HLTCO 15/12/2011

Having been to watch the future stars of Crystal Palace take on Everton at Selhurst Park on Tuesday night, I can confirm what everyone already suspected; we have a very bright future indeed.

Putting the result aside, (we lost 2 - 1 in extra time for those that don't know) the lads went about their business in a very professional and classy manner throughout, and, although the Everton side they came up against were extremely disciplined and well drilled, the potential shown from our young charges was a joy to watch at times.

Without wanting to single individual performances out to any great extent, the talents of Ryan Inniss, Kaddell Daniel, Quade Taylor, Alex Wynter, Kyle De Silva and Reise Allassani really impressed me at varying points and for a multitude of reasons.

Inniss, who is well known to a large section of our support, thanks to his involvement with the England youth set-up, really has an assuring maturity beyond his years in the centre of defence. Not only did he show a great deal of composure on the ball and in the air, he also demonstrates a natural sense of leadership whenever the time calls for it. A fact evident on numerous occasions when he was in line with me during the 2nd half. Without doubt, he is a very exciting prospect and definitely one to keep your eye on in the next year or so.

Kaddell Daniel plays predominantly on the left side of defence, and has, whenever I've seen him play, shown incredible close ball control and pace for a defender. Quite a few times during the course of the evening I witnessed him with the ball at his feet in what most defenders would view as an extremely tight position, before jinking towards the surrounding Everton players and emerging on the other side with the ball still neatly placed at his feet. He also appears to have a huge amount of energy, and as such, proved to be a great outlet in wide positions at all stages of the match.

Quade Taylor, who was partnering Inniss in the centre of defence for all but the last 10 minutes of extra time, produced a supremely cool performance in my view. Having seen him play at least three times in the past, I can't say that I can recall him ever playing in any other way. The role of a central defender can prove to be am extremely tricky one, with the threat of calamity never far away, but Taylor goes about his game without ever letting doubt enter his mind, always looking for the best pass, and making every tackle or interception with an impressive lack of fuss. It's a great quality to have as a defender, and it's not often you come across many genuinely calm centre backs, Quade is definitely one of them.

Alex Wynter, who got the goal for the team, demonstrated just why he is so highly thought of within the club, starting the game in the centre of midfield and chasing every lost cause going, whilst also looking good on the ball whenever he found space. There was one particular point in the first half when Alex picked the ball up on the edge of our box before creating some room for himself, looking up and moving the play on in a split second, which although it may not sound spectacular, demonstrated to me what great potential he has for us. It is that kind of decision which shows the maturity of a player, who instead of winning the ball and hitting it long for the front men to chase, takes just the right amount of time to evaluate the situation before executing the simple, yet vital next stage of play. I'm certain it won't be long before we see Alex around the first team set-up.

Kyle De Silva is another well-known name to Palace fans, having previously been a poster on the BBS and also being regularly mentioned by members of our youth coaching staff as an exciting prospect. His role on Tuesday night saw him slot into the centre of midfield and look superb on the ball at all times. Although quite small in stature, his balance and ability to manoeuvre out of tight positions with little to no room is in no doubt whatsoever. He was a real attacking threat at all points, and often found himself on the edge of Everton's box, having made his way through the centre of the park with no trouble. It must be said, that the Toffee's back line was extremely solid, and as a result it was very difficult to find a final ball but it was De Silva who often looked the closest to unlocking the visitors defence.

Reise Allassani, who began the game on the left side, alternating between playing as a striker and winger for large spells, really impressed me with both his first touch and his movement off the ball. For someone so small, and it must be said, he is still tiny, he was a constant thorn in Everton's side, especially in the first half, when he often found himself on the verge of breaking through the defence. He seems to be at home playing on shoulder of the last defender, and already holds his runs far better than Clinton ever managed. I felt we lost some of our attacking edge when he was subbed half way through the second half and with time firmly on his side, I can definitely see him maturing into a real gem of a player.

That is just an appraisal of some of our starters, and as I mentioned at the beginning, all of the boys who played impressed at different points of the match. For me though, the overwhelming thing to come out of Tuesday night was just what safe hands the future of our club is in. Most sides are lucky if they have one or two players come through every few years capable of playing regularly for their first team, we not only already have players doing that in Clyne, Zaha and Scannell but now we are blessed with a new crop of talented lads just a few steps away from carrying on the Palace academies fantastic success story for another generation.

The side were backed by a crowd of over 1,000 in the main stand, and with the Holmesdale Fanatics making their presence felt at all stages with their incredible vocal backing of the boys, the night was undoubtedly a huge success regardless of the score line.

Some of the players took to Twitter after the game to express their gratitude to the fans who came to watch, and also, in some cases to apologise for the defeat, feeling as though they had let the fans down. In actual fact, they had done the complete opposite, showing a desire and work ethic that all Palace fans love to see amongst our players. For a large portion of the second half the team were serenaded by the Fanatics belting out their anti EPPP song, (it really is quite a catchy little number) and without wanting to sound too sentimental, the fact that so many people had turned up on a cold December night to watch the lads, demonstrated perfectly, why it is so important that we don't let the big clubs and money men win.

The EPPP could well stop players of the calibre spoken about earlier in this piece ever representing our academy again, and for the sake of the players in question, the supporters and football in general in this country, that must not be allowed to happen.

Until next time.

HLTCO - 08/12/2011

Expectations are strange things, one minute you're bobbing along, praising the players for their battling spirit and attacking verve, toasting every victory and good performance as if your life depends on it, and then, once you've had a little taste of success, you begin to demand it.

It's a feeling which can prove rather difficult to contain. No matter how much you carry on telling your inner critic that they should feel lucky after such a positive opening to the season, there will always be the nagging doubt that every minor bump in the road could be the beginning of a mammouth losing spell which sees the team relegated by the start of March.

Reflecting on Tuesday night's defeat at Oakwell, it would be easy to sound the alarm. With the team winless in its last seven league fixtures, and having been pretty comprehensively outplayed for much of the game, there were inevitably going to be worries raised by supporters, fearful of the club being dragged into yet another relegation battle.

