Gannon Sacked for Lack of Loyalty... A Far Cry From Stockport Days

What a christmas present from the Motherwell board to Jim Gannon: sacking him, with their reasoning that he had "refused to sign a new contract". They say that the desicion is not football related, but is it really a coincidence that his firing came after 4 straight defeats? Still, even after this poor run they're on course to better last season's 7th placed finish. The relationship between board and manager seemed strained right from the off however and it's more than possible that John Boyle (Chairman) anticipated him resigning and opted to sack him first in an effort to save face if you like.
Why is this so interesting? Well, not only is this a case of a manager being sacked far too early into his reign by an intefering chairman, but Gannon also showed a huge amount of loyalty last season by staying loyal to Stockport when they started suffering from extreme financial problems. Only when he had actually been made redundant did he leave - despite having many oppurtunities to do so before hand.
Just three months prior to his departure and with Stockport really struggling, he was intervewed for the vacant managerial position at Brighton, who are quite frankly a richer club with more potential, yet he choose to stay loyal to the club he loves.
I think that's the key point: he absolutely adored Stockport, having spent 10 years their as a player, and then 4 as a manager (where he had done a fantastic job and is still held in very hard regard by the County fans). His whole attitude whilst at the club was one that is sorely lacking in a lot of managers who see career progression as their sole of objective - Steve Bruce, yes I do mean you. In fact although Gannon had refused to speak to the media for the latter part of season in protest against the way the club was being run, he did seem genuinely upset at being made redundant. I would assume that rather than being dissapointed for personal reasons (having lost his job), he was far more upset to see the club he loved going downhill. If it was up to him, I'm sure he would have stayed on reduced wages to help the club out.
In a strange way his behaviour at Stockport reminded me of a certain Steve Coppell. Granted he was slightly before my time at Palace, but he certainly seemed to have similar characterisitcs to Gannon in the sense a lot of his motivation for managing the club was that he absolutely loved it. Not once has he managed a "big" club and the reason for that is not his ability - it's because he's always been satisfied at the club he's at, feeling no real need to further himself. Had he resigned after getting Reading to 8th in the Premiership, I'm sure he could have got a bigger and more well payed job, but he didn't because he loved the club.
It is a shame that examples of loyalty from managers are quite rare. I suppose in the cut and thrust business that it is, perhaps certain managers believe they have to leave clubs to further their careers as there won't be any second chance. However, there are some managers that manage teams they love and want to do well not just to make themselves better managers but because they love the club they're at. The more managers there are in the game like that, the better football will become.

A Day to Remember at Selhurst

Boxing day, arguably the best day in the football calender. With christmas lunches finished, presents opened and carols sung, the attention is turned well and truly back to the game we all love. A home fixture always helps, and Palace got that with a match against Roy Keane's struggling Ipswich town.
What an atmosphere! we love you we love you we love you... the Holmesdale fanatics put the frankly abysmal 1,500 odd travelling tractor boys to shame. I don't think I've ever seen them make so much noise, and hopefully there'll be a few videos to prove it. Why was it so good? Well, having shit away support helped - seriously there were 10 Palace fans singing at one point, and we were louder than Ippo. However, the main reason has to be the sensible behaviour of the stewards/police (i.e. not becoming aggressive as soon as the HF celebrate a goal). I think yesterday showed that a responsible attitude from the security at football matches is needed when dealing with ultra groups and that a bit of leeway can actually make games safer. By that I mean that a high police presence such as Middlesbrough at home tends to cause more problems than a low police presence such as yesterday.
Anyway that's by the by and january comes calling (bye bye Victor). He was the difference yesterday and the Ipswich players were visibly shitting themselves everytime he got the ball. He's destined for great things and I join all Palace fans in wishing him the best of luck at his new club whoever they might be.
On the positive side, Speroni made a mistake yesterday, his first in about a year and a half. But seriously he's shit stay well clear, you can do better.... ah fuck it he deserves a Prem move, but what we love Jules is his whole attitude. Not once has he complained about the money, being left out of the side, our shit football at times. No, he's got on with it, and whatever he chooses to do now, he will forever have the admiration of the selhurst park crowd.
Whatevfer happens in Jan i'm sure the fans will continue to turn out to support the boys. It's not an easy time at SE25, but the more we can keep up yesterday's atmosphere, the more the team will benefit.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

So here it is, Merry Christmas. Shows where my priority's lie when my first thought of the morning was "football tommorow", with it then slowly dawning on me that old JC was celebrating his big day. But I think it's fair to say that the next month or so is an absolutely vital period for every single club in the UK, what with a whole load of fixtures, and the dreaded opening on the transfer window. Fuck me it's not going to be a good January for us Palace fans - especially if the rumours of us going into administration soon are to be believed (and there really is no reason to doubt them).
Victor will go there's no question about that. Inconsistent for the past 2 years, for the past month he's looked like a world beater - and there's no doubt the talent is there. A facebook group entitled "Victor Moses for the England World Cup Squad" may be a little premature, but I don't think anyone would begrudge him a move to the Premierleague. Or even abroad if these ridiculous tabloid reports actually have any credence.
Another man who you would be truly delighted for if he got a big money move would be one of Palace's greatest ever keeper, Julian Speroni. Another Palace blog, powertothepalace, wrote about how his attitude both on and off the pitch is one to admire in this time of players seeking big money moves. Not once has he complained about the (relatively) low wages he's on, not once has he asked to leave the club. In fact, he regularly talks about how much he loves it as SE25, something shown by his interaction with fans before and after matches. Touch wood, I think he'll stay.
As for Stevenage, whom I should be seeing against AFC Wimbledon (weather permitting), well again the rumours are a little worrying. Wilson, Roberts and Odubade to Peterborough is utter bull, but Scotty Laird to Oxford is a realistic proposition. He's the best left back in the league, and if a good enough offer came in, he could be tempted to jump ship to what is undoubtedly a bigger club.
Us Palace fans know a thing or two about losing players, but not since the dark days of before Jordan have things been this bad. Other clubs know that we can't afford to reject any decent offers and therefore will look to take advantage, whilst bringing in new players will be virtually impossible for us.
It is therefore vital that we get as many points as we can on the board before the inevitable mass exodus starts. Whatever other Palace fans may tell you about Warnock's style of play, he's worked a minor miracle at the club if you consider that he hasn't spent a transfer fee in 16 months. If there's one man you would trust to keep the club in the league at this difficult time, it's Warnock, but even with him in charge it's certainly a worrying time

What the F**K!!!

