PTTP Needs YOUR opinion- T Shirts.

Hello!

Over here at PTTP, we were tossing around the idea of having some (probably) lovely T-shirts made and giving them to whoever wanted one, in exchange for a small sum of cash...

Well, to see whether this was a good idea or not, we thought we would devise a small survey, designed to psycho-analyse you all Derren Brown stylee, to give us the best possible chances of snaring you in to buying one.

So, if you would please be so kind to either leave a comment at the bottom of this blog, on the Facebook, or even email albert@powertothepalace.com with your answers- that would be the greatest of help. Who knows, your idea might end up on a shirt (you might even get a free one).

So, take a deep breath, and answer honestly.

The boring bit:

1. Do you wear T-shirts?

2. Are you male/female?

3. Are you in adult sizes yet?

The creative bit:

4. If you were in charge- what would you like to see on a CPFC-related t-shirt?

5. Thinking a bit more specifically- on a CPFC-related t-shirt, would you like to see:

a) current personnel (go to 5i)

b) past/cult personnel (go to 5i)

c) Selhurst Park/SE25

d) chants/slogans (go to 5ii)

-other suggestions:

5i. If you answered current/cult personnel- who:

5ii. If you answered chants/slogans- which:

5. How "obviously" would you like your T-shirt to state your allegiance to Palace?

a) I want EVERYBODY to know that I bleed red 'n' blue.

b) I like something a little more subtle.

c) Not fussed- i'll go for a design that i like regardless how blatant/subtle it is.

6. Apart from red 'n'blue stripes, what colour schemes/layouts do you like on a shirt?

a) Simple. e.g- 1, maybe 2 colours for the design, one colour for the shirt.

b) Complex. photo-real colour images.

c) I really don't mind. As long as the design interests me.

7. Do you like to see a bit of wit/charm thrown into a design?

-yes

-no

-depends how witty/charming it is.

Finally, the financial bit:

8. How much, including postage, would you pay for a t-shirt that you really did quite like:

a) £5 - £8 max

b) £8.50 - £10.50 max

c) £11 - £13.50 max

d) £14 - £16.50 max

e) £17+

9. Could you be more tempted to purchase a CPFC-related t-shirt if a small amount of the cost went to a local charity?

-yes (go to 9i)

-no

-it wouldn't affect me either way.

9i. We're getting ahead of ourselves here, but if you answered yes, which charity?

10. Anything else you'd like to tell us?

Thanks very much for your input, here's to the new season.

PTTP

George (and Steve’s) Marvelous Medicine.

Morning all! It’s certainly been a while!

First things first, we at PTTP would just like to point out how good it feels to be able to come out of blogging limbo to put up an article that didn’t have a title along the lines of “What We Loved About CPFC.”

For a while, it didn’t look good- but thanks to all the fans that campaigned for our future, the supporters trust, Brendan Guilfoyle and his team, Lloyds PLC and of course CPFC2010, we finally have a new (hopefully successful) era to look forward to. As of yesterday afternoon- I officially lost interest in the World Cup. Who needs Cabanaga, Jabulani and vuvuzelas when you’ve got new owners, a new manager and a brand new fixture list? Roll on August!

CPFC2010 have really impressed so far, and I’d be fairly surprised if there was a single Palace fan that didn’t feel the same. For those of you that frequent the BBS and The Holmesdale Online, you’ll be well aware that Mr Parish (posting under the name CPFC2010) very bravely opened himself up for a direct Q&A with the fans. What a simple, novel, refreshing concept; engaging directly with your customers without anybody having to put on their shoes. The guy should get a job in marketing or something.

We observed the thread with great interest and quite honestly, we waited for ‘CPFC2010’ to reveal himself as some sort of Beadle reincarnate. It didn’t come. Instead, Steve Parish did his absolute best to answer as many of the questions as he could. Ranging from “How involved is Ron Noades?” (a minimal amount thank fook) to “Can we get some cold beer in the Arthur Waite?” (never mind the finances, out of contract players and stadium improvements!) Steve gave us a real insight into how they see the club running and developing. Any questions he couldn’t answer, Steve said he’d look into and everything he could answer, was all good to hear- with the key focus on making sure the club is run within it’s means. Brilliant news.