It is those pessimistic souls that I am now calling on to take an extremely deep breath and observe the situation through the eyes of a neutral. It may be a well worn sporting rule to work by, but the table doesn't lie. We currently find ourselves in 13th position, seven points clear of the bottom three despite our stuttering form, a position that, despite our superb start to the campaign I am sure most would have settled for at this stage of the campaign if they were asked back in August.

When you also take into account the fact that so far this season we have managed to break our away hoodoo from last season, winning at various grounds around the country, including The Amex and Old Trafford. Have gone on a club record breaking number of minutes without conceding a goal in competitive matches and, at the time of writing, haven't lost a home game in our last eight, I really don't think we are having quite as rough a time of it as some people are making out.

Yes, the team looked poor in the second half against Barnsley, but the game happened to be our third match in the space of six days. The first of which was a physically and emotionally draining 120 minute backs to the wall epic against Manchester United. The second, a game which we should and probably would have won had Paddy not misjudged a cross into the box late on.

People can say that professional footballers should be able to recover sufficiently in the time frame to be able to cope, but when you factor in all the traveling and disruption to routine that a run such as this brings with it, it's hardly surprising that we failed to hold on to what was looking to be a valuable away point until the final 15 minutes.

After the match Freedman was his usual defiant self, going out of his way to bring the positives from the game into his comments whilst also getting a tad mixed up as to what constitutes an excuse and what doesn't:

"It was not an ideal start. It just goes to show how crucial the warm-up is, I thought after that we settled down and at half-time we deserved to go in one each, so I was pleased with the response of the lads. You don't make excuses because we're professionals but it has caught up on us injury-wise. It's not an excuse - Barnsley are a good team. The second-half performance was disappointing, but there are reasons for that. We're tired and we couldn't find that spark up front. A lot of credit to Barnsley - they kept going and they punished us."

It is now widely known that Dougie will never get too carried away with a result whatever the outcome. Following last weeks heroics against United. he presented a straight bat to every question asked of him with regards to his "tactical genius", simply stating that he was pleased for the fans and that, although it was a big achievement for the team, it didn't quite match up to surviving last season when he first took over.

Similarly, when he is asked about the squad after a bad result he shows the same lack of emotional involvement, letting everyone who is listening know that it is only one game, and that the team will bounce back. It may mean that he comes across a little bit detached in press conferences from time to time, but in essence all he is doing is keeping himself, and the club as a whole, grounded in the face of any extra confidence or doubt that may creep in.

We do have a tough run of games coming up in the next few weeks, but thanks to our start, we aren't in trouble just yet, and with the boys going to the City Ground on Saturday to play a very out of sorts Forest team, I am hopeful that we can halt the slump we find ourselves in at the moment before anyone gets too carried away.

As I said earlier, expectations can fluctuate from the slightest of changes, and perhaps we are now suffering from a slight overestimation of our chances this season. That being said, should we win again on Saturday all the doubts will float away and a feeling of optimism will appear once again. That's what supporting a team like ours brings to the table, an unpredictable and sometimes infuriating mixture of deep rooted fanaticism. Normally at this juncture people shout something along the lines of, "Go and support United!" but having just beaten them on their own patch I would suggest keeping the faith with the boys for a while yet, at least it's never boring.

Until next time...

HLTCO - 15/11/2011

Having had a couple of days away from the blog due to this pesky international break providing next to no news on the club front, I return this morning armed with actual stuff. Not a feature on Owen Garvan's favourite type of biscuit, but genuine content, rejoice!

We start today with Julian Speroni, who has been speaking to the Croydon Advertiser about what he now feels are genuine play-off hopes for the squad given our fantastic start to the season, whilst also making sure he gives the appropriate amount of airtime to Freedman for his achievements so far:

"I thought this season was going to be a transition season where we would probably finish in mid-table, but given how we have started, and what I've seen of the other teams, I think we have a really good chance of making the play-offs. I think our team is very similar in quality to when we got in the play-offs last time. Over the last few years we have had quite a few players leave and a few come in. The thing is there is a huge amount of talent in the squad. The young players we have here are outstanding and I think we have added a few experienced players this summer that have made a difference. There is a nice combination in the squad of youth and experienced pros and everyone feels we are going in the right direction.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the year and I think it could be brilliant for us. It is nice going into every game knowing you can win. People are smiling and enjoying themselves in training and I think that shows when we are on the pitch. It hasn't happened overnight but I think it has been a process. It started when Dougie came in over the second half of last season and we've been improving ever since. Every manger is different but the way I see it I think it really helps that he is a young manager. He has played the modern game so he understands the modern game. I want to play in the Premier League, but I want to get there and do it with Crystal Palace. We need to keep focused as it is a very competitive league and if you relax then teams will punish you. But I see no reason if we keep working hard why we can't still be up there at the end of the season."

It's not often we get to hear from Jules, as a rule he tends to keep his thoughts to himself, but when he does take the occasional plunge into the world of the media, what he says always comes across in a measured and careful way. He doesn't strike you as the sort of guy that will ever hold a club to ransom over a contract offer or walk out of training in a huff, instead giving off the vibe of a man who would rather have a nice quiet chat, and then settle down for a cup of tea and a muffin.

As a player who has been with us since the heady days of 2004, he has seen the club go through a varied array of ups and downs. Not that it seems to have put him off the place, instead appearing to have instilled a deep affection for the club within him. His contract negotiations last season were a major talking point amongst supporters, with many fearing that without him, the team would have sunk without a trace, they were probably right.

His view that the squad we have in place now is as strong as the class of 2008, which included the likes of Moses, Watson and Sinclair fills me with a great deal of optimism. That group, which admittedly couldn't be kept together due to our financial issues, really did go about their business with class, and if Speroni feels bold enough to compare our current crop to them, I won't be arguing.

