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!
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
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!
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!
Sunday, 22 November 2009
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. |
Friday, 20 November 2009
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, 1st 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.
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
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.
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.
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