Fast forward a week and Steve was on Sky Sports News presenting us with our new manager. George Burley. This was an appointment that PTTP had been expecting for a few days and the late mention of Phil Brown being considered didn’t scare us as much as it should. In a time where the words ‘football’ and ‘sense’ don’t often go together, George Burley’s appointment makes complete sense. The idealists among us wanted Sean O’Driscoll (Mourinho had already just taken a new job, typical!) but as CPFC2010 have stated both online and in the press conference, the club needs to run on a shrewd budget, so shelling out a hefty compenation fee for our first manager would have automatically dropped us into the red.

That’s not to take anything away from George Burley, his club record speaks for itself: a win ratio of 47%, including several play-off campaigns, a 5^th place Premier League finish and a UEFA cup spot can’t be argued with. Even more so, he has a good record of developing youth players, which is what we need for CPFC2010’s recipe for success to work. Taylor didn’t, Warnock did but Burley will even more. It could be just the tonic to see this club truly flourish. Despite all the new managerial clichés of “I’ve always respected this club”, “great fans” etc, George Burley seemed really keen to recognize and hammer home the point that Championship football is changing and gone are the days of splashing £3million on Premiership rejects. Youth is the key and luckily for us, we have some great kids with potential waiting to be unlocked and with George and Dougie (so so happy he’s still here) overseeing this, who knows- we might get some on-the-floor and dare I say it, ‘sexy’ football.

Hopefully, our managerial appointment will soon bring an end to the ongoing Darren Ambrose saga. First off £750k for a 20-goal midfielder is a joke. But it soon becomes a sick joke when that bid is coming from a club that claims to be the “richest club in London” …which is also helmed by our ex manager- who kicked up a stink when Wolves made a pisstake offer for Nathaniel Clyne. According to Warnock (for whom my respect is at an all time low), “Darren is disappointed that he’s not a QPR player”, according to David Jensen, “Darren wants to stay” and according to Steve Parish, “there’s no need for player sales,” so as confusing as it is, I’d like to think the ball is in our court, even if Darren is thinking of swapping stripes for hoops. Hopefully the manager that gave him his first major break can convince him to stay here and truly cement his place in Palace folklore. Fingers crossed.

It has certainly been a very positive week for Crystal Palace. For once, we can genuinely say “The Future’s Bright…” with no witty, perma-tan chairman based pun needed.

Simply- “The Future’s Bright”

PTTP

Sh!t Or Bust Sheffield Wednesday Sunday.

Such is the modern football generation, Sky feel the need to give everything a 'catchy' title: 'Survival Sunday' & 'Showdown Sunday' being two of the finest/most annoying examples.

Well, tomorrow's game isn't on Sky and even if it was, Richard Keys & co. wouldn't give a toss anyway. And why should they? Our all or nothing tete-a-tete with Sheffield Wednesday is insignificant when put next to Liverpool/Chelsea's glorious gimmicky, high-definitional, 3-dimensional Premier League hootananny.

I decided I wouldn't be able to stomach going to the game tomorrow, opting to keep within the comfort of my 4 walls with a steady supply of refrigerated beers and a big box of tissues (i'm expecting tears whatever the result.)

Now I'm seriously considering avoiding the BBC's coverage (not because I'm expecting it to be second rate TV like the Football League Show and not because there's no way they'll fail to mention Newcastle at least 12 times) but I honestly don't think I can watch. My stomach churns at the very thought.

There's bound to be snooker on isn't there?

Seriously though, watch or not, this could be the last time we see our beloved club on the tellybox. It could be the last time we see our beloved club FULL STOP!

You don't need me to go on about the importance of tomorrow's match yadda yadda, i'm sure Manish and Claridge will cover that during the coverage tomorrow. All I'll say is this:

20 years with CPFC.

Has certainly not been easy.

With ups, with downs,

Seagulls and clowns-

With Norwich City's and Ipswich Towns

Goals galore from Clinton and Wright,

And that Freedman bloke, he was alright.