So back from India after a 2 week cricket tour , and I though all the wierd shit was over. As brilliant as it was, being offered an "omlette" (don India accent please) about 50 times on a night-train was pretty fucking annoying, and the fact we got beaten by a team whose best player was a 10 year old in one of the matches was embarrasing to say the least. Then again, he is tipped to be the next Tendaulker. Prithvi Shaw is the name.
Got back to England yesterday knowing nothing about anything football related, expecting the usual shit results for Palace, and the general predictiability of the Premier-league. Alas, how wrong could I be? Granted, we only managed 1 point from 2 games, but talk about a good finish from Victor. What a goal it was, and people are already talking about it as a goal of the season contender - although Maynor Figueroa may have something to say about that. The BBC's description of:
"Maynor Figueroa put Wigan back in front after the break with a quickly taken free-kick from his own half"
doesn't do it half the justice it deserves in what was a fantastic peice of thinking and skill. Beckham-esque if you like!
And then there's Sparky being sacked: Hardly a surprise, although very strange timing - and Mancini coming in: Again very unsurprising and if the rumours are true, Henry could be on his way to Eastlends along with wait for it... Younus Kaboul? Can I blame City for getting rid of Hughes? Not particularly: they've spent a shit load of money and are still struggling to get into the top 6. I'm not saying they should finish top four this season, but they should certainly be doing better than they currently are.
United also lost in hilarious fashion to both Aston Villa and Fulham which brings their title credentials under serious scrutiny. I guess the fact not having any fit defenders didn't help, but a 3 - 0 defeat for United is almost unheard of and will no doubt dent confidence within their ranks. The only down side to their recent slip up is that it was once again Bobby Zamora who was the oppositions tormentor with what has to be was an excellent Performance. If he gets called up the England squad, I'm supporting Germany. Fucking Brighton reject. On a side note, that Hodgson is doing a fooking fantastic job ain't he.
I guess one thing has stayed the same: Liverpool whose shit form has continued. Benitez is surely on his way out soon - with the "we've only got 2 decent players" arguement waring thin. Mascherano, Johnson, Kuyt and others would walk into the vast majority of Premiership sides. It's a non-sensical arguement in my opinion.
There's no two ways about it, we're fucked financially. Really in the shit and January is always the worst month of the year as a Palace fan. Moses will go for sure - possibly to Barcelona according to some rumours out recently, although more likely to someone like Spurs or even Arsenal. Then there's people like Ambrose and Speroni who we really can't afford to let go from a footballing perspective, but can't afford to keep them in a financial sense. Whatever happens, I'm looking forward to February already!
Who said football was boring!!

Losing Interest In The FA Cup

5 minutes before the FA Cup third round draw. The best moment of the season, with all the possibilities open - a match against your nearest rivals, a cash winning tie against a “top four club” or even a non-league team, someone you had never seen at Selhurst Park. Alas, this is Palace – the FA cup isn’t our friend.
We were number 13, unlucky for some, and so it proved. A long way into the draw, and our ball had still not been drawn. There were potential ties against Manchester United, Chelsea and the equally massive Staines Town (or Millwall – who?). Furthermore, the longer the draw went on, the more and more chance we had of IT happening. What’s it you may ask – Palace vs Brighton, not long ago voted the 10th fiercest derby in England. Having not played them in over 3 years this could be the chance in front of a sellout Selhurst crowd to put the arch enemy to the sword once and for all. But no, it just wasn’t to be and an away game to Sheffield Wednesday awaits, with our dire run of cup action continuing.
Last season it was Leicester away followed by Watford away. The season before that was once more Watford away. What shit.
Not since the dark days of Trevor Francis have we managed a cup run and even that was thwarted by Dermot Gallagher, who has since thankfully retired from refereeing. A victory away to Liverpool has to go down as one of the FA Cup shocks of the decade, especially with the eagles down to ten men for much of that match. A fifth round tie against Leeds not so massive anymore United followed, but a goal from Tommy Black was adjudged not to have crossed the line, despite being several yards over it. Fucking refs.
Despite our recent misfortune in the cup, we do have a lot of history. In fact, some would say Palace played in the greatest ever FA Cup game. Super Al (Pardew) got the winner as we stunned Liverpool to win 4 – 3 in the 1990 Cup semi final. This was before my time, but it was also at a time when the FA Cup was regarded as a very important competition with teams not opting to sit it out for a year as United famously did in the 1999/2000. Add in the fact the Liverpool were actually quite good back then and it was a remarkable victory.
The final itself was somewhat of a momentous occasion, with Man United needing a replay to secure victory over the unlucky Eagles. It’s common knowledge that Fergie would have been sacked had he not won that game, and who knows what might have happened to United had Palace won the FA Cup in 1990.
“The magic of the cup” “the best cup competition in the world”, all phrases you hear associated with the FA Cup, but with a tie like Sheffield Wednesday away, it’s difficult to get excited. Once in a blue moon a lesser team will win – take Pompey a couple of years back. However time and time again these manufactured, bought sides get to the semis and the final, as you would expect with the amount of money they’ve spent. Gone are the days when Palace, baring a miracle, can progress into the latter stages of the competition, and unless we get Brighton, Millwall or one of the big boys, I don’t really give a shit anymore. A fix, too right!

Managers Discussion

When a manager gets sacked, the next question is an obvious one : who will they get in next? An experienced manager, an “up and coming” young boss, a first timer – an internal appointment perhaps. After just a couple of days even the most controversial of sackings are forgotten, as supporters of that team look on in anticipation as to who will next walk through the doors.
Chairmen are now more ready to pounce than ever, with the lure of rising a division or the dread of dropping one meaning more and more managers are being sacked now than ever before. As of 10th November, 16 football league managers had faced the chop, and that number is rising all the time. I’m not here to slag off the chairmen – in fact let’s praise them, if they have the balls to admit they appointed the wrong man, then good on them.
At Palace, we’re lucky to have such an experienced man in Warnock – our youthful team benefiting enormously from his knowledge of the game, and our mid-table finish last season coupled with the strong start this time around makes Warnock Simon Jordan’s best appointment as chairman. But it hasn’t all been great – and our general downfall has been when we’ve gone for a “name”. Trevor Francis, Peter Taylor, Steve Kember. All great players. All shit managers. Steve will always be remembered for keeping us up in the 00/01 season, and will always be a legend, but his time as permanent manager was just disastrous. No discipline, no commitment just nothing.
After Kember, Jordan opted for a different approach – getting the young, ex-player Iain Dowie in from Oldham. What a great start he had, promotion in his first season, starting from a dreadful position, and everyone thought Jordan had pulled off a masterstroke. Alas, it wasn’t to be. In the end, his tactical naivety came to fruition and his weaknesses were badly exposed in the Premiership. Had we had a more experienced head in charge, I’m convinced we would of stayed up that season – our side certainly didn’t lack quality.
But that’s enough of Palace – if Warnock stayed for the next five seasons I would be absolutely delighted!
Of course, with every type of manager there are always going to be exceptions. The idea of great players making awful managers ala Adams or dare I say it Shearer is one I recognize – but then look at Steve Bruce. As much as I hate the man, he had Palace playing some very very nice stuff in his short spell in charge at SE25. He did learn under Fergie, but his record in the Premiership is still very impressive. Worth a bet to take over from Sir Alex when he finally retires?
Talking about Fergie, and that has to be the strangest sacking of the year, surely? Taking a team from the third tear of English football up to the Championship with successive promotions, Fergie Junior is gone with barely a third of the campaign gone. And what’s more bemusing is that they’ve replaced him with an even less experienced manager in Kettering’s Mark Cooper. Surely with a struggling team, you want an experienced campaigner to drag your team out of the mire? Peterborough do have some good players, with Boyd one of the stand out players in the Championship this season, and money available for new signings. It’s certainly a bold move, but at the same time a very risky one which could cost the posh dear.
Chairmen are not psychic, they try their best to hire managers that will do well for their team, but at the end of the day, a lot of them are business men first and foremost. The idea of appointing a huge name is ultimately too tempting for a lot of them, especially in the lower leagues – something that can and has lead to the downfall of many clubs.
There is no doubt about it, this is the “age of the sack”, with more and more managers being relived of their duties. Some of the sackings may be unfair, but chairmen pump a lot of money into clubs, and demand an instant return. That aside, the key issue is who to appoint next – if only there were 92 Neil Warnocks – it would be so easy!

