn’t sit here and say definitively that it doesn’t affect the players, maybe it does?
“It’s a difficult question, because everything matters; people’s state of mind and the way they are feeling about themselves – most of our work [as the coaching team] is based around trying to get the players into a frame of mind where they feel good about themselves.”
For the experienced Hodgson, who started coaching in 1976 in Sweden, the job of steering Palace to safety and up the table is quite simple – get the team prepared.
“There’s only one thing that you can preach to the players and that is the importance of being ready to do the job we’re paid for,” said Hodgson, who was born in Croydon in 1947.
“It’s a very simple job in one sense – it’s to win football matches and there’s quite a few of them throughout the year, 38 in the league and some in the cup, so however boring and simplistic it may sound, we have to get our heads around that.
“The fact is, the only way we are going to feel good about ourselves is when we’re winning and achieving goals, and that means making sure you’re ready for every game you play.”
