Not exactly playing like a guy who has a usurper waiting in the wing

How about now, Alan?Less than three months after he declared the timing was not right to be manager of England, Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew finds himself again faced with the possibility of taking over the national team as rumours and conjecture swirl regarding his status ahead of Friday nights match at Goodison Park versus Everton.The Three Lions are again without a manager following the shocking departure of Sam Allardyce, whose biggest sin in the entrapment video splashed for the world to see by The Daily Telegraph was explaining how to circumvent FA rules regarding third-party ownership of players to reporters posing as businessmen.Though the position of national manager has been more akin to a poisoned chalice than one that brings glory for the better part of a generation now, Pardew has never hid his desire to lead England or waned in his want of the job. In the opening of his first-person column for The Daily Mail on July 1, he stated I want to be the England manager. It is a job I aspire to and it is an ambition of mine.But not now.Oddsmakers have installed Pardew as the favourite to take the national job, with Bournemouth skipper Eddie Howe, former Hull manager Steve Bruce and Glenn Hoddle -- Englands manager from 1979-88 -- also considered to be candidates. Interim coach and Under-21 manager Gareth Southgate will lead the team for the next four matches as a live audition to gage his prospects for taking the job full-time.The gossip regarding the coaching vacancy at St. Georges Park has overshadowed Palaces bid to win a fourth straight league match on the trot. The Eagles (3-1-2) bounced back from their EFL Cup ouster at the hands of Southampton to rally past Allardyces old team Sunderland 3-2 at the Stadium of Light last Saturday.Joe Ledley and James McArthur scored 15 minutes apart in the second half to cancel out a brace by Jermain Defoe before Christian Benteke snatched the match-winner four minutes into injury time by heading home a corner delivered by Chung-Young Lee.The result is a massive win for us all, we knew it was not going to be easy here but we showed, especially in the second half, some great character as a team to come back in the game, said Benteke, who has been rejuvenated since coming to Palace from Liverpool, to Palaces official website.Since the draw against Bournemouth we have shown what we are about but we must continue to do that and today showed why English football is the best league in the world because from the first minute to the last everything is possible and we go away with all three points.The goals have suddenly dried up for Everton, whose fast start has fizzled somewhat. The Toffees try to get back on track at Goodison Park, where Yannick Bolasie will face his former team for the first time since moving to Merseyside.Everton (4-1-1) were held off the scoresheet in a surprising 2-0 home loss to Norwich City on Sept. 20 in the third round of the EFL, and the offence again was lacking in Saturdays 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth. A thunderbolt from distance by Junior Stanislas in the 23rd minute stood at the match-winner, and after a listless first hour, the Toffees finished with just two shots on target.Its always about preparing yourself in football and they started much better than we did. In the first half Bournemouth were the better team, manager Ronald Koeman conceded to Evertons official website. In the second half, we showed what we needed to do … its a pity because you need to start like that as well.Koeman could be eying a change in attack, where Gerard Deulofeu again brought a spark to a listless Toffees team after being introduced on the hour for Kevin Mirallas. While Gareth Barry became just the third player to make 600 Premier League appearances, he also was ineffective due to a knock picked up in practice.Its a good opportunity to take three points because we are coming into the game on the back of a loss to Bournemouth, Deulofeu said. Were happy to be playing at home and were looking to win to make sure we go into the international break with 16 points from a possible 21.With that break looming after this contest, having two weeks to stew over a three-match losing streak is something that doesnt sit well with defender Phil Jageilka.Thats a massive game at home before the international break so its important we get back to our winning ways, Jageilka said. We will look at the video and iron out a few things we did wrong and then move onto Palace.Romelu Lukaku has proven to be a handful for Palace, having scored goals in three of the last four matches between the teams.Relegated to a subplot in this contest is Bolasie, who left Palace for Everton on a ￡30 million transfer Aug. 15. He has yet to open his scoring account in his first six matches with the Toffees, but did have assists in his previous two league matches before the loss to Bournemouth.The teams split the points on both occasions last season, including a 1-1 draw in the corresponding fixture as Lukaku netted the equaliser nine minutes from time. Palace, though, are unbeaten in their last three trips to Goodison Park (2-1-0). Greg Minton Jersey . The quest begins with what is supposed to be an easy one, although Germany has traditionally been a stubborn opponent to Canadian teams at international tournaments. Joe Nathan Jersey . McCarthy, a player who played some games in the second tier for Wigan at the start of this season, would go on to shine inside Evertons midfield, outplaying the man he was brought in to replace, on one of the grandest stages in English football. On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford. https://www.cheapjerseysgiants.us/2536u-johnny-cueto-jersey-giants.html . