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.
The first half of the season was very disappointing, domestically. We had started the season with 6 defeats in a row leaving us rock bottom of the league.
In our defence it was a tough start as we faced all of the classic "Top 6" but we didn't play well at all.
We faired a lot better in the Europa Conference League as we progressed comfortably out of the Group Phase. Being a seeded team, we were also in a good position to receive and favourable draw in the last 16.
A nice trip to Croatia on the cards.
As its January I decided to dip into the transfer market to add some real quality to the squad. We still had a decent amount left in the budget and I wanted a player to be a bit of a marquee signing. I think this will definitely be that.
Mykhaylo Mudryk has been touted as a future superstar for some time now and I was shocked to see he was still plying his trade in his native Ukraine for Shakhtar Donesk. After spotting his release clause it was a no brainer and for £36.5 million, we broke the club transfer record to secure his signing.
January 2026
We started the year with a busy January that focuses just on the league. 7 games in 30 days will really test the depth of the squad.
Strangely, we play Leeds both home and away this month.
A strong 4 game winning streak really makes the turn of the year a positive one. We did lose both games against Leeds 3-1. Leonardo really got amongst the goals during this run of games with 6 in 5. A first goal for January signing Mudryk also.
February & March 2026
We go from a hectic January to a "Boring" February, however March picks up with the return of European competitions and our chance to make it into a European quarter final.
To the Premier League action first.
A good start as we go on a three-game winning streak only to come across a very good Arsenal side and came unstuck against Villa as the rotations maybe caught up with us.
The turn of the year has seen an upturn in form in the League. Thats 21 points accumulated already, and we are starting to rise up the table handsomely.
March saw the return on the Europa Conference League and our double header against Croation minnows, Osijek.
As straight forward as it comes with a 9-2 overall aggregate victory. We find ourselves in the Quarter Final.
Where we will face.....
Our toughest draw yet as we face a club with actual European pedigree. Bulgarian giants, Ludogrets stand between us and the Semi Finals.
Youth Intake.
March is that time of the year when we welcome the newest youth recruits to the club. We have yet to see anyone who has come through really break out as a star. Maybe that player will be out of this year's graduates.
If they are to be breakout stars in the future, it will be a slow development path for them.
April 2026
We have really found a head of steam over the last few months and find ourselves really pushing our way into an outside chance of achieving the boards' goal of a top half finish, which after the start we had is some turn around.
Another really strong showing before bumping into a world class Man City.
A milestone I didn't expect to hit was secured in the defeat to City as we score in 30 competitive matches in a row, a club record.
In April we also had our Europa Conference League quarter final to deal with. This is looking like our toughest test this campaign.
And that it proved to be. A well fought draw out in Bulgaria, coming back to London all square left it down to a straight shoot out and luckily we had the biggest guns.
Bardghji and Schjeldrup fire us to victory.
With the draw straight after we will find out our Semi Final opponents.
AZ Alkmaar of the Eredivisie in The Netherlands. A decent team with plenty of things for us to be concerned about.
May 2026
We have reached the last month of the season, it's been a strange league campaign. We go back to the first months and remind ourselves we started with 6 straight defeats.
We then go on a long run of wins with the occasional loss (Not many draws), and we find ourselves with an outside chance at achieving our goals.
We do have, possibly the worst run of games I have seen in a while. Coupled with the small matter of the Semi Final in the Europa Conference League it is going to be a tense season end.
Well I said they were going to be tough games to end the season.
For the first time in 30 matches we fail to trouble the score sheet. We then go on to only score 3 times this month. A rare blank in front of goal.
Thayt will pay to any form of League success this season for sure.
Lets check in on the 2 legged semi final of the Europa Conference.
I've got to say, we have really made light work of this competition and the Final is the very least we deserve.
A win in the Final will get us qualification to the Europa League Group stages. The next step for sure.
We have booked our place to Hapden Park where we will face Italian giants Fiorentina.
This really is the biggest match of the journey so far. We could really take the next big step with getting the competition in the trophy cabinet.
Was it ever in doubt considering how well we have played in this competition this season?
Domesic Cups.
After last year's heroics in the EFL Cup I was hoping to repeat something similar. Sadly, the extra strain from the European competitions really harmed our cup performances and we fell short in both competitions.
EFL Cup
FA Cup
Final League Table
Finishing outside of the top 10 will most definitely catch some serious flak from the board and the fans. I am hoping that our European success will aid in calming that concern down.
Huge mention has to go to new signing Leandro, as he breaks all forms of Palace scoring records in his debut season. He is only going to get better and better.
As usual when we do the end of season episodes, I will leave you with the Season Review.
Thank you for reading and i hope you will be back to party with us soon.
Cheers
Panda.