The final few lines, in which he mentions his desire to play in the Premier League again, doesn't fill me with dread in the same way as it did last year. Having signed his new contract, and with his career now reaching a stage that will see his stock begin to fall amongst other clubs purely based on age, I can't help feeling that he really thinks we can get up in the next year or so. It would be a great thing for him, more so than many, when you think back to his calamitous Premier League career to date, to get another crack at it as the established number one with us, not that you'll see him throwing a hissy fit if it doesn't happen.

Moving on, we have a bit of incoming business on the transfer front, in the shape of Norwich striker, Chris Martin. The 23-year-old striker, has apparently all but officially singed on loan for us until January, a move that, given his lack of first team chances so far this season for the Canaries, seems to be a good fit for all parties.

It is a deal which, if I'm not mistaken, we were linked with briefly back in the summer, not that it ever came to anything, but I do feel it would be a decent move for us. Glenn Murray has been crying out for a strike partner with the ability to hold the ball up and supply him with some chances in recent weeks. Scannell is great for us, but no one expects him to play the target man role, consequently, Murray has been doing the majority of the donkey work for the front line of late, and it seems it is having an effect on the number of chances he is getting in front of goal.

Martin will hopefully give us the ability to mix the nature of the side up a bit from week to week, or even at different points in a game. It has been a worry for some fans lately that other teams may have worked out Dougie's "system" of playing Scannell and Zaha wide and Murray in the middle with the intention of getting the balls that are knocked in to him from the flanks. The addition of Martin could offer us the chance to alter the way we approach teams completely from an attacking perspective, starting with both he and Murray up front, and adding the pace of the aforementioned pair, or bringing him on late, allowing for a more direct route to goal than we have been used to this season.

I am going to casually overlook the fact that, back in the day, Martin was banned from 68 pubs for "fighting", and instead choose to look to the future. We all enjoy stupid things when we're young, some people become obsessed with wearing black and verbally bashing their parents, others decide to lock themselves away in their rooms for weeks at a time completing every instalment of Grand Theft Auto from beginning to end. It seems, that Chris Martin chose the route of smashing up a few jukeboxes and refusing to pay for his peanuts, and for today at least, I am willing to say "so what?". As long as he does the business on the pitch I will care very little what he gets up to. I just hope he doesn't get too carried away by the bright lights of TigerTiger on a Thursday.

Until tomorrow...

HLTCO - 12/11/2011

With the last few days producing little in the way of news for us to look at, I am pleased to report, that this morning there is quite a bit to go through.

Although the squad haven't been preparing for a game this week, Dougie has still taken the time to write his weekly column for the Croydon Advertiser, within which, he has spoken some more on the fatigue that built up within the squad prior to the break, as well as his hopes for when we get going again next week:

"I'm pleased with the progress we are making this season but I think it is fair to say this international break has come at a good time for us. We've looked a bit tired in our last few games and I didn't think we had much left in the tank during the last 20 minutes at Cardiff. Our continued involvement in the Carling Cup has meant we have played a lot of games already this season, and it is difficult to give our younger players the right amount of rest when they are playing every Saturday and Tuesday.

We had a few injuries too at the start of the season which meant I didn't have the chance to rotate as much as I would have liked and I think that is catching up with us now. We've lacked a bit of spark going forward in our last few games and this is a chance for us to freshen things up again.

The break has allowed us to have a few light sessions in training this week while the players will be able to enjoy some time off this weekend. It's not just the physical demands of playing week-in week-out that start to take their toll but also the mental side of things. This league is very demanding but while having so many games is entertaining and exciting I don't necessarily think such a congested fixture list helps sides to produce their best football."

It is fair to say that the demands placed upon all of our players so far this season, not just the younger members, have been pretty strenuous given our involvement in the League Cup. It will obviously begin to have an effect on the freshness of the players involved when their recovery time is so small between each game, and quite rightly, Freedman has felt the need to address the questions about the lack of attacking threat shown in our last three fixtures by reminding everyone of this.

The mantra he regularly preaches is one of patient growth, allowing the young prospects we currently have on our books to be given the time necessary to mature into well rounded professionals with the help of the coaching staff and senior squad members. One thing that is paramount to that approach working, is for the youngsters in question to have the correct amount of time in between games to allow their bodies to recover, thereby reducing the risk of injury or burn out in the latter months of the season. Without this imposed break, there was a good chance that the fitness, both mentally and physically would have lowered dramatically, and for this reason, we should count it as a positive rather than a negative in many ways.

Yesterday also saw Peter Ramage speak about his desire to secure himself a starting place in our defence before his loan finishes in two months' time, although he admits it's going to be tough:

"The fact I can play in a number of positions has been a hindrance in my career. I want to try and push for a centre-half spot but Paddy McCarthy and Anthony Gardner have been brilliant so far. We had that long run without conceding and they were two of the mainstays of that. So I've just got to keep working hard and hopefully impress. You'd never wish an injury on anybody but I'm just hoping to get a chance and then try and keep the shirt."

It's great to see players like Peter demonstrate a genuine desire to cement themselves in our side regardless of the fact that they aren't at the club on a permanent basis. As he makes reference to, the partnership Paddy and Anthony have got in the middle of our back four really has been working well of late, and with Clyne having returned from injury, first team chances have obviously been tougher to come by for Peter.

With all that being said, the performances he put in during the early stages of the season were very solid. Admittedly, no one would have expected him to keep his starting place at right back once Nathaniel returned to match fitness, given that Clyne was voted the club's player of the year last season, but the important thing to consider when you analyse Peter's performances, is that we didn't ever look unbalanced in defence with him in the side, a big compliment when he was stepping into a role that was so important to our survival last season.

With his contract at QPR set to expire this summer, I would like to see the club offer him the chance to stay with us on a permanent basis by the time this season has reached its conclusion. Although he says that his ability to play in numerous defensive positions has been a hindrance to him during his career, I can only see it as a good thing for us long-term. With Dougie so intent on making sure that we have decent cover for every position in the squad, it is impossible to argue that Ramage offers the sort of versatility needed to have a successful Championship defence. I'd also like to think that his time with us has shown him what a good club we are to play for, something which, judging by his tweets to date, he fully appreciates.

