What’s wrong with Dwight Gayle? Not a tremendous amount. His stats stack up ok and he’s got a goal scoring rate in the Premier League of around 23%, which might not sound fantastic but is the same region as Premier League stalwarts Peter Crouch (25%) and Gaby Agbonlahor (24%).

The main problems with Dwight Gayle are that he’s 26, he’s only played about 100 matches in the Football League or Premier League, he’s only 5ft 9in and it’s 2015.

Let’s deal with his age and appearances first. For his age, he’s got the type of appearance stats of a reserve goalkeeper. There aren’t too many players like Gayle that come into Premier League in their late twenties with limited appearances behind them and make a success of it.  Ings has a comparable number of appearances behind him, but he’s 3 years younger than Gayle. By the time Agbonlahor was 26 he’d played 6 or 7 full seasons in the Premier League. Wilfried Zaha has made 170+ appearances at the age of 22, and we’ve seen his progress year on year.

People rightly point to the success of the likes of Lambert, Vardy, Murray and Austin as strikers that have come into the Premier League in the late summer of their careers, but they are different types of forwards. They lead the line, hold the ball up, and Murray and Lambert in particular are often labelled as the ‘old fashioned number 9s’. 

Gayle is a little man, his attributes lie in his acceleration and his finishing. This is 2015. This is a dying breed of striker. Most teams now employ a big man up front, usually on their own or flanked by wide men – Costa, Gomis, Lukaku are good examples. Even teams with less obvious physical attributes have a striker who can lead the line – Kane, Sturridge, Giroud, Pelle. 

There aren’t too many teams with a little man, although Aguero is an obvious exception, and Arsenal are working with Walcott to find a style that works with this type of striker. Forwards that play like Gayle are often shunted out wide – as Walcott has been for most of his Arsenal career, whilst a recent Palace example would be Sean Scannell who never quite made it as the striker he wanted to be.

With Gayle coming into his late twenties, does he still have the time to develop, by getting enough appearances under his belt in the Premier League to gain the skills and guile that the Murrays and Lamberts honed in the fires of the lower leagues?

It’s been a frustrating two and a bit seasons for Gayle as although he’s racked up 53 Premier League appearances, he’s not started too many, particularly at centre forward. He’s finally been given the chance to put together a run as the starting striker in recent weeks, but has failed to find the net in the Premier League in those games, despite impressive stats against lower league opposition in the League Cup this season.

He was clearly frustrated against West Ham, picking arguments by the antagonistic Adrian in the Hammers’ goal, diving into tackles and generally being a bit nasty. It would not be at all surprising if Gayle had been sent out with instructions to be a bit meaner, and a bit harder. These are the traits of Premier League lone striker. 

He made a couple of bad choices in the match, but I would not hang him out to dry for these. But he still has to prove himself, and he’s probably got 3 months to do so. Gayle was close to joining Norwich at the end of the summer transfer window, but with Murray sold and injuries to Chamakh and Wickham, the Palace hierarchy pulled the plug. It will be interesting to see if an exit strategy is revived in January. 

Follow Neil on Twitter and comment below with your thoughts on Gayley.

A ridiculously hard-fought win from Palace, but there were plenty of talking-points from the match. Robert Sutherland takes a look. 

1. Cabaye Loves the Dirty Work

Yohan Cabaye is a class player – he’s brought a certain verve to the way that Palace play, but it’s the lesser-known aspect of his game – the mettle and aggression – that we hadn’t really accounted for. Cabaye has proven to be a formidable presence in our defensive structure – his perfectly-timed tackles, unfettered work-rate and constant harrying of opponents makes him an incredibly frustrating player to face up to. He is, as is sometimes needed in that position, a brilliantly cynical player – knowing just when to commit a foul and when to let play go on. All of these qualities are in addition to his vision, passing and professionalism. What a wonderful addition to Palace’s squad.