From Wembley to Watford and Cardiff to Stockport,

With tension high, and emotions fraught.

For every Moses a Torghelle

And every Coppell a Francis

Then there was that Venables-

He certainly took the piss!

Together we've seen it all-

through the highs and through the lows,

the horror of Dowie's face,

the bend of Bruce's nose.

Gabor doing the splits

Cantona doing Kung Fu

Hopkin curling one in,

Rubins hitting row U.

With Goldberg and his plan

and Jordan with his hair,

With Corbett, Brand and Izzard-

and De Courcey with Nookie Bear

Byfield, Fox and Side-O,

the mispelled Chrystal Palace,

Lap Hing and The Tasty Jerk,

The jubblies on that Alice (sorry Pete)

The Arthur and the Holmesdale

The left side and the right

That time AJ played Brighton-

He scored all fuckin' night.

So to tomorrow

What's in store?

I'm certainly hoping

Soares doesn't score

If we're up come Monday

It's time for a big party

and that's all that i can find,

that rhymes with Riihilahti.

Let's have it.

Glad All Over... always

PTTP

"Who's on first" , "Butts on second"!

Now, let me start by saying it's rare that I criticise team selections and formations as it's very easy to do so after a game. But early on Saturday, when the team was announced, I thought we would struggle- it then became worse as the minutes went by.

We've done so well over the past 3 games and that makes this genuinely gutting to say, as i truly believed we'd turned a corner. However, the fact that i'm still fuming on a Monday morning speaks volumes.

So, here goes, hold on:

The management team ballsed that up on Saturday- royally!

1. As has already been said, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." If Ertl, along with the other 10 players from the PNE game were fit, they should have started as per Monday. It's called momentum.

2. Danny Butterfield as much as I love him, is not a player that we should be getting over-excited about on a return to fitness. Danny has put in a handful of truly remarkable performances this season- but the vast majority of those have been when he's NOT playing at right back.

I'm sure Danny would freely admit his pace isn't his strong point, so why throw him straight in against a team that use the wings with proper, decent wingers?

No way should he have replaced Ertl on Saturday. No quicker, no better in the tackle and more prone to 'napping'.

If Natahaniel Clyne and Butts were all of a sudden fit enough to be considered, and the management team felt Ertl wasn't up to it- then Nathaniel Clyne should've been the one to be thrown in. At least he could've kept up with the 4 QPR players that were constantly flooding our right hand side. Never before have I seen such a one-sided biase to an oppositions attack***

3. QPR are a great passing (Championship) side. Two things you don't give to good passing sides are time and space- so why did we serve up plenty of both on a silver platter?

The best way to prevent a team playing their passing game is to keep the ball (like on Monday.) On Saturday however, we couldn't keep hold of it for more than 5 seconds- anything above that resulted in a long ball- straight down the throat of Kaspars Gorkss. He certainly didn't need any dinner on Saturday night.

If you can't keep it by playing attractive, then at least try and stop them by playing a little uglier. Getting in their faces? We couldn't get near their faces.

Second to absolutely everything, it was like they had 15 players on the pitch.

4. Ok, Calvin going off is nobodies fault. But bringing on ANOTHER (not 100% fit) right back in his place? (***Did Hart & co. think playing two right backs in the same position would be an effective solution?) We had several better options on the bench- and even at that point it was clear we were being over run in midfield. We needed more guile, skill, craf... actually scrap that- we just needed another body in there to at least try and get in the way. Even putting Terry 'is this thing on?' Byfield in there would've helped.

5. I've read in a couple of reports that 'Clyne came on, so Butterfield was pushed up to right midfield and Scannell went upfront.' Well I'm sorry, but Danny Butterfield was not playing right midfield and Sean didn't look particularly 'up front.'

I've looked through all the pre-set formation suggestions on FIFA and i can't find 1 that even slightly reflects ours at the weekend.

'4-4-2'- no

'4-5-1'-no

and there doesn't seem to be a '4-fuck-sake' on the list.

