Coventry v Palace- Preview

So after yet another meaningless international break that involved no Palace players we're finally back in action and hoping to continue our fine form. Tomorrows game will see us go up against two more former Palace men as we travel to the Ricoh Arena to face a Coventry side bereft of confidence.

Clinton Morrison will go down in Palace folk-law as a legend and not just for his 113 goals in 316 appearances in red and blue. His charisma was phenomenal, as was his passion for the club which he has insisted he wants to return to before his playing days are over. He was approachable and had a good rapport with the area and the fans and obviously you can't forget about his mums interviews on Talksport when he first broke through.

Coventry manager Chris Coleman will also get a great reception from the Palace faithful. He was an integral member of the Division One championship winning side of 1994 where he built up a great centre-back pairing with Gareth Southgate. Let's hope Coleman's side have the same fate as Southgate's former side Middlesbrough did just before the break.

The omens are good for a repeat performance, Coventry are bottom of the form table and are in a dismal run of results that has left them taking just two points out of a possible eighteen. Conversely We're on a hot streak at the moment as we look to extend our unbeaten run to five games, we haven't lost to coventry since 2004 and have won every game at the Ricoh Arena. All the signs point towards a Palace victory but I've watched us for too long to believe statistics especially considering the last time we returned to action after an international break and got beaten 4-0 by Scunthorpe.

Sean Scannel will miss the game after picking up a thigh injury for the Ireland U21's but that shouldn't have to much baring on the outcome of this one; he's been very poor this season and his number of appearances have reflected this. Paddy McCarthy remains out with a dislocated shoulder and will be for some time yet.

Other than that there are no new injury concerns and Darren Ambrose should make his 250th club career appearance as he goes in search of his fifth goal in five games.

Keiran Westwood should return for the sky blues which is a little worrying as his ability will further diminish our potential for goals. After all we still only have four names on the goal scorers list which needs to amended sooner rather later. I'm predicting a score draw but we can always hope for better. Here's hoping!

Coventry away: My experiences

Coventry away has been a rich hunting ground for palace in recent years; we often score four!

But it has not always been that way. The first experience of this fixture came on the last game of the 2004 season when we needed a victory against a poor mid-table side with a new manager to secure a spot in the play-offs. Typically, Palace failed to do this and instead lost 2-1 after missing a hatful of chances. Fortunately irony came to the rescue as West Ham’s Brian Deane produced that famous goal and the rest as they say is history.

The last time I travelled to Coventry however was a far different affair as Palace turned up all guns blazing and producing one of the best performances of Iain Dowie’s last season in charge. We won 4-1 on the day but it could easily have been more.



It was one of the first games to be played at the new £150million Ricoh Arena and I have to say I wasn’t impressed. The ground is out of town which makes it extremely difficult to get to (especially by public transport), the atmosphere was subdued and there were a lot of teething problems.

One of which was one of the strangest things I have ever heard at any game I’ve been to. Mid-way through the first half with Palace on top, the tannoy suddenly started blasting out ‘Glad all over’ at full volume. It wasn’t the most successful method of keeping the away fans quiet I have ever seen. I only wish I was there to enjoy it, unfortunately we were in the home end, although you wouldn’t have thought it seen as my mum managed to get away with celebrating all four Palace goals without a steward batting an eye lid.

We tend to travel in numbers to this fixture, so those in attendance should find a good atmosphere and with any luck a good result.

Here’s hoping!

Biggest fan protest in 10 years planned for 28th November

Palace fans will sensationally march on Selhurst Park to protest at perceived heavy handed stewarding in recent games. More than 200 fans are expected to join the protest that is scheduled for the home match with Watford on 28th November.

The problem of stewarding has long been a bug bear of many of the more vocal sections of supporters who wish to be a part of the atmosphere on a match day. Not merely sit on their hands for 90 minutes and at the end, win, lose or draw applaud both teams and say a very well done to the visiting fans.

This problem came to a head when during Saturday's game with Middlesbrough their were reports of seven young fans (albeit the club claimed four) being ejected from the Holmesdale for offences ranging from 'jumping up and down', standing, making hand gestures and swearing. Now I'm sorry if this makes me a criminal but I do believe I have in the past directed hand gestures towards away fans and maybe once or twice have even sworn at the bastards; pardon my French.

People need to get it into their heads that this is how Football is and any more attempts at sanitising it further will result in the death of it and our club. Yes there are kids in the ground and some parents would prefer it if their children didn't hear such language. But if that is the case sit in the family stand or the main stand, in fact at Selhurst you can have the privilege of sitting in most areas of the ground without being subjected to these perceived atrocities.

However I don't believe these latest goings on have anything to do with this. The Police and stewarding were to blame for grossly over-estimating the number of police they needed at this 'high-risk' fixture between two clubs that hadn't played each other for years and who's fans were sharing pints in the same pubs before the game. So the Police were left with a heavy presence inside a football stadium with nothing to do; they must have been a bit worried at this point "how will we possibly explain this to the chief? He's going to have my guts for garters if we don't justify this."



