Back in the 2015/16 season, Crystal Palace found themselves fifth in the Premier League after a 0-0 draw away to Bournemouth on Boxing Day.
Alan Pardew’s side had enjoyed a fantastic first half of the campaign which saw them amass 30 points from 18 games, leaving them sat comfortably amongst the top teams in the division and only eight points off first-placed Leicester.
It left the Eagles in a brilliant position. With a bit of investment in January, who knows what the second half of the season would bring. European football, perhaps? Nonetheless, it was an exciting time to be a Crystal Palace fan.
However, that following January, only Emmanuel Adebayor was brought to Selhurst Park, and things went sour to say the very least.
Pardew’s men only won two more Premier League games that term, and finished the season in 15th place – just five points off the bottom three.
Intriguingly, the similarities to that campaign and the current season under Roy Hodgson are vast.
On Boxing Day, the former England manager guided his side to a 2-1 win over West Ham, leaving them not quite in fifth, but three points away from it having also enjoyed an eye-catching first half of the season.
It left the south Londoners, and club chairman Steve Parish, in a very similar position as they found themselves in four years earlier – with a bit of investment, who knows what the next six months would hold.
However, just like when Adebayor and Adebayor alone was brought to Selhurst Park, only Cenk Tosun was signed – another centre-forward who was hardly prolific at the time having scored just once all season before arriving.
Since that Boxing Day victory over the Hammers, the Eagles haven’t won a game and look destined to only go down the Premier League table rather than move up it.
Just like in the 2015/16 season, Parish and the south Londoners had a chance to kick on with Europe in sight, but once again, they look like they’ve messed that chance up as they now find themselves in 14th place, with only six points separating them from the drop zone.
Someone’s got to own them: Who do these incredibly unwanted PL records belong to?
It remains to be seen if Parish gets away with it this time around, although one thing is for certain – the Palace supremo truly hasn’t learned anything four years on.
In other news, Wilfried Zaha has responded to a cringe-worthy video on Twitter in hilarious fashion…