That's about it for this morning, hopefully England can shock us all by putting up some sort of a fight against Spain at Wembley later this afternoon, not that I hold out a great deal of hope. I'll be back on Tuesday with all that's been going on between now and then.

Adios.

HLTCO - 11/11/2011

Good morning.

News is still in relatively short supply at the moment thanks to the international break, but there are one or two things we can look at concerning the club which may be of interest to you.

Firstly, I would like to bring your attention to our midfield odd-job man, David Wright, who has been discussing his decision to extend his contract with the club, as well as where he now feels he fits into the squad:

"It's been brilliant here I am really happy. It's nice now to have the contract sorted so I can have the rest of the season without thinking about what is happening next year. We have been talking about it over a number of weeks and we could take our time and make sure it was right for the club. Obviously, playing in a successful team has been really good this year and it has been a brilliant season so far. I'm really enjoying myself in midfield and although I have played that position before, I have never done it consistently like I am now. I know my job and my role for the team - it is not spectacular and I am not going to be doing the things Wilfried Zaha and Sean Scannell do. I protect the back four and break things up and then give them the ball to do their thing." 

"We had a hiccup at the weekend but, overall, if you said in August that, come November, we would be sat in sixth you would not have complained. I think there were signs of what the gaffer was starting to do and the changes he was starting to make last season. We became hard to beat and picked up results and it's been slowly building. The manager brought in some players and I think the boys have really taken on board what the manager and Lennie Lawrence and Tony Popovic have shown us. Slowly, they are changing everyone's belief in how good they are."

 As I said when the news first broke that David was to sign a new deal with the club, he may be a player who splits opinion, but slowly it appears that more and more supporters are beginning to appreciate the qualities he is able to bring to the team on a consistent basis. Admittedly, he isn't capable of spraying 40 yard cross field passes or hitting volleys into the top corner from ridiculous angles, but he does play with a selflessness and discipline that makes him perfect for the role he now occupies in Dougie's match day formation, and that in itself is a blessing.

As I'm sure many of you would agree, the key to us being successful this season, is to make sure that we do everything possible to enable the likes of Zaha, Scannell and Williams to play their natural, attacking game. In order for this to be effective you need squad players who are happy to take on the role of water carriers, similar to the way in which Shaun Derry and Aki Riihilati have done in the past. David Wright is unquestionably one of those players, and judging by the fact that he is one of only three to have started every league game this season, Dougie clearly feels that the role Wright fulfils within the set-up is a vital one.

From the sublime talents of Mr Wright we now move on to the ridiculous, in the form of Andy Dorman. As spoken about yesterday, the Welshman has agreed to sign for Bristol Rovers on loan until 2nd of January. Unfortunately, it appears he hadn't quite grasped which division that would see him plying his trade in for the extent of the deal, saying, when asked about the step down:

“If I’m being honest I thought they were still in League One."

Far be it for me to start pontificating about what a professional footballer should and shouldn't agree to without reading the fine print, but you would assume that the first thing any player would think to do when faced with a proposed move to another club, would be to check where in the league table they were, maybe I'm being too shallow, who knows.

Either way, the shock of having to visit Crewe Alexandra instead of Huddersfield Town doesn't seem to have dampened Andy's spirits too much. He says he is just happy to have the opportunity to play regularly and try to move Bristol Rovers up the table, presumably to a position slightly closer to the one he thought they occupied only 48 hours ago. Who said modern football was all about money?

Finally, I'd like to point you in the direction of the League Football Education site, who have selected Palace academy player, Kyle De Silva's goal against Ipswich Town as one of the final eight on a short list for goal of the month. You can view all of the goals and vote for him on the link provided. It really is a superb team effort, regardless of the fact that it was scored by our boys, and I urge you to show him support and vote on multiple occasions.

Until tomorrow...

HLTCO - 10/11/2011

As touched on yesterday, these enforced breaks in the fixture list tend to mean that all of the usual news sources who cover the club on a daily basis freeze up and produce nothing of any note for the entirety of the gap. Whilst this may mean that the journalists who usually cover our team get a nice few days to put their feet up, it can also leave blogs such as this one, a little bit lost when attempting to summarise what's been happening.

Having spent a considerable amount of time searching through every media outlet to have ever mentioned us, I'm afraid; I was only able to track down two points worth mentioning throughout the whole off yesterday's news cycle, leaving the length of this entry looking a bit underwhelming, sorry about that.

The first morsel of information came from the mouth of Dougie and made reference to our imminent journey up north to face United:

“We had Crawley and Wigan at home in front of 5,000 fans and people were saying we were going to get knocked out. It just shows if you win games like that with the right attitude, enthusiasm and work rate that you get rewarded. I’m sure Crawley would have loved this tie - and Wigan too, but we were the team that turned up at Selhurst Park on cold Tuesday nights and did the business. I’ve spoken and bumped into Sir Alex Ferguson a few times but it’s about me trying to prepare a team to give it our best shot. Then whatever will be, will be. If anything I’ve got to bring the players down because I know they’ll be prepared. I’ve got to make sure it’s a game where they go out and express their talent. I’ll personally watch every DVD until we play them and we’ll do an in-depth study and report on three games. By luck I watched the Aldershot game on Friday afternoon, so we’ll do a report on that match too. It’s a Carling Cup game so they’ll change it but I’ve seen their reserves play this year. I know one or two of them already.”

The comments as a whole are pretty standard Freedman in all honesty. We know by now that the last thing he is ever going to do is allow the players to get carried away by the pageantry and prestige of taking on a club such as United on their own patch, whilst simultaneously making sure that his words aren't so dour as to distinguish any hope of pulling off a shock when the time comes.

As he makes reference to, there will be little need to make sure the players are in the correct frame of mind for the match itself, with the main issue for him being the type of squad that he decides upon when the day arrives.

So far in the competition, he has given our fringe players the opportunity to prove themselves, with a few regular first team members sprinkled in here and there, and for the most part, the lads who have been chosen have excelled themselves. With the quarter-final now being broadcast live on Sky, the question has to be asked as to whether Freedman will stick by the side that have got us there, or make adjustments to cope with the potentially greater challenge of an under strength United team with the officials helping them out every step of the way.

