5101 Crystal Palace: Warnock has th

by : Alex Wolstenholme

Tuesday night's 2-1 win at Queens Park Rangers made it three wins in four games and seven unbeaten in the league for Crystal Palace as new manager Neil Warnock begins to turn around the fortunes of the South London club.

Memories are already beginning to stir of the fantastic run the Eagles went on under Iain Dowie in the 2003/04 season after he joined the club in December and guided them from the bottom-half of the table to the play-offs and subsequently the Premiership.

Intriguingly, Warnock's new side are now only three points behind his beloved Sheffield United ahead of what is likely to be an emotional homecoming to Bramall Lane on December 29.

Warnock's departure from the Blades in the summer had initially seemed amicable enough but he took exception to subsequent comments by chairman Kevin McCabe that suggested he had not been up to the task of managing in the Premiership.

"It was obvious to me that the chairman, Kevin McCabe, wanted a big name to sell his company to the Far East and America," said Warnock at the time.

"I am not a big name to him because he has known me 20 years and still thinks of me as the manager of Scarborough."

McCabe got his big name by appointing Bryan Robson but the former England skipper has yet to win the hearts of the United fans as a number of poor performances at key times (including this week's defeat at home to Stoke) have halted his side when they seemed set fair to climb the table.

Warnock himself was never completely accepted bty the Bramall Lane crowd but his absence has made their heart grow a little fonder it seems. There were isolated shouts his return earlier in the season and the perceived lack of passion occasionally shown by the current team has contrasted sharply to previous seasons.

Palace's turnaround has come before the manager has had a chance to wheel and deal in the transfer market, something he needs no second invitation to do and with the Championship proving time and again to be a league where no game is a banker result, there is still all to play for even for teams currently in the bottom-half of the table.