Neil McSteen says the tide will turn with the appointment of "Tricky Trev"..........

Why hate Bruce when you can love Trevor?

Given the surprisingly warm welcome "Tricky Trev" received at Selhurst Park on Saturday, it had looked like our new found gaffer would ride into his new job on a wave of optimism.

But Burnley's commitment and kick and rush football condemned us to our fourth successive defeat and in my case more bitterness about Bruce's departure.

As well as Steve Kember did to keep morale up, the uncertainty surrounding the managerial position has been unsettling and it has showed in recent performances.

Did Bruce jump ship before a run of tricky games took the shine off his minimal achievements at Palace? Probably.

But now he can join Birmingham and we can look forward to Trevor Francis proving his former employers wrong.

Trevor "I Did Not Pick The Team Against Burnley" Francis (would he have said that if we won?) does not come across as the most charismatic manager to ever grace the game.

I can imagine a collective shrug went through the players on the news that the modern day specialist in grabbing silver at the Play-Off Final was to be putting them through their paces day in, day out.

Yes, George Graham would have made our pulses quicken more but then do we need another ego?

Big names do not always equal big results.

In fact, time may tell that Jordan has been reasonably canny in appointing Francis. I've absolutely no doubt Trevor Francis is tactically astute and technically clever, and combined with Kember and Bullivant, plus a weekly cameo from Ian Wright down at Beckenham, I am sure the tide will turn.