We Want 10!

I'd been struggling with the damn internet connection all day, when I finally managed to log on to the BBC sport's "Sunday's football as it happens" section. 1 - 0 was the score at White Hart Lane at half time, nothing unusual about that I thought. What a mistake. Tottenham came out firing in the second half, and the next time I checked, a mere half-an-hour later, the scorline was 7 - 1. 9 -1 it finished, in what was the biggest win for Spurs ever in the Premiership. Jermaine Defoe's 5 goal haul also took him to the great heights of Alan Shearer and Andy Cole as one of only three players to have acheived that haul, further enhancing his England prospects in time for next summer's world cup. Even Paul Scharner's goal for Wigan shouldn't have counted apparently - although I'm sure the 12 Wigan fans that were at the game probably wouldn't have cared either way. 9 - 1. A Rugby score - although that is being bloody generous towards the inept Martin Johnson. Seriously, Andy Robinson, Martin Johnson - can the Rugby people not appoint total shit for once? I'm sure Sir Clive would like another go. Failing that, give Warnock the job. What a man. Anyway, it does at least prove that entertainement is still a word you can associate with football, and raises two very interesting points: One - can Spurs break into the top four, and Two - is Martinez out of his depth. Well on the first point, I think the answer in an overwhelming no. I'm sorry but as good as thrashing Wigan is, Spurs just aren't good enough against the teams in and around them. Man Utd, Chelsea and I would say Arsenal will certainly be in the top four next season. That leaves just one space up for grabs - and for me, Liverpool, Man City and to an extent Aston Villa, are all more likely candidates. Next season eh Spurs? On to Martinez and well, Dave Whelan surely can't be happy after that? There's being beaten and there's being destroyed. Wigan were utterly destroyed by the sound of it. No longer do they have the grit and determination that Judas aka Steve Bruce brought to the team, but instead this flamboyant, elegant approach that Martinez is trying to get the Latics using. I'm sorry Roberto, but in the Premiership, against high quality opposition, that simply doesn't work. Remember, Tottenham lost 1 - 0 at home to Stoke last week, the Potters a side that rely a great deal on hard work, and determination. Perhaps if Wigan showed the same sort of determination, some of their recent results wouldn't have been quite so bad - in other words, Martinez's tactics are great when they work, but horrible when they don't. Out of his depth? I don't think so. Don't forget they have had some fantastic result this season, winning away at places like Aston Villa and Burnley. However, results like this must be a concern for Dave Whelan, and although he's not the type to panic, Martinez needs to learn quick if Wigan are to stay up this season.

Cheat Cheat Cheat!

“We want a replay”, screamed the entirety of Ireland after Henry’s extra time handball in the match on Wednesday. Everyone saw it apart from the Ref it seems – although a French, ex-Arsenal player cheating? It seems unlikely. But alas the legendary striker, namesake of future England right back Ronnie did indeed use the “hand of frog” to steer the ball into Gallas’s path. So it looks like the “luck of the Irish” was not enough – with Roy Keane adding insult to injury with his comments today. “They can complain all they want but France are going to the World Cup - get over it.” Well Roy, how about you resign from Ipswich – their fans are complaining enough about your shit tactics, you thug.

Not that it’ll matter for the French anyway, as long as they keep faith with that moron Domenech. Seriously, how has he not been sacked? I think I’d probably prefer Dowie if I was a frenchman – Peter Taylor at a push. But at least that’s one team England don’t have to worry about – although knowing us we’ll be done by Portugal. Again. Blame the Ref? Maybe we should take Phil Neville?

But cheating in football is a serious problem – surely we should be having video technology? Not for me anyway. The referee’s word is final and that should stay the case. Ok there are some howlers, but these things generally even themselves out. Take Palace, 1^st away game of the season, we scored a goal. But we didn’t – you probably know what I’m talking about. However, the most important goal we’ve ever scored – Sir Dougie Freedman away at Stockport to keep us up 00/01 season came from the most blatant handball ever from David Hopkin (looking to curl one).

There’s always going to be injustice in sport, but surely it’s better than having so much interference. Where would technology stop? Yellow cards, freekicks, throw ins – it would be shit. Keep football how it is, or otherwise there would be nothing to talk about . Especially if Rob Shoebridge has anything to say about it.

Stewing Over Stewards

Following last Saturday’s match v Middlesbrough, the reaction against the Stewards and the Police from Palace supporters has gone through the roof, following the ejection of seven fans in “Block B of the Holmesdale which was described as “brutal” by one fan who witnessed the event. In addition, the recent comments from Simon Jordan stating that “stay away fans are hurting Palace’s chances” for success, make the debate far more prevalent. Can he really justify the behaviour of the Police that day, when he himself has often called for more vocal support, something that the Holmesdale Fanatics are doing there best to implement at Selhurst?

So what are the problems – surely stewarding is a good thing, which protects fans from potential violence. Despite Steve Gibson trying to make Middlesbrough into more of a family club, it’s clear that they have a violent element at home, and it’s well known that Palace fans have suffered at the Riverside before. Maybe the Police got a tip off that a few Palace fans were out for revenge? This however meets objections - firstly the Fanatics actively say they’re against violence, and secondly there were absolutely no problems with the Boro fans throughout the day. The police presence both at the station and at the ground was very high with neither teams support having the notoriety like that of say Millwall or Cardiff where you would understand a large Police presence. Added to the fact that in general football violence has decreased over the last ten years, and you struggle to find a proper reason for the huge police presence at Selhurst on Saturday.

This isn’t the first time Palace fans have had problems with stewards either. Against Charlton last year, reportedly 48 fans were ejected from the stadium, and in general the behaviour towards the Palace fans was viewed as a “disgrace”. Furthermore, reports that a man suffering from Cerebral Palsy was refused entry to the ground once more shows the disappointing approach that the Police and Stewards tend to take when it comes to football fans in general. Only a couple of weeks ago I went to watch Palace at Preston, where at least 2 fans were ejected, with no real reason, and in general we were treated like a bunch of criminals rather than the non-threatening, non-violent, football fans that we were.

Obviously having the Police and Stewards at grounds does have a purpose – and it’s clear the violence has gone down. But is that really down to the Police, or is it just changing attitudes? Take something like racism – 35 years ago, there had never been a black football player representing England, now it’s just a non-issue, and racist chanting is thankfully relatively rare. Therefore, would violence have gone down anyway from the 70’s and 80’s regardless of the Police? It’s certainly an interesting argument. Of course, when there is genuine violence then the authorities are needed, but when in a half empty ground, a child is threatened with ejection for “sitting in the wrong seat”, it’s gone too far .

