Crystal Palace 5 Ipswich 0

Amid the fun and fanfare of Ian Holloway’s welcome party as Crystal Palace manager came the bottom line – he means business.

To borrow a phrase from the book of Holloway, the Palace manager would have been as chuffed as a badger during mating season on Tuesday night. Glenn Murray’s hat-trick and one each from Yannick Bolasie and André Moritz showed his players were certainly on the same page.

Yes, Holloway can deliver a humorous sound-bite, but he can also deliver results and so it proved against Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich. After swapping Tangerines for Eagles, his new club soared to the top of the Championship.

Holloway said: “I am delighted for the crowd and as debuts go, it doesn’t get much better. That was a banana skin but we didn’t step on it – we squashed it. I could have slipped on my backside but my new lads gave a fantastic performance.

“Blackpool was the best trip I have ever been on and now I want another one. The signs are very positive and I can’t wait to keep on working with these players.”

Those who do not know Holloway see him as a court jester and comical though he can be, there was no room for joking around in his first pre-match programme notes as manager. He spoke of feeling like a headmaster at a new school upon meeting his new team on Monday and if they want to finish top of the class this season, a lot will rest on the spindly brilliance of Wilfried Zaha.

“God knows how good this lad can be. Some of the things he can do are frightening,” attested his new manager after witnessing another lively display.

The England Under-21 international was at his best as Holloway watched Palace beat Blackburn 2-0 on Saturday, with Zaha inspiring his side to victory. New managers are in vogue at the moment in the Championship. While Zaha tormented Henning Berg’s Rovers at the weekend, he sought to continue his fine form in front of Ipswich’s McCarthy.

It was Murray, scorer of both goals on Saturday, who caused the most problems early on though. First, he fired just wide barely seconds after Holloway had shared a pre-match embrace with mascot 'Pete the Eagle’; then he tumbled in the box and screamed in vain for a penalty.

It was rather charitable of Ipswich to come bearing gifts for Holloway’s special night and the first of them arrived in the 24th minute when slack defending enabled Bolasie to meet Owen Garvan’s flick and lob goalkeeper Stephen Henderson.

How McCarthy could have done with someone as fleet of foot as Zaha. He turns 20 this Saturday and Palace want at least £20million for him. Just four minutes after half-time, he demonstrated why. Zaha darted over a couple of challenges before Luke Chambers stopped him the only way he could – illegally. Murray made no mistake from the spot and he was just as precise five minutes later when Aaron Cresswell pushed Garvan in the box.

Murray could even afford to miss another penalty when Chambers fouled him, but he soon made amends and made it four. Moritz then made it high-fives all-round for Holloway in the final seconds, leaving McCarthy to survey the wreckage. “It was a sobering experience,” he said. “They murdered us. Ollie has inherited a very good side. They are worthy of being top. We made mistakes. My five days here have taught me a lot.”

Alex Shaw (Daily Telegraph)