Crystal Palace had lost the "hunger" instilled by Tony Pulis under Neil Warnock, according to new manager Alan Pardew.
New Eagles boss Pardew has quizzed both Selhurst Park predecessors Pulis and Warnock on his south London Premier League survival bid.
The former Newcastle boss hailed Pulis' Palace for finishing 11th in the league last term, before conceding Warnock suffered second-season syndrome when he took the helm in August.
"I think last year they were hungry and that hunger came out in that run that took them 11th," said Pardew.
"The second year sometimes is a bit more dangerous because that hunger just goes off a bit.
"And if there's one thing I want to put back into that group it's that hunger.
"I think they've been missing that a little bit, that hunger they had last year.
"Once the hunger goes out a little, it's difficult to reignite that."
Former Stoke boss Pulis walked out on Palace on the eve of the season after rowing with Eagles chairman Steve Parish over transfer targets.
Ex-Sheffield United manager Warnock came out of retirement to plug Palace's gap in August, but was sacked in December after a run of one win in 11 games.
Pardew guided Palace to a 2-1 home win over Spurs in his first Premier League game at the Selhurst helm, with his side facing Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday.
The former Palace midfielder admitted sympathy with Warnock's position, having to fight to restore the spark Pulis lit at the club.
"I always worry about a team in the second year, wherever they are, I always think it's a little bit more difficult for the manager when you've had it one year," said Pardew.
"We showed a little bit of that hunger against Spurs and hopefully we can keep that going moving forward now too."
Pardew suffered relegation from the Premier League as Charlton manager, but managed to steer Newcastle away from a basement scrap in his first season on Tyneside.
The 53-year-old believes those two experiences will steel him for the challenge of keeping Palace in the Premier League this term.
"The biggest learning curve I had was my first year at Newcastle," said Pardew.
"We were not too far away from the bottom and we sold Andy Carroll for £30million and I didn't get a replacement.
"That was one of my biggest achievements I think as a manager.
"The pressure we were under, it was only our first year in the Premier League, and I would say I think we played above ourselves that year, to finish without really having ourselves in any pressure situation.
"We always kept ourselves out of it and if there's one hope I've got for Crystal Palace it's that we can do that.
"If we can get a couple of quick wins in the next three or four we can give ourselves a bit of breathing space and try to stay away. Because once you're down the bottom it's very, very difficult."