More concerning however, is the huge growth of football banning orders given between October 2004 and October 2008. Whilst there were only 2596 banning orders in 2004, this rose to 3172 by 2008. Surely this indicates that the Police/Stewards are now using this as a first option rather than a last resort, and that their lack of judgement whilst dealing with fans is causing problems.
The other argument against the Police is who does it actually protect? Obviously if fans were planning violent attacks on opposition fans then they would be needed, but this simply wasn’t the case on Saturday. Reportedly several fans were threatened by eviction due to “swearing”. The modern day rules dictate that swearing is technically banned at football, but the fact that Block B is a known “loud” area – hence there aren’t many children there – and the fact that most of the chants contain swearing, mean that the Police need to use common sense when dealing with this rule. The rule itself is a stupid one but that is almost irrelevant – if people were told politely that there were kids and the Police took the time to explain the problems then people would probably stop using bad language, but as it is the cops seem to have just one tactic – brute force – hence the negative reaction towards them.

Petitions have been branded about calling for the return of season tickets for the fans that were ejected against Boro, with a march also imminent – but will this actually help anything? Don’t get me wrong, I respect the Fanatics for what they have done in terms of helping the atmosphere at Selhurst Park, but I’m not sure that this immature approach is the way to go. Surely it would just increase the animosity felt towards the fans from the Stewards and the Police and thus make them even more likely to act in a violent manner, ejecting fans at every opportunity. Furthermore, if only 200 fans turn up to the march it really will look pathetic, so perhaps organising a meeting with Jordan and the head steward at Palace would be a better option – although how easy that would be is questionable.
We don’t want to go back to the days where you were genuinely scared to go to grounds like the Den, but at the same time, you can keep fans safe without being over zealous and authoritarian which is something that Stewards and the Police struggle to understand. There needs to be a balance between maintaining supporters safety and allowing fans to support their team, and if Simon Jordan refuses to do anything about this, he will lose a lot of supporters, including me.

Stewards - ruining football?

Following my visit to Deepdale on Saturday, the ever increasing anger towards stewards I seem to have gathered has increased greatly. Why do we need about 50 stewards for an away following of 500 odd? We’re not exactly a violent bunch are we? As usual, they were jobsworth morons that really didn’t have a clue about how football worked thus several Palace fans were evicted very unfairly, and even the Preston fans themselves felt the wrath of the men in orange as they tried to drum up support for their team (literally).
Of course, this isn’t a new problem at the Palace. Earlier this season, the Fanatics were banned from bringing in a banner commemorating a recently deceased fan. Health and safety were the apparent reasons, but the now famous “I couldn’t give a fuck if he’s dead” quote from one of them shows how sympathetic they really were.
Virtually every match we see the stewards getting involved with the Fanatics and in other parts of the ground – why? Ok, if there’s a real threat of violence then they should intervene, but at the moment, they are getting involved when the threat is minimal thus dissuading people from actually “supporting” the club.
Then there was the time at Charlton when a man was refused entry as he was unable to lift his arms up to be searched. He had Cerebral Palsy, but according to the stewards, he was “extremely drunk”. Rumour has it that the stewarding in general was terrible that day with several fans being thrown out the ground for very petty things. It may be a “Derby match” of sorts, but have you ever heard of fighting in a match between Charlton and Palace. Lets face it neither of us are violent clubs, so I just don’t see why such harsh action needed to be taken.
We all know that safety is of paramount importance at football, and of course we don’t want to go back to the real hooligan days of the 70’s and 80’s. However, a balance has to be met. The stewards are there for a reason, but the vast majority of them don’t use their power suitably – they look for trouble and act at the slightest sight of danger. Stewards getting involved should be a last resort, not a first option.
Harry Roberts is our friend? Quite possibly.

Media interest in Poaching Players - Will it Make a Difference?

Following this recent trend of clubs being found guilty of “tapping up players”, it seems to me that the problem is here to stay – and a few show cases, with penalties that are almost certain to be removed on appeal – doesn’t convince me, or frankly most football fans, otherwise.
People may think that this has gone on for only a year or two – John Bostock was a very high profile case back in January 2008. This however has clearly not been the case. Take John Terry, who joined Chelsea from West Ham at the age of just 14, or Gareth Barry who was “poached” by Villa from Brighton for a measly 2.5M fee, set by a tribunal, back in 1997. Two players that were signed for very low fees at a very young age, that have gone on to become England internationals.
This is clearly a problem that isn’t going to go away, and while it might make a few clubs do it by the book more often, is that really going to make a difference? Liverpool have been praised for being “first class from the word go”, in the recent transfer of 16 year old Michael NGoo from Southend United. By all accounts, the fee will reach a maximum of £250,000, with the original price for the player much lower than that. Ok, so he could turn out to be a complete flop – but if a team like Liverpool buys ten players a season for similar prices, then the chances are at least one of them will reach their potential in time – in other words, the risk for them is very low.
Indeed, this policy of basically buying up all young talent just in case they turn out to be good, was used in a big way by Chelsea back in 2005, bringing in the likes of Tom Taiwo and Michael Woods for what were very low fees. At the moment, none of those bought are in the first team – but there is still time for these players, and anyway it’s not as though the club would be under huge financial strain if they didn’t make it, given the very low wages and the very small transfer fees that has been paid for them.
What can be done about it? Well, banning transfers between under 18’s is an idea, but it still doesn’t cover the problem of academy players moving. Take Bostock – he never signed a contract with us, and thus was always essentially a free agent. Yes, we got “a packet of crisps”, from the tribunal, but I can’t see legally how we could have stopped the move, as he never put pen to paper on a senior contract with us.
Other than that, scrapping the loan system might be an idea – as players at the moment know that even if they don’t make the first team straight away at a bigger club, they can just go out on loan again. For example, Scott Sinclair who joined Chelsea from Bristol Rovers has already been out on loan to Charlton, Palace, Birmingham and Wigan at the moment. Maybe he would have been tempted to stay at Bristol Rovers for a while longer if he knew it was either playing in Chelsea’s first team, or reserve team football. It would dramatically increase the risk for these players if they couldn’t go out on loan.
Obviously, money is a huge factor – and to a team like Southend, even £250,000 has proved too good an offer to turn down, especially with the player wanting to leave. Furthermore, these big clubs have far better resources/can offer better wages/have better coaching than lower league teams – meaning the vast majority of youngsters do want these big moves early in their careers. As I’ve said, this is not a recent problem, and although it’s good people are taking note now, I fear it’s far too late. I hope something can be done about this in order to protect the smaller clubs, with Palace firmly in that category, but I fear the constant “poaching” – legal or otherwise, of the big premiership teams from the smaller lower division teams, has been set in stone so much, that change will be virtually impossible.

Entertaining Weekend

well well well, whatever next eh? How the fuck that wasn't a goal, we will never know but hey ho life moves on - and despite the fact Palace have got just one point from the first two games, the positives are there for all to see.

