ALLARDYCE MAGIC DOES A DISAPPEARING

The manager who boasts of never being relegated from the top flight might need to write another CV.

It is now five league games without a win and just two points since he took over as Palace manager – and with tough fixtures to come you cannot see the picture changing that much in the weeks ahead.

Palace are in freefall and it needs something special to lift their spirits.

Booing fans at the end spelt out their story. Some will say it was directed at the referee but it goes deeper than that.

Can Allardyce pull more rabbits from the hat after fire-fighting for so long with other, less glamorous, clubs? Time will tell.

You wonder, also, if Allardyce is up for the fight after being brutally booted out by England?

He did not seem to have the same swagger, the same touchline menace that once was his trademark.

Seamus Coleman scored Everton’s winner in the 87th minute, with Palace debutant Jeffrey Schlupp down and out at the other end of the pitch. Schlupp went down after a Palace raid but crawled back on, leaving referee Anthony Taylor no other option but to carry on the game.

Palace fans booed but in reality it was the right decision, even though Allardyce said: “I thought the referee should have stopped the game when Schlupp went down.

“It would have allowed us to bring on a sub. Then they scored from what I thought was offside so we were double-faulted. “The fact he returned to the pitch made no difference at all and only the referee can explain it. I do not blame Everton for not kicking the ball out.” Everton did not hit the heights of thrashing Manchester City last week but they were still a class above Palace. If it was not for the heroics of Palace keeper Wayne Hennessey this game would have long been put to bed. Ross Barkley was always foraging and he is gradually becoming the star many thought he might be. He pressed, won