6. On 70 mins: Alan Lee on, Danny B off... a striker for a defender... a positive move and a good substitution. Two upfront = double the chances of scoring yeah?

Again, it's not their fault that Lee had to come off but we still needed TWO goals with 20 minutes remaining. Sh!t or bust time right?

So out of Lee Hills, Nick Carle & Johnny Ertl- who is the most likely to create or score a goal? (hint: it's not Johnny Ertl.) Why did a striker come on for a defender, only to be replaced by another defender?

Truly baffling.

Benefit of the doubt tells me that Warnock's 3 years of inside knowledge eclipses Paul Hart's 28 days- understandable. What scares me though, is that even if the 'inside knowledge' Top Trump score was even between them- I don't think it would have made an iota of difference.

Back to normal at Derby please.

http://tinyurl.com/cs5evt

PTTP

Warnock, ringworm, chickenpox- all get under the skin, all very infectious.

In case you hadn’t heard, Neil Warnock returns to Selhurst Park tomorrow.

From the moment the QPR team bus rolls up to the moment that it leaves the ground, Neil Warnock will be the centerpiece of tomorrow’s family lunch. Agree or disagree, try as you might to not make it so, we just can’t fight it- there is no ignoring Neil Warnock… that’s why he’s Neil Warnock.

Whether it’s from the Blades, the Owls, the Eagles or the fruitbowl- the man loves attention. Some may suggest it’s for his ego to suckle on, but the smarter guys in the room will know that this is far from the truth.

When it comes to mind games, Neil could hold his own with Wenger and Fergie (he puts Benitez to utter shame!)

All his ranting and raving on and off the touchline is designed to take any pressured attention away from his players, and onto himself. And it works.

Neil Warnock builds teams based on confidence, work ethic and team spirit. It may take a little while to do but much like a fresh on the scene stepfather, Warnock busts a gut trying to win over his adopted charges. And when he does, it works.

A good performance will bring praise no matter the result. A bad performance will bring an equally passionate, less praise-based response. If Neil’s disappointed, he’ll be sure to let you hear it- but here’s the trick, he’ll only let you hear it directly from him, and never in the public domain. Should that frustration manifest itself as a bit of referee bashing, so be it. Why publicly humiliate your dressing room when you can give it to the (often-inept) men in black instead?

Neil Warnock doesn’t use a carrot and a stick… he’s somehow managed to combine the two into a big, orange, carrot-flavoured stick. Confusing? Sometimes. Frustrating? Often! Effective? Definitely…

For Neil Warnock, a player’s passion, attitude and work ethic comes first. If a player can show that they want it, then they’ll be given a chance to go out and get it. It’s only then that their abiity with a football comes into the equation.

Two polarizing examples: Clinton Morrison and Alan Lee.

Clinton’s one of our all time top scorers and a hero amongst many. However, he’s never been someone to burst his lungs chasing the ball and putting defenders under pressure. Always likely to grab you a goal, but his sleeves were very much rolled down.

So when it came to his contract expiring, was it any surprise that Warnock’s offer came with a very clear “not guaranteed a first team place” clause? Was it anymore surprising that Clinton didn’t sign it?

See also: Stern John, Ashley Paul Robinson, Nick Carle and pre-turnaround Victor Moses

On the other side, there’s Alan Lee. Signed by Warnock for £600k, he arrived out of shape and with a poor attitude. Deservedly sent out on loan, and unsurprisingly back with us when it ended. Yet this season saw him transform. Much fitter, committed to the cause and he now chases after the ball like it’s tugging on his… nose. That didn’t happen overnight and you can only attribute that to the Neil Warnock effect.

See also: Shefki Kuqi, Johnny Ertl and post-turnaround Victor Moses.

You either get on board, or you’re not invited to the party.

This is why I think we’ll overcome a faltering QPR side tomorrow. Not because their squad isn’t capable, not because they’ve got a bad manager, but the two elements haven’t met in the middle yet- it’s not Neil Warnock’s QPR. Let’s hope that consummation happens in the summer (£10million later) and not before 5pm tomorrow.

