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.
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.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."
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...