Opinion amongst the fans is somewhat split, with half advocating the view that you should always play your strongest team, whilst others feel it necessary to rest certain "key" players given the greater importance of the league fixtures for us at this moment in time.

For what it's worth I feel that Dougie's choice in the matter is impossibly restricted by the fact that we are due to play at home against Derby only two days after the game at Old Trafford. As nice as it would be to see us really go for it up there, it doesn't seem to be in his nature to throw caution to the wind and pick our best XI with three points on offer so soon after.

You could argue that the lack of romance in that sentiment takes away from the enjoyment of the occasion as supporters, and I can certainly sympathise with that, but with £500,000 being banked by the club for reaching this stage of the competition, there is nothing to stop the players who are selected going out and giving it their all without having the added pressure of having to reach the next round. Who knows what could happen if we go with Big Calv up front...

Elsewhere, it was announced yesterday evening, that resident reserve midfielder Andy Dorman has agreed to join Bristol Rovers on loan until the 2nd of January, with boss, Paul Buckle insisting that Andy could bring "much needed experience and stability" to the Rovers side, a statement he may live to regret. I can't say that I view it as a loss to our squad in any way, and I imagine it is purely a vehicle to get the lad some game time ahead of potentially moving on in January, good luck to him all the same.

That's about it for today; hopefully there will be more stuff to get our teeth stuck into over the next few hours, for the time being I'm off for a bacon sandwich.

Until tomorrow...

HLTCO - 09/11/2011

When international breaks rear their ugly heads, the stream of news regarding our club tends to disappear quicker than a jam doughnut within sniffing distance of Neil Shipperley. Sadly, we are currently going through one of those periods, and as such, finding enough decent information to speak about can be a rather tricky task, thankfully, this morning has proved to be the exception to the rule.

The main source of interest on Tuesday night, quite rightly focused around the live debate on Holmesdale Radio between Steve Parish and Gareth Southgate over the EPPP proposals. With Southgate now occupying a supposedly prominent post within the FA set-up, he bravely stepped into the lion’s den and attempted to allay any fears Steve and the supporters had, unfortunately, his answers didn't provide us with any form of comfort.

As much as credit has to be given to him for taking the plunge and allowing himself to be shot at in terms of the specific issues we as a club have with the new proposals, his performance gave the impression of a man in over his head. It was obvious throughout, that he does sympathise with the problems the EPPP poses for us, but it was also abundantly clear that he is somewhat powerless to help.

The main crux of the issue, and it is something that has been obvious throughout the whole of this process, is that, due to our academy proving to be so much more successful than many, our specific circumstances relate to a very small section of the professional English game as a whole. In the main, clubs don't put anything like the same amount of effort and money into their academies as we do relative to their income. As a direct result of this, the increased blanket funding that is being offered to all by the EPPP is an attractive proposition to many, as they will, it seems, be given more money for doing exactly what they have always done, not a lot.

It is now obvious, given Gareth's comments on the subject on Tuesday night, that, although we make a very compelling and valid argument for the huge drawbacks the EPPP presents us individually, the FA do not deem our specific set of grievances to be sufficiently important to the overall good of the game for any dramatic changes in our favour.

Steve Parish, as he has done throughout his time as co-chairman, and especially during the recent debates over the EPPP, did a fantastic job in correctly airing every possible problem the club have with the proposals. You can sense a deep and very real passion to ensure that the correct outcome is reached for all parties in the long-term from the way Steve goes about stating the facts, and I am sure that the conversations will continue for some months yet. One thing is certain, we could not wish for a better man to be taking the lead on the battle against Premiership greed, and Tuesday night was yet another occasion, in an already long list, when I was extremely proud to have him at the top of my football club.

If you would like to listen to the entire debate you can do so by clicking here.

In terms of other club news, there was a predictably ill-informed article linking Wilf with a move to either Newcastle or Everton for the pie in the sky figure of £5 million, which, I suppose we should be flattered by, considering that only a couple of months ago, the sum was a paltry £2 million.

All of the articles published about Zaha's "imminent" departure during the last few months seem to refer to the interested parties "lack of firepower", whilst conveniently ignoring the fact that there has not been a single word uttered from anyone at Palace, Wilf included, about a sale being remotely entertained in the January transfer window.

Normally, I wouldn't even bother to give this type of story the time of day, but given that there really isn't a lot else being said in any media outlet, I was offered little choice but to acknowledge the articles existence. I think everyone is well aware that Wilf sees his immediate future being best served by playing for us, and in truth that is all that really matters.

Finally, Lennie Lawrence has been speaking to the BBC about Jon Williams future as an international player:

"The strong advice from me would be for Jon to play for Wales. There's all sorts of rumours flying about that England are interested in him, but the strong advice from me would be, obviously I've still got connections in Wales, to play for Wales. I think Gary Speed will pick him in the squad and Gary Speed will put him on the pitch when he thinks it's right. I would absolutely stick down that route - that's the advice from me and Dougie we'd be giving to him. Of course it's up to the boy and his parents."

I have to say, that I wholeheartedly agree with Lennie on this issue. As nice as it would be to see Jon representing England one day, the chances of him doing that whilst still playing for Crystal Palace are incredibly slim. It doesn't then take a rocket scientist to work out, that if Jon were to switch allegiances and play for England; the Premier League power clubs would place their scouts on a level of alert higher than ever, thus making it almost impossible for us to keep him.

Playing for Wales, in comparison, represents a happy medium for both Williams and the club. He is already well within touching distance of gaining his first full international cap, having been called up to the senior squad only a couple of months ago, and will, as a result, undoubtedly be given a far more prominent place in the squads attempting to qualify for World Cup 2014 than he would if he declared himself for the Three Lions.

