BIG money, big ideas and big name players . . . Crystal Palace have them all.

But the Eagles land at the Reebok tomorrow with their confidence at rock bottom, supporters getting restless and new manager Alan Smith, having transfer-listed three of his first team regulars, under attack.

Six successive defeats have seen optimism turn to despair as the new regime at Selhurst Park discovers that money isn't always the answer to a struggling club's prayers.

Simon Jordan, the businessman who bought the club after months of uncertainty, penury and a period in administration, has ploughed some £6 million into Palace, changed the manager and raised hopes of a bright new world.

There has been talk of a double swoop for Southampton duo Matthew Le Tissier and his £3 million rated team-mate James Beattie but the 16,000 Palace fans who witnessed Tuesday's home defeat by Grimsby (the Mariners hadn't won away from home since February!) reckon it will take more than a couple of Saints to save their souls.

They've already seen cash splashed out on a succession of high-priced recruits: more than £2 million for a couple of Latvians, goalkeeper Aleksandras Kolinka and winger Andrejs Rubins; £650,000 to buy back former Eagles' favourite Dougie Freedman from Nottingham Forest; paid Manchester City £550,000 for ex-Wanderer Jamie Pollock; signed Middlesbrough defender Craig Harrison for £250,000 and put even more strain on the Selhurst Park salary bill by signing big Neil Ruddock from West Ham and taking Steve Staunton (Liverpool), Andy Morrison (Manchester City) and Mikael Forssell (Chelsea) on loan deals.

Ruddock, Fan Zhiyi and Dean Austin - all experienced defenders - are currently unavailable, which doesn't help matters, but Smith can't say he doesn't have players with pedigree to call on.

Yet the past month has brought a string of setbacks, which started with a 1-0 home defeat by Sheffield United. Defeats by Preston, Birmingham, Fulham and Portsmouth piled pressure on the likeable Smith, who only returned for his second stint as manager in August, when he succeeded Steve Coppell, and already finds himself under fire. His response has been to tell striker Clinton Morrison, midfielder Hayden Mullins and defender Jamie Smith on the transfer list to to show more commitment or get out!

Jordon, a straight-talking, hands-on chairman, says he doesn't want to hear about problems.

Smith's brief is to turn things round but, the way things are going, he might be starting to wonder whether he was wise to trade a comfortable job as Academy Director at Fulham for another stint in the Selhurst Park hot-seat.