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The south is rising like never before in English football, and Crystal Palace must ride the wave

The south is rising like never before in English football, and Crystal Palace must ride the wave

There are some promising candidates among the runners and riders to take charge at Crystal Palace. Marco Silva was one before he opted for Watford, while Fulham's impressive Slavisa Jokanovic is another.

Whoever they land, they must make a long commitment to the new boss and stick with it. That can be difficult in modern football but it has to happen at Selhurst Park. And vice versa, too, after the sudden departure of Sam Allardyce after only five months. The new boss must be in for the long haul.

That shock to the system was partially soothed by the news that Wilfried Zaha had signed a new long-term contract, but nonetheless, this remains a critical point in Palace's history.

They can either make real progress or be engulfed by the emerging forces around them.

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Six coaches in five years is no way to advance in the way envisaged by the club's American owners and surely, they realise that as much as anyone else in the game.

Palace can be part of a kind of revolution of the south in the Premier League if they manage to find some stability.

For some time now, pundits have identified a gradual shift of wealth and potential away from the old northern powerhouses of the game - Manchester and Liverpool aside - to the more affluent south.

If you take a line south of the Thames, you'll get a picture of what this means.

Southampton, with their much admired infrastructure and business model, finished eighth in the campaign. Bournemouth, based in one of the most wealthy areas of the country, were ninth.

Brighton, much praised too for their way of doing business and with a fabulous stadium, are on the way to the top flight after 34 years.

True enough, Newcastle United have redressed the balance of recent years by returning to the Premier League under Rafa Benitez.

Yet it was Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull City who dropped out of the top flight. Big football cities like Leeds and Sheffield have been out of the limelight for some time now. You get the general picture.

It's not that long ago that there was a genuine hope in south London that Palace might qualify for Europe. This was during a period in November and December 2015 when they were in sixth place for a month and were fifth over Christmas.

This was during Alan Pardew's most heady period in charge, when it seemed like the return as manager of one of the clubs favourite sons and the extra-ordinary atmosphere being generated inside Selhurst Park had handed the club a strong, refreshed sense of identity and purpose. And this was less than a decade after they almost went out of business.

It went wrong for Pardew, although he did take the club to the FA Cup final in 2016 where they were beaten at late on by Manchester United.

Even so, that trip to Wembley was a reminder of Palace's potential, with such a densely populated area of the capital - and beyond - as their heartland.

In the end, Allardyce replaced Pardew and he did his fireman's job and kept the club in the Premier League.

After such a strong demonstration of his management skills, there was a sense that he could go on to provide the kind of solid, competent and well-organised base from which Palace might look to the future optimistically.

So it’s a major setback that they have lost such a proven operator.

Big Sam's work means that Palace have now completed five successive seasons in the Premier League. That's their longest spell in the top flight, beating their four seasons in the old First Division between 1969 and 1973.

They have joined the ranks of the big spenders after paying £27.5 million to land Christian Benteke and £14 million for Andros Townsend.

Now the next managerial appointment is critical and you sense it would be a candidate like Jokanovic - who took Fulham to the play-offs with such verve and style - who would bring the energy, dynamism to make a real "project" of taking Palace on the next step forward.

In this league, clubs have to spend big and take big, bold steps forward just to stand still. That's the legacy of the endless TV riches pouring into the competition which have transformed clubs like Bournemouth.

That is the challenge for Palace as they seek to build on the last five seasons in the top flight.

But it’s not just the new forces in the south of the country with whom they must compete.

In London, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs are in a different stratosphere. But West Ham, despite the troubles of their first season in the new stadium, still believe their move will be the basis for a great leap forward.

Meanwhile, Fulham came close to a return to the top flight. And Brentford are set for a stadium move soon.

The south is rising like never before in English football. Palace could successfully ride the wave of the game's changing times. If they get this next managerial appointment spot on.