Luckily some fans in block B had the temerity to swear in a singing section of a football ground and acted; one eye witness reported that a young lad was swamped by seven Policemen and was left badly bruised.

The club have released a statement regarding these events and in reply to the number of complaints they received from affected fans. In this they reiterated that it was a high-risk game although they did not care to elaborate on this.

They also regurgitated the stadium rules on standing and swearing which is relatively funny in this instance considering the Boro fans were not treated in a similar way to the youngsters at the front of block B despite standing the whole game. Moreover did anyone approach Mr Jordan who, as always was stood by the entrance to the directors box and in doing so partially blocked a fire exit, another crime committed by Palace fans on Saturday.

Fans should be free to support the team in whatever way they wish; if they prefer to observe quietly then they should be able to and if you want to make some noise then you should also be able to do that. There is enough room in the ground as maore and more fans are driven from Selhurst Park by the overbearing stewarding and continual harassment. Fair enough rules are rules but why have they not been enforced previously and why now only partially i.e. targeting the supporters groups?

We are not Millwall, we're not Cardiff infact our support could be called docile, it always has been. In my lifetime I remember only a handful of incidents actually in the ground which all involved away fans, more specifically Millwall and Bristol City.

So where are the grounds for this 'clampdown'? Hopefully we shall get some answers when the protest happens on the 28th when the organisers are hoping to be able to present their petition to Simon Jordan personally.

Crystal Palace 1-0 Middlesbrough

Crystal Palace finished off an amazing week with a 1-0 victory over promotion favourites Middlesbrough.

For Palace it was a similar story with in-form Darren Ambrose scoring at one end while Julian Speroni performs heroics at the other.

Neil Warnock made only one change from the side who started the 1-1 draw at Loftus Road with Freddie Sears coming into the starting eleven.

The game started evenly with chances at both ends. It was Ambrose who troubled the Middlesbrough goal first with a swerving 25-yard free-kick that narrowly missed the target. Neil Danns and Alan Lee also came close to putting Palace ahead.

Middlesbrough's best opportunity came through the highly rated winger Adam Johnson who was denied by Speroni who was branded 'the best keeper in the country' by Warnock in the week.

Palace eventually took the lead in the 64th minute as Ambrose finished cooly to bag his tenth of the season after a concise break including Alan Lee and Danns who combined to find Ambrose alone in the Boro area.

The Eagles were left once more hanging to the points with more than a hint of desperation but another couple of wonder-saves from Jules who denied first Wheater and then O'Neil to secure a crucial victory.

I said last week this week would tell us alot about our squad and you have to say taking five points from three games against top eight oppositon is fantastic when you consider our small, youthful squad.

However this week has also highlighted one glaring issue that will worry the Palace faithful in the coming weeks.

The past three games have shown how much of the burden Ambrose and Speroni take. An injury to one of them could leave us tumbling back down the table from whence wwe came. More alarming will be the January transfer window where any sizable offer will surely test Simon Jordans ambition. Some saw Warnocks comments regarding Speroni as 'touting' him to Premier League suitors with a view to selling the Argentine in the window.

Personally i would rather lose one of the procotious youngtsers over one of these two but with the state of the finances you have to think every player is up for sale.

Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Palace

So a good result and a battling performance from the boy's tonight. A draw was probably a fair result as both sides although Rangers probably had the clearer of the chances.

The game eventually though was settled by a brace of penalties either side of half-time. A rash tackle by Danny Butterfield allowed Buzsaky to take the lead from the spot on 17 minutes. Palace pressed the hoops and Aleesane N'Diaye had a volley cleared off the line before Julian Speroni performed heroics on the stroke of half time, denying Wayne Routledge with a magnificent save.

Freddie Sears was introduced to the action for the second-half and it was a change that pay dividends as he was hauled down by former Eagle Fitz Hall.

The ref pointed to the penalty spot and Darren Ambrose duly sent Radek Cerny the wrong way to net his ninth of the season.

Another second half substitute Alan Lee could have put Palace ahead minutes later but couldn't get enough power behind his far post header to squeeze the ball past the Rangers stopper.

Speroni was at it again at the other end as he made a string of saves to deny QPR as the Palace goal was put under siege. Two wonder saves denied Alejandro Faurlin and Akos Buzsaky as the Eagles held on for a hard-fought point.

The manager was full of praise for the Argentinian after the game aswell as the overall performance, he said:"Julian Speroni is the best keeper in this division by a mile and I don't see anyone better in the Premier League.

"It's good that nobody rates him. But he's not leaving while I'm manager - unless I take him somewhere with me.

"I'm disappointed in a way we didn't win, but it was a good game and the players gave me everything."

Preview: Queens Park Rangers v Palace

The opposition team sheet will make nostalgic reading for Palace fans for tonight’s game, with no fewer than five former Eagles now plying their trade at Loftus Road.

Fitz Hall, Wayne Routledge, Mikele Leigertwood, Gary Borrowdale and Ben Watson could all feature tonight so expect us to lose to a late goal from one of that contingent.

