Welcome back to the Party at the Palace. If you haven't caught any of the previous posts, you can start from the beginning here.
Right, let's get to the start of the new episode.
We re-join the season in January after what can only be described at this point in this save as a "Very Palace" start to the season.
We threaten to go on a decent run, but it fizzles out at the worst possible time. The same can be said of this season as we had a very stop start first half of the season.
We were settled in our regular position of 9th with the hopes of pushing up the table.
January Transfer Window
With the late increase in income during the summer we had a small war chest to strengthen the squad in January.
Let's have a little look at who we have bought in.
Conor Gallagher - A former Palace loanee, Gallagher is a dynamic addition to the centre of the park who will add some real quality to the squad and for just £17.5 mil.
Marcus Carter - Definitely one for the future but with some very large clubs circling we pounced first.
The young goalkeeper will spend the rest of the season back loan at Melbourne Victory before joining us at the start of next season.
Liam Delap - More of a household name than our previous signing. Delap signs on loan until the end of the season from Man City.
He will offer huge competition for places with Kean and Mateta in what will be a gruelling end to the season.
Dennis Seimen - Another young goalkeeper but this time with an eye to challenging for the #1 shirt.
Signed from Stuttgart for £13.75 mil, it could prove to be the bargain of the year.
January 2025
It's an action-packed month which will mean that the new recruits will be integrated throughout the month.
New Year, New Palace. Let's do this.
Not too shabby, Newcastle are riding high as expected and they tore us apart at St James Park.
The defensive units bounced back well only conceding twice during the rest of the month. The home draw against Norwich was poor.
Back-to-back last-minute goals yielded 6 points from 2 game as Olise broke Leeds hearts and Mateta did the same to Everton a week later.
A debut Goal for Delap rescued a valuable point against Villa rounding of a positive month.
February 2025
We roll into February with some deserved confidence, The new lads are fitting in well and we look to really get a role of points on the board.
Just the one defeat to Chelsea sees us continue a modicum of momentum. Great to see Mateta filling Edouard's boots getting right amongst the goals.
March 2025
What am I am about to show you could be the most embarrassing result I have ever described on any of the Journeys we have been on.
I'll explain a few things later in the episode but for now, I will hold my hands over my face and peak between my fingers.........
We were AWFUL, couldn't string a pass together, didn't get close in the tackle and were just walked over. A really REALLY poor performance.
As is with FM sometimes we looked a completely different team the next game as we got off to a flyer with both goals coming from Olise.
A bore draw at Home to Wolves saw out the month.
Youth Intake 2025
The Youth Intake gave us a chance to raise the mood around the club after a pretty poor month.
The Intake Preview wasn't fantastic but showed some promise in some key areas.
A below Average intake. Could have been a lot better. If any of the above spring a surprise and make some serious improvements, I'll keep you informed.
April 2025
That horrific Arsenal result really put doubt in the mind about a few things and we had to make some adjustments to ensure that didn't happen again.
April threw up some tough games with Trips to Liverpool and Spurs as well as the visit on Man City so we were looking for a marked improvement.
Only one win in the month which was a stunner against City. Mateta again showing a touch of class to grab a first half hatrick.
Defeats to Spurs and Liverpool and draws against QPR and Southampton show we are a yard short of the pace in the league this year again. It's frustrating to say the Least.
May 2025
With the dip in form since March we go into May with very little to play for. We need a miracle to improve our league place so sadly it's a bit of a dead rubber month.
Well, we played like it was a nothing month. with three draws out of three.
A damp squib of a month to end the league season.
Domestic Cups
As you'll know, I've been dying for a really good cup run. Let's check out how we've got on with the Cups this season.
FA Cup
The magic of the FA cup is the saying most use around the competition. Well for us this season it felt like a little bit like more of the same from the league.
We were drawn against all Premier League teams and managed wins against Brentford and Newcastle in the 3rd and 4th round.
We were eventually knocked out of the competition in the 5th round by Spurs.
A better performance in the FA Cup this season after our defeat in the 4th round last season.
The League Cup
So, we are left with The League Cup for any form of success this season.
It's a competition that some do not take seriously, believe me we took it very seriously.
We breezed through the early rounds with wins against lower league Charlon followed by beating Chelsea's second string and a string QPR side.
Championship Bournemouth were brushed aside in the Quarter Final to see us through to our first Cup Semi Final of the save.
We were given a tough draw against Man Utd, but with a Semi Final over two legs it is anyone's game.
Told you it was anyone's game.....
A 95th Andersen towering header in the first leg at Old Trafford to win the leg eventually sealing our place in the final.
Nod to Delap who, on loan from Man City knocks Man United out of the cup!
Our first ever League Cup final!
Here we go, our first shot at silverware and a possible back door entry into Europe.
WINNERS!!!!!!!!
The game had EVERYTHING. We were cruising at 2-0 up thanks to a quickfire double from Olise.
Spurs then fired back with a quickfire double of their own through Son which looked to have forced Extra Time, Eze had other ideas firing home in the 88th minute to send the Palace fans wild!
All of this of course meant a huge step forward in the save.......
Palace have made it into European football. This is going to help massively with finances and attracting bigger and better players.
Final League Table
We dropped a place on last year's performance from 8th to 9th but most importantly we have that UECL next to our name.
A chance to start building a reputation in Europe.
Weve rescued this season with a brilliant win in the League Cup.
But I take you back to the start of the season when we lost 2 of our best players, including our talismanic goal scorer on the last day of the transfer window.
We are going to have to really build a strong squad with some serious depth as we are looking to fight on four fronts for the first time! It's going to be an important preseason.
I will leave you with the season Review.
LEAGUE CUP WINNERS 2025!!!!!
Cheers
Panda
Season Review
