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...