Freddie Sears, for one is turning out to be an excellent loan signing, and frankly I'd be stunned if he didn't walk into the West Ham first team for the 10/11 season. Indeed, comparison's have been made to a certain Andy Johnson - he plays in a very similair style to the great number 8. Meanwhile, Speroni may have cut his hair, but he's still got what it takes, and my money's on him getting player of the season once again, come the May award ceremonies - providing he stays clear of injury/isn't snapped up by one of the bigger clubs. He's fast becoming a Palace legend, and let's hope he stays for a while to come.

Talking of Palace legends, I was at Walsall - Southend on Saturday, and none other than Dougie Freedman scored what should have been the winning goal, had it not been for a 92nd minute penalty for the Saddlers. Twas a neat finish aswell, and it's pleasing to see him still playing at a decent level, and doing very well indeed.

Back to the major incident of the day, and what do I think should be done? Well, I'll go against the trend here and say we shouldn't introduce video replay or an appeal system. What else would we talk about after a match anyway? Of course, mistakes happen, and today's was a big one - but for example, take this goal against Stockport http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXocmIHoVXM - quite obviously, that was a handball from Hopkin in the build up to the Doug's goal. It was a goal which kept us up - and sent Huddersfield down, a team who have failed to come back up since. Furthermore, in the 03/04 season, we had an awful lot of luck from ref's, as Darren Powell practically rugby tackled the Sunderland defender to send the semi-final of the playoffs into a penalty shootout - shown here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Xuzxz8MHs, before the non-award of a blatant penalty in the playoff final for West Ham, which was famously declared as the "30 million pound blunder", by the Sun. Yes, you'll get days like today, when you feel technology is a must - but the problem is where do you stop? If goal line technology get's passed, then eventually you will be able to appeal for penalties/offsides/red cards, and it would just become ridiculous. On the whole, referees do a pretty decent job - and although mistakes are made, they're rarely on this scale, shown by the furore this has caused.

All in all, a very entertaining weekend, with many talking points. There's no doubt it was a goal, but in my mind, there's no doubt that we can't let technology meddle in football any more than it already does. The commericalized rubbish that is called the Premier league bores me mostly now, and if we take away one of the last remaining original features of the game - the Referee, it would be a ridiculous move.

RAG

Man United Fans

hate them!! that's all!!

Man City; going about things the right way

Whilst Real Madrid spending hundreds of millions on superstars Kaka and Ronaldo – with the prospect of more to come, has grabbed the headlines, one team that has really impressed me with their transfer strategy has been Man City – and I like the way Mark Hughes is slowly developing the squad into one that can compete in European competitions.
Yes, last seasons tenth placed finish was slightly disappointing, but given how Villa and Spurs treated the Uefa Cup, or the “Europa League” as it’s now branded, is it really a disaster that they missed out on that?
There was a huge imbalance to the squad last season, and even though Eriksson was adored by the City fans, there was still a lot of work to be done when he left – and people don’t give Hughes enough credit for doing that. Players like De Jong, Kompany, Bridge and Given have strengthened the team, and he is slowly developing a good squad. They now have a far greater spine to their team than they did before he joined, and that is down to him.
However what has impressed me most of all, is their transfer activity so far this summer. Ok, there’s time for things to change, but his policy of buying proven premier league players – like Barry and Santa Cruz, is one that I think will work for them. It would have been very easy for Hughes to splash out on anyone and everyone from abroad, but he’s got the best premiership players that have been available, and is making a very decent team.
Of course, they won’t make the top four next season, of that there can be no question. However, a few more additions to their squad, and Manchester City will most certainly be challenging Aston Villa, Everton and Tottenham for the 5th and 6th placed squads, and I would tip them to come 5th by some distance – before challenging more strongly for the top 4, the ultimate goal, in future seasons to come. They would need a completely new squad to do that right now – and you can spend all the money you like, but the quickest way to get there is to build a squad, which does take time.
Many in the media are suggesting Hughes hasn’t got long left as manager, and that it’s only a matter of time before the Abu Dhabi group bring their own man in – but how long does this time period last for? I mean many pundits were saying he “won’t last the rest of the season”, six months ago, and before that they were saying he wouldn’t last until Christmas. These guys are very rich, but they also seem like sensible football people, and I do hope they give Hughes time to continue build the squad, as the bigger picture is looking very bright indeed for them.
It may be the Robinho’s, and Kaka’s of this world that grabs the headlines, but all teams need a solid foundation, a base on which to build. The work that Hughes is doing is certainly not spectacular, but it’s been necessary, and I think they’ll push on next season.
Football is so unpredictable, and who knows Hughes may have been sacked by September with Man City bottom of the league, but if I was a City fans right now, I would be looking forward to next season with great anticipation, and in full support of what Hughes is doing.

John Bostock - A Sad Case

As rumours on an unoffical Spurs site suggests that John Bostock now regrets his move from Palace – the team he had supported whilst growing up – I’ll have a look at the growing trend of people leaving the so called “smaller teams” very early on in their careers, in the hope that they can make it in the big divisions.

Don’t get me wrong, for some people this does work. Take Gareth Barry – who joined Villa aged just 16 from Brighton. Now i’m not even going to bother talking about the “packet of crisps”, teams recieve in compensation for players like Barry, and Bostock as that could be another essay entirely, but i still do think it’s remarkably unfair that we only get £700,000 upfront for Bostock, whilst Ronaldo is being sold for £80 million, it’s crazy. Back to Barry, and quite clearly it’s worked for him – he’s made it at the higher level, and has done extremely well for himself. However, the general trend is that the players who do move on to higher league clubs too quickly don’t fulfil their talent, and i’ll look at two very clear examples of that here.

Firstly, Bostock the boy who in November 2007 declared “It was my dream to play for Palace and to make my debut. I’ve always played for this club so if i’m playing here, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Yet in July 2008 he signed for Tottenham. Why? Well many people would say the money, but I don’t think that’s particularly accurate. Yes he’ll be on significantly higher wages, but I think often when this sort of situation occurs, people are far too quick to make judgements about money – when there are, in my opinion, two far more important reasons. Firstly, he saw it as a chance to get to a big club quickly – and he would have been extremely impressed with the training facilities, the coaching staff, and generally every aspect of the club – which is far far better in comparison to Palace. The 2^nd reason is the ego he has – supposedly a “devout christian”, he does seem to think the world of himself, and having seen him play on a couple of occasions he certainly isn’t frightened of show boating. So he would have believed he can make it, and even if he is slightly regretting the move, he probably still believes he can do it. That’s where the real problem lies – not the money, as that would have been his father/agents reason more than his. Every young player things they’re going to be the exception – they are going to be the one that makes it. And yes this a good thing, in that everyone is motivated to try and succeed – but the law of averages state that not everyone can be an exception to the rule. Bostock might still make it, but the chances are if he had stayed at Palace he would have been a first team regular by now, and would have had a far better chance of getting into Spurs first team for next season had the transfer been this summer instead. He’s just one example of many young players who don’t realise that they have time on their side – he could have easily stayed another season at Palace – but he didn’t, because of this mentality that everything has to happen immediatley.

