Former Tottenham Hotspur forward Garth Crooks believes Sam Allardyce has lost his magic touch when it comes to keeping teams in the Premier League and claims there is no heart or faith in his Crystal Palace side.
Allardyce, fresh off a 67-day spell as England manager, was appointed Crystal Palace boss in December last year and charged with guiding the Eagles up the Premier League.
Palace, second bottom in the league standings, have played eight Premier League games under Allardyce, winning one, drawing one and losing six, the latest being a 1-0 defeat at Stoke City on Saturday.
Crooks was watching on for the BBC's Final Score programme and saw what he feels is a Palace side lacking in heart, which in his view a manager should make sure is in a team.
And the former Spurs star explained he does not believe that Allardyce is the Allardyce of old, a man known for squeezing every last drop from his teams and making sure relegation was not on the menu.
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"Palace look like a team that have lost heart, have lost faith", Crooks said.
"The notion about fear. If you're a Premier League footballer, all those players are experienced pros. I don't buy it.
"This is about faith and about heart, and part of a manager's job is to put that faith and heart into your players – you inject that into your players when you see it waning.
"They've appointed Sam Allardyce and they're going to have to live with it.
"Sam Allardyce has taken a hell of a knock himself over the England situation and I wonder whether he's got the faith.
"He's not the man he was", he added.
Allardyce now has a lengthy break in which to help Crystal Palace regroup as they are not next in action until 25th February, when they host Middlesbrough at Selhurst Park.