2. Depth Matters

It must be terribly frustrating for a player like Joe Ledley – who made such a telling contribution in his first season and a half at the club – to spend much time on the bench or even in the reserves. A player with great quality, he’d likely feature regularly in most sides below 12thin the table. But at Palace, with a player like Cabaye to compete with, it’s understandable that he might not play every game. The same goes for Martin Kelly and Brede Hangeland; neither are first-teamers, although it might be argued that Hangeland deserves to be on current form – but both have done a commendable job for the side. Kelly was highlighted by many as being the poorest player in yesterday’s contest – a criticism that doesn’t account for the way Watford played with two wingers on the left wing – Ikechi Anya being a decent attacking force. All of these players have shown a commendable attitude for Palace – all ready to play when called upon, all performing as required and expected. When injuries come, it’s important to have depth – Palace’s back-up have proven to be highly capable.

3. Gayle Needs Time

It’s easy to blame Dwight Gayle for failing to take his chances against Watford – but he came oh-so-close to doing so, and more games will give him greater sharpness. He led the line as needed, closing defenders down when required, offering himself up as an option on both wings as well as down the centre. The chance that hit the post would likely have gone in had Craig Cathcart not got the slightest of touches just prior to Gayle making contact, and there were a number of other opportunities that, with a little more sharpness, might have gone in. Strikers can sometimes take time to warm up – to get that goalscoring streak going – but there’s little doubt that Gayle could get into the swing of things – he just needs that little bit more faith in his ability.

4. Hangeland Performance Mitigates Need for Additional Defender

We’ve already covered the depth to Palace’s side – but it should be noted just how well Brede Hangeland played. He was strong, patient and observant throughout the match against Watford. He’d also had a decent performance against Tottenham, and has worked well with his defensive partner, whether Scott Dann or Damien Delaney. Clearly there will come a time where changes will need to be made, but it’s clear that Alan Pardew assessed his options and focused on strengthening our midfield and attacking options. On current performances, you can see why.

5. Wing wonders are key to wins

More predictable than any of Bakary Sako, Wilfried Zaha or Yannick Bolasie’s performances, it’s clear that our wingers make a huge difference to how we play. All three played their part on Sunday – putting Watford on the back foot at the right times. While the productivity isn’t quite there yet – Sako seemed intent on running with his head down a little too much, while Yannick toiled too -- the introduction of Zaha made a telling change to how we played. Wilf’s powerful runs – which started from the moment he came on – put Allan Nyom under pressure immediately. It was only a matter of time until a rash challenge would follow, and it just so happened to be in the penalty area. As long as Palace can keep the three players fit, there’ll always be a chance for them to create or a defender to terrify. And what a brilliant thing it is to see, too.

Follow Robert on Twitter @RoDuSu.

Great result for Palace. Here's Matt Webb with what we discovered at Selhurst.

1. Pardew is a master at man-management.

Like any young player Wilfried Zaha is going to have the occasional dip in form and in recent weeks Zaha's form had began to wane, culminating in a lethargic performance against Tottenham Hotspur.  Badly managed, a spell of poor form can stretch over several weeks (we saw what happened to Zaha at Manchester United).  However, Alan Pardew is not one to poorly manage a situation like this -  he is a very strong man-manager who understands his players. Pardew reacted quickly at White Hart Lane and substituted Zaha at half time.  Lesser managers may fear such a decision could humiliate a player, especially dangerous for a player who's known to play at his best when confidence levels are high. But if the manager is able to communicate the decision to the player effectively, ensuring the player understands his manager's thinking, then the outcome can be quite different.  Zaha was subbed at Spurs and was demoted to the bench against Watford, but he has reacted terrificly to Pardew.  Zaha made the difference when he was reintroduced in the second half at Watford and his performance at home versus West Brom today was his best for a long time in a Palace shirt.

2. It takes real quality to break down Pulis' ultra-defensive football

Last season when we 'welcomed' Tony Pulis back to Selhurst Park it was one of the most frustrating matches I had been to.  We were clearly the better team, but two counter attacks from West Brom earned them all three points.  I wanted us to beat Pulis so much, but instead I felt exactly how West Ham fans probably felt when we beat them in similar style under Pulis the previous season.   What we didn't have last season was the quality in the final third to produce that killer pass that splits the otherwise impermeable defence.  This year we have Yohan Cabaye and his assist for the opening goal this afternoon was pure class.  Despite West Brom playing with all 10 outfield players behind the ball, defending in their own penalty area, Cabaye managed to curl in a perfectly weighted ball for Bolasie to head home.  The opening goal changed everything and from that moment Pulis was forced to change tactics to chase the game.