The second example is Wayne Routledge, who again left Palace for Tottenham – joining them as a 20 year old in 2005. Now he’s playing for QPR in the championship, despite having been labelled “the next big thing”, and tipped for an England call up during his time with Palace. But why did he move? In short, probably this time it is the money – at 20, he would have been getting far more money than say Bostock at 15, so that was almost certainly a motivation. But again it’s this burning desire to try and test yourself against the best – he could have stayed at Palace, and really improved, as it was quite clear when he was with us that he was still a raw talent even though he had reached 20. If he had stayed with us for even a year longer, he would have done far more than he has done in his career to date , and at 24 you have to wonder if he’s ever going to reach his full potential.

Of course when a big club comes calling, it’s very hard to say no for any player whatever age. But surely it’s more sensible to fully prove yourself at the smaller clubs first rather than moving on before you’ve done anything. Consdier Theo Walcott, he signed a contract with Southampton and played a few games for them – it wasn’t a long spell he had in the first team, but it still give him experience, and meant he was more likely to get into the first team.

Another fairly general reason why people are happy to move on so quickly is because of the ridiculous loan transfer system. A club like Man United or Tottenham can easily have 10 – 20 players out on loan at any one time, and players know that if they can’t get in the first team, they can simply go out on loan – thus meaning it’s far less of a risk to their careers. Of course it ruins their careers in many cases, but they still view it as less risky. However, once more, this is an essay for a different time.

I’ll finish with a quote from Simon Jordan, who was giving John Bostock a reason as to why he shouldn’t leave Palace for Tottenham. “when Spurs came knocking I told Wayne to stay and learn his trade at Palace. But he went, he grabbed the money and now he’s at Villa not getting in the first team, just like he didn’t get in the Spurs team, just like he didn’t get in the Portsmouth team and just like he didn’t get in the Fulham team.

Cristiano Ronaldo: a Sensible Signing?

My last blog was on “the recession and ticket prices”, but when you see the news today that Real Madrid have launched an £80M bid for Cristiano Ronaldo, this following a £56M transfer was confirmed just a matter of days ago for former Man City target kaka, you have to wonder if there is an economic crisis at all.
Well of course there is - Palace can barely spend 80 quid on a player right now, and indeed even to Man United, 80 million is an awful lot of money – and it will allow them to more than likely sign Tevez permanently, a well as getting in several other players – Ribery and Benzema seem quite likely – although given the prices some of the paper have been quoting this morning for the duo, perhaps even £80 million won’t cover the cost of buying the two.
It’s never wise to have players that don’t want to play for you – and I think Sir Alex has got this one right. Ronaldo quite clearly wants to leave, and for that sort of price it would have been stupid to say no.
But does the deal suit Madrid? A silly question you might ask – he is after all one of the best players in the world, but are more and more attacking players what they really need right now? In his last reign, Perez introduced the “Galactico” idea – bringing in players such as Beckham, Figo, Zidane and Owen. The similarity between these players? They are all extremely attack minded. Indeed the only really defensive “Galactico” of sorts was Roberto Carlos, which says an awful lot about his transfer policy. Any team that has been successful in recent season have based their squad on a solid defence. Man united would have gotten nowhere without the Vidic/Ferdinand combination, and although the defence is Barcelona’s weakness, it’s still very good. As an example, Man United won 9 Premiership games last season 1 – 0, and remarkably kept 25 clean sheets, and indeed even though they did end up conceding the same amount of goals as Chelsea, a lot of those were in games towards the end of the season where the title was virtually won anyway.
Ok they’ll get a huge increase of revenue in terms of shirt sales, but £80M is still an awful lot of money to pay for player who may well have already reached his peak or at least will it very soon. He bases his entire game on quick skills and pace – will he be able to adapt, as someone like Ryan Giggs has, when he gets older? I do think it’s a bit of a risk.
Another argument is the fact that the £60M spent on Ronaldo could have been spent on much younger players, such as Luc Castaignos, a 16 year old player who Arsenal are reportedly after for £4M. Yes he could turn out to be rubbish, but he could be the news Henry – and with Wenger’s eye for spotting a talent, you’d be a fool to doubt him. A further example of this is Kaka himself who cost just 8.5M when joining Milan in the first palace – I know it’s not Madrid, or Perez’s policy, but surely it would be more sensible for them to spend at least some of their money on highly rated cheaper players (e.g. at a higher risk), rather than spending ridiculous amounts on players like Ronaldo. How many players like Ronaldo or Kaka can they afford anyway? And they certainly need a lot of strengthening, if they’re to be competitive both in their own league, and perhaps more importantly, in the Champions league.
Of course he’s a great player, but great payers don’t necessarily make a good team. Perez made two mistakes during his last reign as president- buying individual players thus not forming a team, and focusing solely on attack minded players. Yes it’s great to watch, and yes it’ll get them a hell of a lot of revenue thought the added interest they will get from the media/fans etc, but attacking football, unless it’s built on a solid defensive foundation, is very rarely winning football – and I don’t think Perez has learnt that yet, even after his previous spell in charge.

