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.
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