3. The sky is the limit if we bring in a proven goalscorer

Fans have been calling for Dwight Gayle to get a run in the first team, and following his fantastic hat trick against Charlton Athletic, Gayle was given that chance (albeit assisted by injuries to other players).  Gayle was phenomenal against Charlton in the Cup, but was played in a 4-4-2 formation - Palace do not play 4-4-2 in the Premier League, because to do so would expose our midfield, probably to disastrous effect. Gayle does not possess the required attributes to succeed as the lone striker in the 4-5-1 formation that works so well for us.  Today, Palace won 2-0 and despite the scoreline and the large number of crosses flying in, Dwight Gayle barely had a touch.  If Palace had a proven Premier League goal scorer who fit within our system, we could have put 5 past Myhill today and if Parish and co can be convinced to spend big in January, this team could achieve anything.

4. Clean sheets, but Hennessey yet to be tested

Who is our first choice goalkeeper? A question that sparks entertaining debate across any pub table in South London and a question which has yet to be answered.  In Julian Speroni's absence Alex McCarthy produced some fine saves that prevented goals, but also made errors that have resulted in goals; after one mistake too many, Wayne Hennessey was given the opportunity.  Hennessey has since overseen our only two clean sheets of the season, but with barely a save to make in each match, he is still relatively untested. At 36, a goalkeeper is certainly not too old, and for me Speroni is still our best goalkeeper, I expect the Argentine to return when fully fit. 

5. "Oh Tony Pulis what have you done"?

When Pulis left Palace so unceremoniously following his Manager of the Season award-winning year, his stock was the highest it had ever been - he must've thought it was a good time to leave as there was no doubt he'd very soon be offered a much higher profile position.  Today, it became clear that it was Palace who have upgraded, not Pulis. West Brom were very poor today, lacking imagination or any form of attacking adventure and were truly dreadful to watch; Contrast that with Palace, now sitting 3rd in the league, fans 'oléing' every pass, absolutely dominating Pulis' West Brom on the pitch as the fans who once sang his name now sung "Oh Tony Pulis, what have you done"?

Yannick Bolasie has signed a new contract. Editor Robert Sutherland has his say on the news. 

We love really good news, us Palace fans. We spent years living off the tiniest of morsels of positivity – a decade of administration woes and Championship anguish meant that transfer news was rarely of the positive variety. But this news, of Yannick Bolasie signing a new 3.5 year deal, means so much to us.

It’s clear that contracts rarely secure anything but value for the player and the club – the player gets a pay rise and the club gets the security and the potential to recoup a significant fee if and when that player is sold – but what a deal does indicate is a shift in momentum. A forward shift – an signal that Palace are a club that players like Bolasie, despite being linked with Spurs and Liverpool during the summer – are happy to stay at Selhurst Park.

Progression for Palace has been significant over the last two and a bit seasons. The Eagles have gone from being relegation favourites to a mid-table side and from a mid-table side to one capable of signing players like Yohan Cabaye – all in two seasons. They key to progression is that, once you sign players like Cabaye, you ensure that the players capable of working alongside him are kept at the club. Signing Bolasie to a new deal ensures that progression. He’s part of what Palace want to build – it’s imperative that we signed him to a new deal.

Bolasie is also integral to the way that we play. His end product can at times be lacking, especially in the goal stakes, but his contribution to matches with the elements that people don’t pay attention to – the endless pressure he puts on defenders, the defensive work he does himself, his positioning and his hold-up play in times of pressure – are crucial to what Alan Pardew wants from a winger. It’s not just about goals, and to suggest it is, is an insult to the work that Bolasie does do.

And finally, praise has to go to the player for his meteoric rise. Starting his career in Malta with Floriana FC, Bolasie returned to the UK to continue his career at Plymouth Argyle, where a few loan spells also followed. When Palace picked him up in 2012 from Bristol City, Bolasie’s career had stagnated and his former club’s fans were, in the majority, relieved that he was sold. He has since taken every challenge he’s faced in his stride, and like Palace, has become an established Premier League entity.

His signing of a new contract is an affirmation of that fact. And we should all be delighted. 

Follow Robert on Twitter @RoDuSu.