Ticketing structure in the Economic Crisis

Since late 2007, the country has been in the middle of an economic crisis, no thanks to the incompetence’s of the very man who promised to abolish the economic cycle of “boom and bust”, but in this time where consumers have very little disposable income, the approach of football clubs have been very interesting. Some have placed its fans first, and have reduced prices. An example of this would be Bradford City, who I believe offered season tickets for £99 for the 08/09 season – meaning they got in excess of 10,000 season tickets sold. There are further examples of this, with clubs such as Mansfield this season offering reductions “if 3,000 people sign up”, and even Simon Jordan has come up with a remarkably good ticket offer, which equates to 12 games for just over £50 for a student like me. However, this is a difficult time for the clubs too – and several teams are suffering extreme financial problems, Palace are just about avoiding that category right now, but who knows what might happen if Jordan fails to find a buyer. So they can’t just completely slash prices, it simply wouldn’t make sense. Season tickets, and tickets in general, are the biggest form of income for virtually all clubs below the very big teams which command huge transfer fee’s/sell the most merchandise ala Man United. Indeed, as a half way house if you like, many clubs are “freezing” season ticket prices, meaning this season’s prices are the same as last time out. They get praised for doing this – but should they be? People, on general have less money now than they did a year, so you could say freezing prices is actually a negative move. Furthermore, I would agree it would be a positive, helpful move if any of the “big” teams – aka those who would sell all their season tickets with ease – froze prices, but when teams that are midtable championship/league 1 standard freeze prices, it’s not as though they would get an economical advantage from raising prices anyway and thus it’s not that “generous a gesture”, as some sections of the media portray it.Obviously season tickets are the main source of revenue for a club like Palace – and at the moment we sell about 10,000 in the championship. I have no doubt that we would be able to sell at least 15,000 given a more reasonable price, and so I don’t think we are at our equilibrium price if you see what I mean. For example, an “early bird” ticket in the Holmesdale lower, where most of the noisier supporters sit, costs £315. If that was reduced to say £250, I think we would see an increase in tickets bought that would excel the cost for the club of reducing the prices.Furthermore, for me, the “on the door”, prices at most teams in championship level at least are absolutely barmy. Apparently Palace were making fans pay £15 for a friendly recently – surely that should have been free, for ST holders at least. But anyway, you would have thought that if the current prices were dropped to say £20 for an adult and £10 for a child, it would not only get more people into the ground, but it would also contribute to a better atmosphere and most importantly, it would get more fans to come back to games and sign up for season tickets in the future.Of course there are some people that aren’t going to be interested in watching championship football, but I think the current ticketing structure we have at the Palace means that we don’t get as many fans to games as we could do, which is a shame. However, this isn’t something that’s just affecting Palace – teams like Millwall, albeit in league 1, are getting average attendances of around 10,000 which is terrible for a club like that – and generally attendances are down in recent seasons.But is it all about the money? I think it’s a cliché to say this, but the crowd often can be the “12th man” – and would Stoke have got as many points at home this season, had they been playing at a half empty ground, with very little atmosphere? I personally doubt it. Yes the aim of a football chairman is to progress a club as far as possible, but they also need to make money for themselves. However often they can’t see that by dropping prices, they are actually increasing revenue in the long term, which is a shame. Indeed for many chairman, they are operating in a far shorter time frame than in is ideally needed.Consider my local team Stevenage Borough. At the moment they get an average attendance of around 2,000 – of which I believe 500ish are season ticket holders. If Phil Wallace was to sell season tickets for £100, there is a huge amount of “occasional fans” that go to teams like Borough, and I reckon they could easily sell 3,000 + season tickets if prices were really exceptional. This would get more and more people associated with the club, and it would provide long term benefits with it.In conclusion, obviously chairman need to keep ticket prices reasonable, and it’s impossible to reduce them to ridiculous prices – as that wouldn’t keep the clubs financially secure. However, I think there are several teams, at this time at least, that could benefit from following the lead of teams like Bradford and Mansfield, by reducing season ticket prices – or providing incentives for signing up. A team like Palace could easily be getting far more than 14,000 to games in this division and lower prices would help achieve this. In a time where people have little or no money to spend on entertainment – e.g. football, door to door prices of £30 for a championship matches are crazy – and I hope that Jordan has realised, and continues to realise, that he needs to something about the prices, or our average attendances will continue to fall – especially given our poor end to last season

Football Rivalries, a Personal View

Football rivalries, an interesting concept – but how important are they, and who are Palace’s rivals? Of course a derby like Everton – Liverpool is always going to hold huge significance, but they have played each other constantly over a long period in history. In comparison, so called rivals such as Palace and Brighton haven’t played each other much at all in recent seasons which makes me question whether we can call them our rivals? An even clearer example of this would be Watford, who call Luton Town their main rivals – but can they, when they’re 3 leagues apart? The longer the gap stays as it is, the more and more chance there is of finding newer rivals shown by the way we are now apparently rivals with Charlton. This is clearly a new development, as only 1,500 Charlton fans travelled to Selhurst when we hosted them in the 04/05 season – and indeed the overall attendance of 20,705 was our lowest of the campaign, something you wouldn’t find in a proper derby match.
People say they don’t “care” about Charlton, but anyone who went to Selhurst in the latter part of the season will say that’s not true. Granted, their wasn’t a lot to sing about as our season was over around February, but the “who the fuck is laughing now”, chants from the Holmesdale show that we do at least slightly care about them.
But then again, do we think of them as rivals, or as more just counterparts that we’ve had run-in’s with in the last couple of seasons? In short, I don’t think they are rivals to us. Not really anyway. We hate them in the same way that other clubs hate Man United, but whose to say if they hadn’t got relegated it wouldn’t have turned into a proper derby match – as, given time, more and more of the younger fans would grow up believing Charlton are our main rivals.
You have to ask, do rivalries really mean much these days? Hearing stories from my dad about several thousand Palace fans cramming into Brighton’s stadium you can immediately tell that they were full of passion, and that they really meant something. Now, when we do play the weeds, we can only bring 900 there – and the atmosphere at Selhurst is never exactly “electric”. And of course, we’ll sell out Charlton but given the way their stewards are like, is there any real chance of a Derby atmosphere?
All three teams – Charlton, Millwall and Brighton are below palace in the football league now, which begs the question: will another “rivalry” be established, against the likes of Watford or Qpr for example, or are those three enough for us? I doubt there will be another one, until one of those three – probably Millwall – makes it up. Who would we go for anyway?
I was hoping Millwall would go up – I’ve never had a chance to go the den, and yes you could call it a rough club full of thugs, but in a more positive light I think it means more to them than a lot of fans. For example, they show ten times the passion that fans of teams like Watford and QPR show, which is why we would never really be able to "hate" either of those clubs. It’s a good rivalry the Palace-Millwall one. With us and Charlton, their just isn’t enough history and although we do care, we probably don’t care as much as Charlton do. However, with Millwall, we know they have West Ham and they know we have Brighton, so we’re each other’s “2nd most hated” if you like, which does work well - although I suppose they do have Leeds aswell.
But do rivalries have a future in the game? Well of course they do, but times change. Football isn’t how it used to be – and, I’m only telling this from what I’ve heard, the rivalries just aren’t as good as they used to be. I’ll always hate Brighton, but I don’t think it’s possible to hate them as much as my dad and other supporters of his generation do – due to the history they have in prior matches between Palace and Brighton, and the huge amount of passion associated with them - something that just isn't possible nowadays

QPR, Can they Progress?

Since Flavio Briatore and his millions arrived last summer, much was expected of QPR - and many leading pundits and fans alike expected them to at least reach the playoffs, if not automatic promotion. Alas, in what was the weakest championship division in many years, they staggered to a mid table finish, and it has to be asked has any improvement been made, and how can they progress in the future?

Well, firstly it's quite clear that the board are having far too much of an influence in team selections/transfers, something that isn't healthy for any club. The fact that they've had 6 managers in under 2 years is a testiment to how inconsitent they've been. Consider Wolves, they gave Mcarthy time and lo and behold he got them promoted, is that not a philosiphy QPR should take? There were rumours after Sousa left that they were going for Warnock, who, although a contreversial character, would have been perfect for a team like QPR. At the moment they have Gareth Ainsworth in temporary charge - His record as caretaker is decent, if not spectacular and he certainly has the desire for the job, but it's surely an experienced head they need right now, someone who knows the division?

In a way they've been sensible, by not splashing out on 100 million for players, and growing too quickly, and indeed they do have a lot of depth in their squad, but quantity not quality seems to be their motto at the moment. When Palace played at loftus road towards the back end of last season, they had two stand out players - Wayne Routledge, and the on loan Adel Tarrabt - the rest weren't anything special. In short, they were badly missing any fire power upfront. As good as "colombian god" Angelo Balanta is, he's no Kevin Doyle, Sylvain Ebanks Blake or even an Andy Johnson in days gone by. You can spend all the money you want improving the squad, but to get a striker that can fire in 25+ goals per season is virtually priceless.

It just does depend on how they play it - the board are showing some signs of sensible progression, but other signs of stupidity. The league, for me will be much tougher this year - of the teams coming up, Leicester and Peterbrough will have money to spend, and all of the relegated teams should be there or there abouts. Add teams like Swansea Preston, Sheffield United and Ipswich who will continue to improve and we should see a highly competitive league. 