From the club's perspective, it would allow Jon the freedom and confidence associated with playing for his country at the highest level without enticing the humungous amount of interest that is afforded to every prospect that pulls on an England shirt. Obviously, as soon as any player participates for one of the home nations, their stock rises, but it is without question, that the microscope examines players to a deeper degree when they play for England compared with our neighbours from the valleys.

Either way, it is clear that Williams is destined to represent somebody at international level, and if he decides to take Lennie and Dougie's advice to stay loyal to Wales and Gary Speed, the opportunity, I'm sure will present itself sooner rather than later.

Until tomorrow...

HLTCO - 07/11/2011

So, our run of unbeaten games, clean sheets and endless amounts of optimism has finally come to a very abrupt and conclusive halt. It seems that, despite our recent form going above and beyond anyone's expectations prior to the season beginning, one defeat at the hands of Cardiff has exposed what an utterly useless and inexperienced bunch of losers we have representing the shirt. Well, at least that was the way the final whistle was greeted by many on Saturday evening.

Back in reality, it was clear for all to see, that despite expectations rising with every passing unbeaten minute, the prospect of the boys getting something out of the game against our Welsh opponents was perhaps a bridge to far on the day, given the heavy duty fixture list we have had to contend with in the last few weeks.

To some extent, the warning signs were evident on Tuesday night at home to Portsmouth, with Jonny Williams and Sean Scannell withdrawn from first team duties and Zaha looking tired and frustrated after a relatively short period of the match, it could be argued that our young players, who incidentally offer most of our spark and attacking threat when they are on form, were in need of a sustained rest after a run of seven games in just three weeks.

A fact that didn't escape Dougie when he was asked for his thoughts on Saturday evening:

"We have young players and it has been relentless so the break comes at the right time. We can rest up and go again. Today was probably a game too far, we lacked a spark but performed well against an experienced side but I believe we are on the right path for our long term goal."

In truth, the first half of the game saw us get the better of Cardiff for large spells, and had chances for Scannell and Zaha happened to fall slightly differently, we could be discussing another superb away victory this morning. Without wanting to sound like an aging pundit, churning out clichés for the sake of it, there are key moments in games like these, and unfortunately for us, the timing of Kenny Miller's goal happened to come at such a time, I certainly won't be getting myself too worked up about our first loss in nine games, and I urge you to do the same.

It is always worth trying to put any defeat into some form of perspective, and in doing so, the overwhelming thing to remember is the league position we have secured for ourselves going into the two week break. 

Currently in 6th place with a points tally of 25, we can reflect on a job extremely well done by Dougie and the boys in the early stages of the campaign. Despite the disappointment of Saturday, I cannot imagine there is a single Crystal Palace fan that wouldn't have jumped for joy if they were offered the position we currently occupy, back in August. If you do happen to feel that we have somehow underachieved so far, I would suggest that supporting Palace probably isn't for you.

Moving away from the Cardiff defeat, Dougie has been discussing the future of young goal keeper Wes Foderingham, who is currently doing a sterling job whilst on loan at Swindon Town:

"Wes is a fantastic young keeper who had been playing reserve team football here but is now out in the real world at Swindon and doing very well. We'll try and keep him there as long as possible because it is better than reserve level. Just after Christmas we'll have a little talk with him. By then we can see where we are in the division and start offering contracts and talking to people that we'd like to keep over the next two to three years."

It must be said, that Wes has exceeded everyone's expectations for him so far for Di Canio's side, having not conceded a single goal in any of the five games he has played in. It is testament to the talents of the man, that prior to the move he was still waiting for his first opportunity to show what he could do at a professional level, and now he can look back on a few weeks which have seen him become a cult hero at The County Ground, with the Robins fans wondering if anyone is going to score against them again.

What is clear from our perspective, is that it is now more important than ever, to ensure that in January, the long-term future of Wes is tied down. With his contract set to expire in the summer, Dougie clearly needs no more convincing that at the tender age of 20, Foderingham is doing everything needed to prove that he is the natural successor to Julian Speroni's crown as Palace number one. Hopefully he can continue his remarkable run of clean sheets for some time to come yet, with his next test coming when Swindon entertain AFC Wimbledon in the JPT on Tuesday.

Until tomorrow...

HLTCO - 05/11/2011

Right, just to get our priorities in order this morning, I would firstly like to offer my congratulations to Nathaniel Clyne, who yesterday was awarded the Championship Player of the Month award for October, following his "pivotal", (Peter Beagrie's word not mine) performances following his return from injury a few weeks ago.

If anything it just goes to show what a positive league position can do to the media perception of our club, that Nathaniel should be been given this award now, when we happen to find ourselves in the play-off places, instead of last season, when he was arguably performing to a better standard but we were languishing near the bottom of the table.

In other club news, Anthony Gardner has been speaking about how he was pleased at the way the supporters took to him after he eventually decided to commit himself to playing in SE25 on a permanent basis in the summer:

"It took a bit of time for me to decide what I was doing and I'm thankful for the way the supporters have been with me. I know it may have looked like I didn't want to come and play for the club but you can see from my performances that I'm committed to it, like I was last year. I want to thank them for being behind me. Their backing makes it a lot easier. That goes for the support they have shown all of the boys. It's enjoyable to play in front of them and that's only going to bode well for the team. I feel fit and fresh. I had to play a bit of catch-up. I just hope I don't pay for that come March time when the season goes into a key stage."

Anthony's comments go to show that what gets discussed amongst supporters really can have an effect on players. Whilst there was no hiding the fact that his indecisiveness in signing up to the club permanently in pre-season angered a section of our supporters, it was not an issue you would assume would have played on Gardner's mind once he had put pen to paper on a deal.

In truth, the reaction to him, as he says himself, has been extremely positive, no doubt helped by the fact that his presence in the team has seen the partnership he formed with Paddy last season continue to grow and solidify with each passing week. This has lead most supporters to feel that the aforementioned duo are the best central defensive partnership available, despite the dependable performances from Alexander Tunchev in the early stages of the season when Gardner was still on the road back to full fitness.

