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...
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