When he emerges tomorrow if you’re going to abuse him, do it after the final whistle. If you’re going to give him a warm reception, do it after the final whistle- everything before that needs to be focused solely on everybody who has stuck around for the fight in the red ‘n’ blue corner. Not for the mischievous little scamp in the naughty corner.

PTTP

(This blog wasn’t meant to be all about Neil Warnock, but in a weird way, I’ve proved myself right- there’s no avoiding him! That’s why he’s Neil Warnock.)

P-Diddy "will consider joining CPFC2010 consortium"

...sorry

Mo' Money Mo' problems

My enthusiasm for the England team is already at an all-time low. Comprised mainly of over privileged, under performing man-parts, my interest in how they get on in Seooth Ifrica is near zero. Ashley Cole, Aaron Lennon & David Beckham are all definitely/probably out and I’ve always worried that England would lose one more major player. I really hope this premonition isn’t to be confirmed today.
At approximately 9:30pm in Munich last night, Wayne Rooney went down, clutching his ankle and then signaled to the bench that he was in severe pain. This did not make good viewing- well maybe for the blue part of West London, but even the Chelsea-ist of Chelsea fans can’t have grinned that much?
If Beckham not going to the World Cup is like a problem with the car’s steering: Rooney not going is like taking away the wheels… and the engine. And then replacing that engine with Peter fahking Crouch.
If Rooney doesn’t make it, I’ll be forging a long lost Brazilian/Spanish/Argentine birth certificate.


Fortunately, Palace fans have plenty else to smile about this morning. It was revealed yesterday that P Diddly Ding Dong has moved aside for an even bigger musical juggernaut. David ‘Da Kid’ Jensen and the CPFC2010 consortium which he represents, are in early talks to rescue the club. Not enough to get really really excited about (yet), but positive at least.
The consortium is believed to consist of at least one Steve Parish and one Martin Long… and Jensen’s offer for “others to join” is bound to tug on Ron Noades’ colostomy bag, that’s if he’s not involved already.
The key to this offer is securing Selhurst Park, which is a potential major stumbling block. However, it is also essential for the club to move forward- under any new ownership.
The rumored asking price is just shy of £10million, which seems far too high- considering the holding firm are in administration. Uncle Ron’s ‘generous’ offer of buying the ground and leasing it back to the club just will not work. It’s as simple as that. If Noades is to return- he needs to be involved and onside, working with/for the club and it’s new owner (which I’d settle for.) However, he must not be solely involved for purely ‘Selhurst Park reasons’. It’s not logical, it’s not viable and it means more of the fan’s money will be bypassing the club and going straight into a third party’s pocket.

We wait and see.


Anyway, with ‘preferred buyer’ status granted to the consortium- that was to be the extent of yesterday’s good news right? This is Palace after all. We’d ruin it by losing to Watford surely?

No.

Not being able to make the game, I had one eye on the Champions League offering, one eye on my mobile phone… and the other eye getting ever closer to wetting my trousers as each of our goals came through. A truly fantastic result.
PTTP’s correspondant wanted to stress how great the support was from start to end- with the left side, the right side and those queueing outside all contributing. Let’s hope that fantastic spirit stays with the team- both home and away. It’s clearly important as Neil Danns’ Twitter confirms-

“Thanks for the support tonight the fans were amazing onwards and upwards the boys all appreciate it, come onnnnnnnn”

No moaning, no groaning, no booing. Just for the remainder of the season. Is that too much to ask?

We look forward to ‘Boro (why do they call themselves ‘Boro’ when it’s clearly spelt Middlesbrough? Simpletons) and to be honest, who knows what to expect from this lot. A true mixed bag of a season with the last 9 matches featuring only 2 wins and 4 draws. Even a point would be a great result! Certainly doesn’t sound unrealistic.
4 points by the end of next Monday… how does that sound people?

The next 7 days could be massive.


PTTP

QUIZ TIME. Stern John and Sean Scannell both scored last night. When was the last time we had 2 different strikers score in a match? Who were they? Who were we playing?

Answers below or on the Twitter, winner gets a lollipop!
(lollipop to be provided by the winner)