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.