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea, which climbed above Arsenal and Manchester City in the standings ahead of their games on Monday and Sunday respectively. Willie Mays Jersey . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Atlee Hammaker Jersey . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. With no games scheduled for Halloween in the NHL, we have an opportunity to browse a little deeper in the free-agent pool to see what might be available.We are going to look at the available players through a category-specific lens, in an effort to heal what may be ailing your fantasy squad. To each fantasy player, there are likely different needs emerging. Rotisserie fantasy owners can clearly see which category their team is lacking in, while head-to-head owners now have two weeks of results to look back on and identify where their team isnt competing.While rotisserie owners will almost surely want to look at their category weaknesses as something to strengthen, head-to-head owners must remember not to be so dedicated to a balanced attack. Remember, each week -- including your leagues championship week in April -- you only need to beat your opponent by one category. When looking back over your squad and realizing you have a glaring weakness, it might be in your best interest to accept that weakness and strengthen your squad elsewhere.Goals: There are eight players tied for the league lead with six goals. Only one of them is not a surprise, and that would be Steven Stamkos. While Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine are great stories here, they are long gone from being free agents. The same is true of Wayne Simmonds, who we know is a fantasy beast and scores goals in bunches. That leaves four players who are all available to some degree (but the window on all of them is closing quickly).Of the four unexpected goal leaders, we would rank them in terms of rest-of-season fantasy value in this order: Artem Anisimov, Jonathan Marchessault, Richard Panik and Alex Killorn. We know Anisimov is in a killer lineup position playing with Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin. Marchessault might be the best short-term add, as Jonathan Huberdeaus return later this season will put his role in question. As for Panik and Killorn, both will have their chances in their respective teams top six all season, but were less excited by them. In fact, looking for players available in more than 80 percent of ESPN leagues, we like Michael Grabner the most right now. The former 34-goal scorer seems to be fitting in well on Broadway following a steady six-season decline from his rookie campaign.Assists: While there are some players with more assists that are also available in a high percentage of ESPN leagues, we are looking at Brock Nelson as our specialist. The New York Islanders offense is far from inspiring at this point, with Andrew Ladd looking like a bust as a new top-six winger for John Tavares. When Cal Clutterbuck is the fourth-highest scoring forward on your team, you know something isnt going as planned. Nelson has been scoring consistently, putting up a team-leading nine points on the back of six assists, all while playing mostly away from Tavares. He wont continue to play away from Tavares if he continues to put up points, as the Isles need to get their scoring lines going.Plus/Minus: Its hard to ride a plus/minus specialist, as it often feels like youre giving up too much in other categories to make room for them in your lineup. Thats absolutely true, as you would be better served coming about your plus/minus organically with the rest of your lineup. That said, if you need a boost from time to time, the trick will be picking up defensemen playing in the right situations. Montreal Canadiens defenseman Nathan Beaulieu has a plus-9, which is second in the NHL only to his defense partner Shea Weber. Kris Russell is helping to drive the Edmonton Oilers defensive resurgence, and has benefited with a plus-7 so far. Brian Campbell is in a great place on the Chicago Blackhawks top pairing with Duncan Keith, pushing him to a plus-6 and six points. Just dont get complacent after you use some of these guys, as their overall contributions will generally lack.Penalty minutes: With hooliganism on the decline across the NHL, its no longer possible to give a roster spot to a goon and rely on 200-plus PIM during the season. There are fewer and fewer guys that will consistently chip in with mucho penalty minutes. You are much better off fueling a more modest approach to PIM with minor penalties. There are plenty of fantasy contributors that arent black holes in your roster, and collect minor penalties. Sam Bennett leads the NHL with 10 minor penalties, and he also happens to have six points. Benoit Pouliot is second in the league with eight minors, and skates on the Oilers talented second line and second power-play unit. The Dallas Stars Antoine Roussel is the most consistent option, however, having finished in the top 10 for PIM for two consecutive seasons and already ranks fourth this season.Power-play points: If William Nylander is still hanging around on your waiver wire, start there. Hes tied for the league lead with seven power-play points. Going further down the list, Matt Moulson has carved out a clear role on the Buffalo Sabres first unit, and already has five power-play points. The same is true for Alexander Wennberg on the Columbus Blue