For as long as I can remember, Palace have thrived on being the underdog and as soon as we are universally expected to win a game, we mess up and do the opposite.

I read on Twitter before the game that the odds for us to beat Sunderland was the shortest price for us to win in the Premier League since the 2004/05 season, so a loss was inevitable.

Whilst we didn’t play particularly well, most teams in this league would have struggled to break down that Sunderland defence.

They came to Selhurst to keep it tight and play on the break and they did it incredibly well.

Obviously they were boring to watch – they make Adele’s new album seem interesting – but it’s an effective strategy and exactly what Allardyce needs to get them doing regularly in order to get them out of trouble.

As ugly as it was to watch, we won countless points playing the exact same way under Pulis and we need to learn how to break down teams that respect us enough to play so defensively.

Last week I was confident that we’d beat Sunderland, whilst simultaneously praising Scott Dann and supporting his ambitions for an England call up.

I’d like to apologise and take full responsibility for his mistake that led to the goal – if you’re reading this Roy Hodgson, he’s normally really quite good and it’s my fault for jinxing it.

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One positive to come out of Monday was the return of Marouane Chamakh.

He is underappreciated by so many Palace fans and is so important to the way we play, not only with his close control and link up play, but he’s also a physical presence that can hold the ball up at the top of midfield.

Before we signed Cabaye, I always said that Chamakh was the best player I’ve ever seen in a Palace shirt in terms of technical ability (bear in mind Lombardo was way before my time) and to have them both in the same team is going to make us really exciting to watch over the next few weeks.

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They’re both so good with the ball at their feet that I don’t think it’s possible to get bored of watching them.

They could make anything they do seem exciting, purely from their effortless precision.

They could probably even play cricket and somehow make it mildly interesting.

I would happily sit down for an afternoon and watch Yohan Cabaye and Marouane Chamakh watch one another watch paint dry.

The only issue is whether or not Chamakh is fit enough to be starting games, but even if he’s not I think it’s time for a change in the number 10 role.

Jason Puncheon is great, don’t get me wrong.

I’m the president of the Jason Puncheon fan club – I sleep in my Jason Puncheon pyjamas under my Jason Puncheon duvet covers and dream of Jason Puncheon scoring free kicks.

However, he clearly hasn’t been at his best this season.

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Whether it’s because Cabaye has taken over as the star man in midfield, or whether there’s a sense of complacency over a lack of competition in that position, he’s not been performing to the levels that we’ve come to expect.

It may be an unpopular opinion, but if Chamakh isn’t ready to play from the start, I’d consider playing Patrick Bamford in a deeper role behind Wickham.

In his brief cameos he’s shown he has the ability to link up play with an eye for a pass, he just lacks the physicality to play the lone striker role in the system we play.

But then what do I know?

Pardew will know exactly what he needs to do to bounce back from this and produce a positive result and what better occasion to do so than a visit from his old friends at Newcastle.

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