They do have the potential to be the "5th london team", if you like - yes Fulham are in the premiership right now, but they have no where near the fanbase of Palace, QPR or Charlton. 

They will have to spend money this summer, of that there is no doubt - and a striker is an absolute top priority, however, most importantly they need to pick a manager who can offer them the stability and experience to help them progress.

RAG

Luton Town - A Sad Story

It's less than 4 years ago that Luton Town stepped out onto the Selhurst park pitch, backed by their 3,000 strong travelling support, in which Dowie had stupidly branded their "cup final". It was a game they won 2-1, and indeed for many parts of that season, they looked like getting into the playoffs.

Next season however, they will be lining up against the likes of Altrincham, Gateshead, and Grays Athletic a far cry from the days in the championship. But why have they fallen so far, and what can we learn from it?

Well, obviously the 30 point penalty this season meant that any survival would be frankly miraculous, as it would take an absolute genius to motivate players when such a severe penalty is handed out - and indeed they couldn't quite make up the points difference. Prior to that, financial difficulties, and other such problems meant a drop from almost the Championship to League 2 in successive seasons.

It does, for me anyway, make you appreciate how lucky we've got it with Palace - yes we're a bigger club than Luton, but still it shows how quickly you can drop, and with Warnock at the helm I don't see us doing a similar thing, for the time being at least.

But can Luton make it straight back up? Well, it'll be tough - going to places like Histon who play a very direct style on a tuesday night is a completely different kettle of fish to even league 2 football, so it will take time for them to get used to what is needed. Furthermore, they've been sinking for so long, it could be hard to get that winning mentality back - and in a league where only one team is garunteed promotion, a good start is crucial. However, most importantly, the standard in the Blue Square Premier next year is going to be very very high. Oxford United have made a number of signings, and have the fanbase and facilities to be in the football league - much like their rowing counterparts Cambridge. Chuck into the mix teams like Stevenage Borough, Wrexham and Mansfield, and you have a whole host of teams that could challenge Luton for that coveted first spot.

We may complain about Palace's poor run towards the end of last season, and although Luton are an extreme case, I think they are a shining example of why consistency is vital for any club - and why we are very very lucky to have such an experienced head in Warnock in charge of our club right now.

Steve Gibson: Too Loyal?

Well there's been a lot of comments from leading pundits, as well as supporters etc. praising Steve Gibson for giving Gareth Southgate a chance in the championship, but is this fantastic loyalty, and something other chairmen should strive to do, or is it stupidity and in a way cowardly, refusing to make changes even when something clearly needs to be changed.

Consider other clubs who were in similar situations to Middelsbrough throughout the season - Blackburn, Sunderland, Portsmouth to name just three, and they all changed their manager when things got tough - lo and behold they all stayed up. Yes, of course it isn't a given that Boro would have stayed up had a new manager come in, but if it was Palace in that position, I would have wanted a change - it did seem the players weren't playing for him, and the fans weren't, and aren't, behind him very much at all.

Ok, so he didn't have that much to spend, but two crucial mistakes were made. Firstly, why oh why didn't he replaced Schwarzer with an experienced keeper? Jones and Turnbull are ok, but not good enough for the premiership, so it was always going to be huge risk not replacing such a fantastic keeper, and with an already very inexperienced squad, it's something that a more wise manager probably wouldn't have done. Secondly, the signing of Alfonso Alves has proved to be a complete disaster. For me, signing foreign players is a big risk, especially when it completely blows your transfer budget. People can say that Wenger spends similar amounts on foreign players and nearly gets it right, but he's the best manager in the world, something that Southgate, unfortunatley, isn't right now.

However, with such a young squad, perhaps it was his first two seasons where Southgate overachieved, rather than an underachieving season this time around. Is it true to say that after such a long extended run in the premiership, a lot of their fans had forgotten that they are effectively a championship club with championship size fanbase?

They are probably best placed (along with West Brom), to mount a promotion challange this season out of the relegated teams, and although they will lose a couple of players (Tuncay and Downing being the most important) they will still keep hold of a lot, and will have the squad that should have the ability to go up if they make a couple of sensible signings

In a way I applaud Gibson for sticking with his man in the current "sack culture", but is he being too loyal? Several other chairman would've sacked Southgate, and possibly got someone in to keep Middlesbrough up. Despite sticking with their man, they have payed the ultimate price - and although they do have a good structure in place with their academy etc, they don't have the fanbase or facilities, or even finances of other teams and it will be by no means a walk in the park for them to go back up next season for them. They have everything in place to do so, but there are so many promotion contenders next year, that it'll take a very settled team and fantastic tactics from a couple of sides to win automatic promotion.

 Southgate was a legend as a player for Palace, but can he cut it as a manger? I'm not convinced, but the first 3-4 months of next season are absolutely crucial for him, and for Middelsbrough football club.

Will They Ever Learn?

Well, my first real post and where more appropriate to start than newcastle united. According to the BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/8068068.stm, it looks like Shearer will be joining the club permanently.

Look, I know you can't judge a manager after 8 games, especially when he took over in such difficult circumstances, but 5 points from 8 matches isn't a fantastic record whatever way you look at it, and there's no way any other manager would be taking the job with those stats. What newcastle need now is an experienced head, someone who knows the championship and someone that can stabalize the club. Dare I say it, a perfect appointment for them would be Neil Warnock. 

I hope it does work for them, although being a follower of Stevenage Borough i'm not a great fan (to say the least) of Shearer et al, they are a very very big club - and I hope they don't become the next Leeds, something which could well happen unless Ashley stops going for the ridiculous sentimental appointments, and gets someone in that is proven in the division.

Furthermore, what happens if they do get of to a bad start next year? Ashley will be petrified of sacking Shearer, incase the reaction is like when he sacked Keegan, but if he was to keep him on and they didn't go straight back up, it could be catastrophic for their future. I know all the newcastle fans want him, and to be honest most fans want a "messiah" but 99% of the time it doesn't work.

Consider Palace, after Dowie left at least 90% of our fanbase wanted Peter Taylor, a legend as a player and someone who many of us thought could take us to the promised land. However, he was quite frankly awful as a manger, negative subsitution, poor tactics, and terrible signings mean that we're still to some extent dealing with the negative side effects of his time in charge now. 

Going for ex-players, in my book, is a big mistake the vast majority of the time. I know they will go for Shearer, and I know the vast majority of the Newcastle fans will be delighted with the appointment, but it would so much wiser to go for a Warnock, a Curbishley, even a Martinez for example.

I wish them luck next season, but they've been hindered in recent seasons by making poor desicions, and appointing Shearer permanently could be their biggest one yet.

Hello Everyone

Hi everyone,

my name's Rowland or Rag whatever really. I'm a massive fan of Crystal Palace, but also follow Stevenage Borough, and am in general just a huge fan of football in general. On here I'll give my thought's to do with certain events and controversies in the sport, and reaction to games etc.

I'm pretty new to this blogging business, but we'll see how it goes!

Rag