There was also a piece in the Croydon Advertiser in which Wilf discussed his contentment at achieving the aim he set himself at the start of the season to get on the score-sheet more often:

"I'm really happy with my season so far having got five goals. Scoring goals is all I wanted. All I had in my head was just to score goals. Last season I played 40 games and I only scored one goal and my objective this season was to improve that tally. I have managed to get one or two important goals. That one against Brighton meant a lot to me and the fans obviously. It was such an intense game and to grab the equaliser then see us go on to win 3-1 was incredible."

It is great to see from Wilf's comments that he is feeling more comfortable with his game in general this season, having made it clear that he wasn't satisfied with only scoring once last season and being so driven to make sure he improved on that this term.

It is a well-known fact that attacking players thrive on confidence, and without a doubt, the goals Wilf has scored for us this season in the Carling Cup, away at Watford and, most importantly, away at Brighton will have given him the belief to know that he can do it every week. You only have to have seen his face as he sprinted towards the touch line with Paddy following the equalising goal at The Amex to know that the flood gates were about to open for him in terms of scoring, and both he and the club as a whole are now reaping the rewards.

In terms of the team for today's game against Cardiff, the only major news to report is that the trio of rested players from Tuesday, Mile Jedinak, Jon Williams and Sean Scannell are all in line for a return to the side as we go in search of our fourth consecutive away win, and our ninth consecutive game unbeaten.

Cardiff is an extremely tough place to go, but we couldn't be going into the game in much better form, especially on the defensive side of things, so with that in mind let's hope that Dougie and the boys can return from Wales with all three points safely in their possession, then we really could start to dream.

Until Monday...

HLTCO 04/11/2011

With the team now preparing for the trip to face Cardiff at the weekend, the majority of the media attention surrounding the club in the last 24 hours has been directed towards the reserves 3 - 1 victory against Tottenham on Wednesday afternoon.

Whilst we Palace fans are always eager to hear of our academy and development squads doing well, the game in question created a bit more of a buzz than would normally be expected, thanks in large part to a certain Mr. Bostock lining up in the oppositions starting XI.

The game itself appears to have been decided within a frantic 10 minute spell, in which we managed to score all three of our goals.

The first coming from the head of young defender, Quade Taylor, following a corner floated in by Owen Garvan, added to soon after by another headed goal, this time from Calvin Andrew, before Kieron Cadogan picked himself up having been fouled inside the area to slot home the resulting penalty and give us a commanding lead at half-time.

The 2nd half was a far more even affair, with Spurs pulling a goal back, and our boys having one or two decent chances to extend the lead, before holding strong to secure an impressive victory.

Unfortunately for John Bostock, it appears that his impact on the game was minimal, with the only information I was able to find regarding his performance being summed up in this rather sad description:

"Spurs' frustration was made clear on 65 minutes, when Bostock's free kick on the edge of the penalty area soared way over the crossbar as he failed to impress against his former team."

I'm sure you will all join me in extending our deepest sympathies to John for the continued slow and painful stagnation of his professional career, if only he had been better advised when he moved on from us for pure "footballing reasons".

For a full match report from the game please click here.

One of the players featured in that win, Nathaniel Pinney, yesterday joined Ebbsfleet on loan for some much needed first team opportunities. Having seen what Nathaniel is capable of in pre-season, I'm sure he will do himself and the club proud other the course of the next month and I wish him the best of luck for his time with them.

It was also announced yesterday evening, that David ("I can play anywhere") Wright has signed up for another year with us, news that I'm sure will please every Palace fan with a genuine understanding of the game.

It would not be unfair to say that our supporters have taken their time to fully appreciate the positives of having David in the team, but, given his string of stellar performances since being made a regular participant in the centre of our midfield, he has proven to be somewhat of a revelation for Dougie, and I for one, am extremely happy that he will be continuing to break up play effectively with us for another year.

In the wider world of football, our larger than life ex-chairman has been having his say on the continuing saga of the EPPP, writing this predictably opinionated piece for the Guardian newspaper.

If you don't have the time, or the energy to read the entire article, I can tell you that it covers much of the same ground that our supporters and current owners have done already, beating the drum incredibly loudly to demonstrate the injustice and deception that is being carried out in front of our eyes.

It is written in Jordan's typically bullish style and takes figureheads, such as Greg Clarke, the Football League chairman, to pieces over their approach to the situation as a whole.

I can't pretend that I was Simon's biggest fan whilst he was in charge, but one thing he always supported with unwavering enthusiasm was our youth academy, and as a result, I have to say, it is great to see him continuing to make the case heard for the club he once owned, regardless of his legal disputes with us following the unsavoury end to his time in the board room.
 

Finally, ending on a positive note, it was announced yesterday that Dougie Freedman and Nathaniel Clyne have been shortlisted for the Manager of the Month and Player of the Month awards respectively. In both cases, it is no less than they deserve with the lads going unbeaten in all competitions throughout October, and, as mentioned yesterday, Nathaniel showing such maturity by slotting back into the team so seamlessly in the last few weeks. Congratulations to both of them.

Until tomorrow…

HLTCO 03/11/2011

Following our 0 - 0 draw on Tuesday evening against Portsmouth, there were numerous people in and around the ground, as well as on Palace Radio and Twitter afterwards who seemed to feel that the previous two results represented four points lost rather than two points gained.

I can't say that it is a view I wholeheartedly share, although I can see where some of the more measured people are coming from. A lot of the frustration from the last two fixtures has been generated by the fact that we have looked so unlikely to score, something that was glaringly obvious on Tuesday night, when we failed to have a single shot on target at any point.

Whilst I can sympathise and fully agree that we should be troubling the keeper a few times in every home game we play, it is also worth pointing out, that had one of the chances we had against Reading found their way into the net, we would now have amassed 27 points and be joint 3rd with Middlesbrough, hardly the joint relegation favourites that the bookies were so doubtful of as recently as August.

As it stands, we are nestled comfortably in 4th position, having not been beaten home or away in our last eight games, with a club record equalling six consecutive clean sheets to our name and a points tally of over half the total required to stay up if you are going by last season’s figures. Once again, these statistics hardly strike fear into my heart, instead leaving me feeling thoroughly contented at the work Dougie is doing on a daily basis, a view the man himself clearly shares if you go by his comments on Tuesday night below.