Jackets top unit. We like Wennberg a little more, as he has more potential at even strength and to continue his role all season, whereas Moulson has benefited from injuries to Jack Eichel and Evander Kane.Average time on ice: Its tough to look for a specialist here, as the conversation immediately shifts to defensemen. And the leaderrs in time on ice are always the best defensemen, so they arent exactly available to fantasy owners, either.dddddddddddd We are going to make an argument here for Alexander Edler as your likely best bet for specialist value here, even though his numbers look pretty ugly in standard leagues right now. He has precisely one point through nine games, but is 14th in the league for ice time right now. The reason we are OK with Edler as a possible add is because things have to improve offensively for him. He is the one and only option on the Vancouver Canucks blue line with the potential to contribute offensively. Its been a quiet few seasons for Edler, but he used to kick in 30-plus assists in a season. Once the Canucks figure out how to score goals again, Edler should start getting the odd helper here and there. All the while, hell be pushing your average ice time through the roof.Shots on goal: Marchessault and Nylander are your top options to boost your shots on goal, but both are less and less available with each passing day. On the blue line, Johnny Boychuk is back to his high-volume shooting ways with the Islanders, but history tells us he will trade off as the leading defensemen for the club with Nick Leddy and Travis Hamonic throughout the season. If we go a bit further down the ranks, Tomas Tatar is being jettisoned by many fantasy owners, despite his 29 shots on goal being good for the top 25 in the league so far. The Detroit Red Wings offense has been coming from unexpected places so far, with the likes of Darren Helm and Thomas Vanek leading the charge. We think Tatar and Henrik Zetterberg will shake off the rust and start finding the twine soon. In the meantime, Tatar will keep shooting at a high rate for you.Forwards rising and fallingYoull see a lot of downward movement beginning in the rankings this week. As these are meant to be going-forward rankings for the remainder of the fantasy season, we try to give players a grace period before punishing them too much for a lack of production. On the whole, an eight- or nine-game slump for a great player wont be a big deal at the end of the season. But the longer these season-opening slumps continue, the less confidence we have that the player will shake it off and return to their old self.James Neal, LW, Nashville Predators (down seven spots to No. 43): Well hold up Neal as our poster boy for the end of grace periods in the rankings. Eight games in, Neal has one goal and one assist. Thats not good enough, especially since hes still playing with Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg the majority of the time. The Predators have a stagnant offense (and defense) at the moment, and will need to make some changes soon. On paper, this team should be steamrolling opponents, but it isnt happening. Watch closely at what should be impending depth chart changes, as the established stars might get dinged with the shuffle.Patric Hornqvist, RW, Pittsburgh Penguins (up 24 spots to No. 57): After one game back to get reacquainted, Hornqvist has a goal, two assists and 11 shots on goal in the past two games with Sidney Crosby back. Its safe to say he missed Sid. Keep in mind that Hornqvist might be our highest-ranked star by association, so he rises and falls with the fortunes of Crosby.Defensemen rising and fallingRyan Suter, D, Minnesota Wild (up 12 spots to No. 50): We dont talk enough about how Suter managed a career high in shots last season in his 11th NHL campaign. Hes currently on pace to match it this season, with 20 shots through nine games. When Suter is confident and shooting the puck, hes a No. 1 fantasy defenseman.Goaltenders rising and fallingBen Bishop, G, Tampa Bay Lightning (down eight spots to No. 35): Not exactly playing like a guy who has a usurper waiting in the wings, Bishop is lucky Andrei Vasilevskiy had a rough game on Saturday, or the transfer of power could be even further along. Still, things arent looking great for Bishop here, as his goals-against average is 3.68 to Vasilevskys 2.05. Bishops save percentage is .880 to Vasilevskys .929. The Lightning are 5-4-0 at the moment, but patience is going to wear thin quickly if Bishop doesnt turn things around.Quick hitsZach Parise is week-to-week for the Minnesota Wild, and it was Joel Eriksson Ek filling in on the top line with Charlie Coyle and Eric Staal. Eriksson Ek has two goals and three assists in five games.While its great to see Alexander Radulov playing on the top line with Alex Galchenyuk, this is not great news for the slow start by Max Pacioretty. Its hard to break out of a slump while buried on the depth chart.Not that anybody is scoring or connecting for the Canucks, but its a bit sad to see Loui Eriksson already off the top line with the Sedin twins. For the record (and not for your waiver plans), Jannik Hansen is there for the moment.Top 250 rankingsHere are the updated rest-of-season, top 250 rankings of forwards, defensemen and goalies, including position ranks.Note: Sean Allens top 250 players are ranked for their expected performance in ESPN standard leagues from this point on. ESPN standard stats include goals, assists, power-play points, shots on goal, plus/minus, penalty minutes and average time on ice for skaters, and wins, goals-against average and save percentage for goalies. ' ' '