I want Peter Taylor to succeed. I want him to take us out of this unglamorous league, filled with trips up North, to the division full of London derbies and world class players.

But the once favourite son of Selhurst is making a proper hash of what should be a relatively routine assignment.

Taylor undoubtedly has the talent to take Palace to the promised land, but he admitted on Saturday it is a bigger task than first thought.

At Hull the expectation was survival - in south London it is promotion.

I'm glad Taylor has put his England U21 duties on the back burner. Guiding our boys to the finals was no mean feat, but Taylor needs to concentrate on Palace. And he needs to name a settled team.

A manager sometimes cannot win - if he does not drop anyone after a defeat, the fans will always question it. And if he makes changes, we always ask "Why?"

I think Taylor has gone too far in the changes he has made. If a team is on a losing streak, dropped players know they will be soon be back in as the side continues to slide; better to let players learn together, make mistakes together and build confidence together.

As for promotion, we shouldn't rule it out. Three seasons ago we had just lost 5-0 away at Wigan and were three points above the relegation places. We also got promoted that season.

Mind you, it took us three managers to achieve that