"There weren't too many chances. Another battling display I felt. When you go through a small slump like this you find yourself losing games. Fortunately for us, we are picking up points. It wasn't the best of our attacking performances but again our defensive display was outstanding against a very experienced side who played the game very well. I'm happy with a point. That's it, as long as you keep clean sheets. The expectations of the last few months have maybe been a little bit too much and this is bringing us back down to earth a little bit. But that's good because we're not losing games of football. We're still picking up points so we'll move on from that."

 You can't really disagree with his logic on the game itself, on the one hand he has acknowledged the fact that we aren't quite firing on all cylinders at the moment, whilst also, quite rightly reminding everyone, fans and players alike, that it is important to not get carried away by a few weeks of great form. As he says, the most important thing in these tight games is to not get beaten, and when you continue to defend as well as we are of late we will continue to pick up points whatever else happens.

In other news, Nathaniel Clyne has been called to Stuart Pearce's latest England U-21 squad, which is a great reward for his consistency since regaining his place in the first team following the injury he sustained in pre-season.

It shows what a class act Nathaniel is, that at the age of just 20, he has managed to slot into a winning team so comfortably, given what you would imagine was a much disrupted summer fitness wise. He now has over 100 professional appearances under his belt with us, and can certainly look forward to impressing himself further on the England coaches when he joins them for the qualifiers against Iceland and Belgium.

For a full list of thee Under 21-Squad please click here.

Lastly, I would like to point you in the direction of a wonderful piece on a life spent supporting Crystal Palace, written by Martin Searle for Five Year Plan yesterday. I found it be a heartfelt summary of the highs and lows associated with supporting the club we all love, and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone; you can read the article here.

Until next time.

HLTCO - 02/11/2011

Last night saw Palace take part in our second 0 - 0 draw in the space of four days. Having failed to break down a resolute and solid Reading side at the weekend, we toiled our way through proceedings against Pompey in a game of very few chances.

With the South coast club having failed to win away from home all season long, it was perhaps the first time in six months that the majority of the home fans went into the game expecting a win, an expectation that our performance on the night never came close to fulfilling.

There could be a multitude of reasons as to why our game didn't reach the heights it has in recent weeks, perhaps the most obvious being the amount of games the team has played in such a short space of time. With Jon Williams rested, Sean Scannell starting from the bench, and Zaha looking tired and frustrated from about 20 minutes into the game, we didn't seem to have the attacking drive and flair which the fans have become so accustomed to this season.

In part this also determined the formation that Freedman started the game with, making it appear to take the shape of an orthodox 4-5-1 with Murray up top on his own, and Wilf or Ambrose just behind depending on the circumstances.

When Wilf and Scannell both start for us, the team still sets up in a 4-5-1 formation but with the aforementioned pair on either flank, giving us an abundance of natural width and the ability to quickly turn the formation into an attacking 4-3-3 whenever the moment presents itself. Last night, Jonny Parr did his best Sean Scannell impression, but due to his lack of attacking drive when he reaches the byline, our attacking play became lopsided, and relatively one dimensional, I have no doubts that, if Scannell and Williams had both started we would have won, sadly that can't and won't always be the case.

On a positive note, we broke the all-time clean sheet record with six consecutive shut-outs last night, a feat that can only be truly appreciated when you think back less than a year to when we had the single worst defensive record in the entire Football League, clearly Mr Popovic is putting something in the water.

Elsewhere, the EPPP debate rolls on, with Steve Parish having taken part in a "special live debate" on Sky Sports News on Monday evening, with West Ham talking head Tony Carr and Watford's Head of Youth, Nick Cox.

Without wanting to sound like an overly partisan club obsessive, it must be said that Steve came across extremely well throughout the programme, getting all of the relevant points listened to in a measured manner, whilst also managing to show displeasure when the need arose.

The fact is, that with Tony Carr clearly not entirely clued up on all the relevant points, and still holding delusions of grandeur as to his own clubs academy, and Cox only partially sympathising with Steve, in an attempt to limit the damage of his own clubs' bid for Grade 1 status, Parish was left alone to fight the battle for clubs with successful academies, a task he took to with aplomb.

There is a particularly good piece covering the whole debate in greater detail here.

Yesterday also saw news break that Bournemouth are looking to take Kieron Cadogan on loan for an as of yet undecided period with the potential for a permanent move should the scenario suit all parties. I can't say I greeted this news with a great deal of joy, not because I don't think it would be a good move for him, I believe it would do him the world of good. I simply worry that if he was to join the Cherries, they would see how talented a wide man he really is, thus encouraging them to really push for a permanent deal, and depriving us of another great player who has come through the youth system. It may be that with the squad as big as it is now, players need to be shuffled and in some cases, moved on, but, I would like to see Kieron stay with us for a while yet.

Finally I leave you with some quotes from our current favourite Australian (and new father to a bouncing baby boy), Mile Jedinak, who yesterday spoke about how he is gradually slotting in to the English game:

"I think it's normal, isn't it? A little bit of adaptation time, seeing how the team plays, I'm feeling comfortable in there, game-by-game, trying to help the team as much as I can. I've got a good understanding now with the players around me and that's helped me to settle in very quickly, I'm very thankful to them for helping me getting settled."

I will admit, I am not exactly Mile's biggest fan as of yet, I see him as a strange player, wandering around in the middle of the park without, it seems, a huge amount of purpose, however, his run in the first team has coincided with a long unbeaten run, and a string of five consecutive clean sheets, which, even I can acknowledge, is not a coincidence.

Dougie has been saying since the day he signed Mile, that he was a great asset to the team and that having him in the middle of the park would enable players such as Zaha and Williams to play their more naturally attacking games,  a fact borne out by our recent good form, so regardless of my aesthetic quibbles with his style of running, I suppose it is only fair that I desist with my moans and let Dougie continue to lead the way.

Until next time.