Wayne Routledge’s reception should be a bit tasty after the petulant wingers acrimonious departure from SE25 in 2005. Wayne refused to sign a generous contract and pay back some of the loyalty that the club showed him in re-housing his family and paying for his place in the sought after Whitgift School.

Instead he chased riches at Tottenham and subsequently finds himself back in the championship after years in the footballing wilderness.

However he was always a smashing player and in my opinion was on track for an England place before his career stagnated and he will need to be marshalled very closely by Palace tonight.

Alan Lee will make the game despite sustaining a head injury in the draw at Preston on Saturday while Clint Hill is set to return at left back after his suspension leaving Nathanial Clyne back on the bench.

No other changes are expected from the side that started at Deepdale.

The QPR team is largely expected to be un-changed from the side that slipped to defeat on Friday against Leicester. Although skipper Gavin Mahon is battling for fitness and Ben Watson could return to the midfield after his somewhat harsh sending off two weeks ago.

The game could go one of both ways; if we press them from beginning to end then we could very well get an impressive result. On the other hand if we let them play there expansive quick passing game we could get torn apart from tonight. I’ve got my fingers crossed for the former.

Here’s hoping!

Simon Jordan sparks furious fan backlash

Scores of Palace fans were left outraged with Palace owner Simon Jordan yesterday after an frank interview in the South London Press. The Palace supremo's outburst attacked 'stayaway fans' who have left the club's attendances under 13,000 on the financial crisis that has beset the club recently.

He said: “People need to look at the reality. Charlton, Norwich, Leeds, Leicester and Southampton have all been relegated in recent seasons with enormous attendances - if we’d had as many fans coming as Norwich did last season we’d probably get an extra £5million or £6m a season.

“People can turn around and say we’re in the middle of the recession and there is a credit crunch but they got 25,000 fans. If we only get 12,000 it makes life very difficult. I’m not criticising the season ticket holders, they support the club.”

These comments sparked a furious backlash amongst Palace fans who vented their feelings on the messageboards seeing the chairman’s statement as an attack on loyal fans who could no longer afford to attend games or those who lived too far away or had other commitments.

Many fans retorted, claiming that Jordan had lost touch with the average supporter. You have to see their point; Palace has long since been near the top of the championship in terms of price with £30 being the going rate for the dubious privilege of watching what has often been dull football over the past few seasons.

Others added that the unquestionably poor facilities that Selhurst Park has offer simply don't justify that sort of price. The catering is poor and vastly overpriced and the toilets in some of the older parts of the ground are simply a health risk, not to mention the cramped, cluttered club shop that doesn’t seem to have air-conditioning.

I can see Simons point though, however misguided it was to say what he did publicly. The club needs to see 17,000 crowds every week just to break even and we’re getting nowhere near that at present which leaves him covering the losses again. Remeber he already guarentees nearly all the debts attatched to the football club personally which means financial ruin for him if the club goes belly up. He continued: “We should be getting 15-16,000 if we’re doing okay and if we’re doing well it should be 22-23,000. The fact of the matter is we’re getting 12,000 fans and the only way we can compete is if someone like me bridges the gap month in and month out. Why should I go on being the only person prepared to do that?”


It isn’t fair although I don’t see it how blaming ‘casual fans’ is going to remedy the situation, infact it seems to have accomplished quite the opposite. There is a malaise at the football club, know-one can be bothered and many have lost their craving for football and attacking these fans won't bring them back. What will bring them back is cheaper tickets and on field success. Unfortunately this can only be rectified with a 20 goal-per-season striker and a good run at the play-offs which can only be achieved with money which isn’t coming into the club because of low gates.

It’s a catch 22 situation and one would think good leadership would be the way of it but unfortunately Simon himself has lost his motivation that was once so infectious. An interview he did shortly after taking over at Palace gives a deeper look into his psyche and how the man works. There are clear comparisons between the situation he finds himself in at Palace and that of his mobile phone business before he sold up. The telling section of the interview was this, “By the time he had sold out of his phone business, he had lost much of the drive that had made it such a success. "I wasn't performing the way I wanted to perform. My energy levels had dropped and I had started to come in at 10 in the morning." He’sclearly lost his motivation and therefore isn’t putting in the same energy and enthusiasm into Palace that he once did. A by-product of this is a lack of investment in the team and facilities which lead to poor performances and leaves us now with dwindling crowds.

A take-over needs to happen soon to reinvigorate the club at all levels. If it doesn’t happen and we continue on this course administration is the only outcome I can see. Fortunatley One man hasn’t lost his enthusiasm; Neil warnock continues to work wonders in difficault circumstances. We arre playing some entertaining football and picking up good results and if only we had that free scoring striker we would be up their in the play-off hunt.

The club has become removed from the fans and both parties are pulling against eachother, only Neil Warnock is offering any stability, so for the clubs sake a compromise needs to be found so we can all pull in the same direction and pull this club back from the brink.

Here’s hoping!