So there WAS a surprise after all from Albion’s game at Crystal Palace.

We just had to wait a bit longer for it than we might have thought.

It wasn’t the final scoreline of a 1-1 draw between the two teams at Selhurst Park.

It wasn’t the fact that Jordan Ayew scored against Albion and it wasn’t the fact that Pascal Gross registered an assist.

Nor was it the fact that the Seagulls dominated possession.

Sadly, the fact Albion ended the game with a significant injury was not a surprise either.

Nor, some might suggest, was the nature of the goal they conceded.

And nor really were Roberto De Zerbi’s comments afterwards - with one possible exception.

No, the Selhurst Park surprise was some of the reaction to the reaction as the head coach’s replies and demeanour were put under the microscope.

In particular, it appears, his interview on Sky Sports.

Those few sentences after the Selhurst draw were understandable.

But the alarm of some fans expressing views online did take you back.

 

Was it really a moment comparable to Gus Poyet’s “ceiling” comment on 2013?

Well, the opposing club was the same but that is surely about it.

De Zerbi’s comments at Selhurst, notably on “club policy” and being patient, seemed more a case of him looking to strike what seems an ongoing but tricky balance between dreams and realism.

And there was also a dose of post-match disappointment in that mix.

The balance is that De Zerbi believes in setting bold targets and has raised expectations of Albion higher than they have ever been.

But, also, that he accepts they are a smaller club than most with whom they are now competing.

So dream - but also be awake to the facts.

When he spoke about Albion having a policy of developing younger players, was he really sending a public message of discontent to his chairman?

More likely he was just looking to keep everything in context and perspective.

Albion’s aim is to regularly be among the top ten and they have so far finished ninth (when they were 13th at half-time on the final day) and sixth.

The top ten was seen by many as an unattainable goal at the time it was revealed but now many people, including De Zerbi, are disappointed to be ninth at Christmas.

What De Zerbi said on Thursday made sense as an assessment of where Albion are.

If there was one surprise from his interviews for broadcast media and then again when facing newspaper reporters, it was regarding his comments on Carlos Baleba.

He said the summer signing from Lille is “maybe not ready yet” for the Premier League.

But he obviously thought he was ready enough to start against Crystal Palace.

In his press conference with us, he explained his selection of Baleba deep in midfield and Gross further forward with Facundo Buonanotte on the bench.

He reversed his thinking for the second half.

And yet that harsh-sounding comment on Baleba was not much different from one he made after the win over Brentford.

That night he said Baleba is not Moises Caicedo yet - and he stressed the word ‘yet’.

This time, he questioned Baleba’s Prem credentials at the moment but also called him the future of the club.

All this, of course, is now happening in the run-up to a transfer window.

So now we wait to see what happens in January.

Recruitment and investment in the coming month will be complicated by trying to avoid unnecessary long-term answers for short-term problems.

De Zerbi said before the Arsenal game that an assessment of the injury situation will play its part in the action plan for January.

He basically repeated that a few days later before adding he was looking at three or four positions.

It is perhaps surprising he has said as much as he has about January and one suspects he might throw out another snippet or two via the media.

But, again, let’s not be too alarmist.

About this time last year he told us what he ideally wanted in January and he did not get it. That did not seem to be a huge problem.

Recently he said a bit more about contract talks than we perhaps expected when a Sky Sports reporter threw in the question more in hope than expectation at the end of his allotted time in a press conference.

But sometimes it feels like we complain when coaches don’t give honest answers, then feel uncomfortable when they do.

And these are confusing times in some ways. If Albion were to finish the season where they are now in the league and to go no further in Europe, would that be a good season?

In the context of their history, it would be fantastic.

In the context of the last 12 months or so, it would be hard not to feel slightly disappointed.

European football has added another layer to all these considerations.

Who else was taken aback to read the BBC website’s report from Selhurst Park and be told Albion are on a “miserable run”.

Miserable? We have all been having the time of our lives - but that is largely because of the Europa League.

Albion are competing against the biggest clubs in the land, whose matchday revenues and sponsorship dwarf those of the Sussex club and who are further backed by unfathomable wealth from overseas. Some clubs who fit in that category are currently below the Seagulls in the league standings.

In March, they will again take on established European campaigners.

All against a backdrop of losing players to injury and attempting to break even or show a profit (which means selling players). Sometimes we maybe just forget what a challenge that is.