Alan Pardew has been at the helm of Crystal Palace since the beginning of the new year after Neil Warnock was sacked following a run of 16 games without a win, leading to damaged morale but since the arrival of the former Newcastle manager it has once again risen.
The Eagles tasted victory in the Premier League on Saturday against Tottenham for the first time since beating Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool at Selhurst Park on 23rd November when Dwight Gayle, Joe Ledley and Mile Jedinak scored goals after Rickie Lambert’s opening goal in the second minute with Palace scoring two goals in the space of four minutes towards the end of the match.
In a treat to the players after their recent effort since his appointment and to continue boosting morale among the team, Pardew thought it was a good idea to send them on a treat and with sportlobster, being partners with both the NBA Global Games and Crystal Palace, they sorted out tickets for the team to go to a game at the O2 last night where the New York Nicks lost by 95 points to 79 against The Milwaukee Buck.
James McArthur, Frazier Campbell, Paddy McCarthy and Wilfried Zaha were among the Palace players at the NBA Global Games match last night between the two American sides and also took time out of their evening to talk to sportlobster, the sponsors for the NBA Global Games 2015.
Recovering from a recent injury, Palace midfielder and fan favorite Williams said: ” I am looking forward to the second-half of the season. It is frustrating to be injured, but the squad are doing very well and hopefully we can carry this forward for the rest of the season. It was a great result against Spurs in the gaffer’s first league game.
“There is a great buzz around the club, it is like a breath of fresh air. You can probably tell this by watching our past two games. It seem like a fresh start for everyone and everyone is keen to impress. Just hoping to carry this on for Burnley and the next few games.”
Damien Delaney was also one of the Eagles players who joined the team at the O2 Arena yesterday (Thursday) evening and as a keen basketball fan, the 33-year-old from Ireland enjoyed the game and spoke about how it was an offer the team couldn’t turn down.
“I am massive NBA fan, in the summer, like to watch as many play-off games as I can,” he said to sportlobster.
“Obviously, we socialize as a team quite a lot anyway, but when the manager told us he had tickets for the game, the lads said they all wanted to come. We do spend a lot of time off the pitch.”
Crystal Palace travel to Turf Moor in the Premier League on Saturday as they look to continue their unbeaten run which has been formed since Neil Warnock’s departure with draws under caretaker manager Keith Millen against Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa before a 2-1 win against Spurs last weekend.
