Wednesday, 31 March 2010

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 Middles
brough? 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)


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Tuesday, 9 March 2010

Warnock has the Hart of A Freed man.

Much like ripping off a scabby old plaster, Warnock leaving didn’t hurt as much as I anticipated, and that was my reaction before we’d poetically turned over his all time favourtie team. No more Mick Jones’ blog though, that does hurt!
The QPR rumours had somehow been rumbling on and on for days and days with no real comment from any involved party, yet the next thing we knew, Warnock had swapped stripes for hoops.
The circumstances were murky; QPR announced it, Palace responded it wasn’t a done deal (which it clearly was,) and suddenly, the vast majority of Palace fans were looking to the sky, praying for the clouds to part and in turn, reveal the Archangel Coppell looking over SE25.

Well, in a move that was almost as left field as Shaun Derry’s position in the 2003 play-off final, we were presented with Paul Hart, Dougie Freedman and John Pemberton. At one point, just as I turned my tellybox onto the press conference, I thought we had somehow secured an un-spectacled Fabio Capello for the months between now and the World Cup. However, when I finally put on my glasses, it turned out to be Brendan “just an accountant” Guilfoyle. How much is the VAT on a Palace tie?

Now, I’ve always thought Paul Hart comes across really well whenever I’ve seen him on the TV. Modest, focused and he clearly has the guts for tough times (just look at his C.V). However, when he was unveiled as our new gaffer, I did seriously pose the question- is he the man to come in, grab the bull by the horns and shake the players up the table? My heart said no, and my head said the same. Yet, upon hearing what he had to say about the situation, that suspicion was made abundantly clear. Paul Hart won’t come in, grab the bull by the horns and shake the players up the table. What he WILL do is come in, reassure the players that they are more than capable of avoiding the drop and in a very calm, dignified manner, steady the boat. That’s all we need right now. Nothing more, definitely nothing less.

He was also savvy enough to know that 85% of Palace fans wouldn’t be over the moon with his appointment, and that they preferred a Coppell/Southgate/Kolinko type legend’s return.
Well, bringing Mr Dougie Freedman back in the supporting role (and Pembo) has gone a fair way to quench that thirst and in turn, created a very wise, sensible management team, showcasing both head AND heart appointments. And they got off to a bit of a flyer-

The new-ish faces in the dugout were the only real notable differences on Saturday.
The team was set-up pretty much the same-not that Hart & co. have loads of other options, yet they seemed fresh and invigorated with no signs of any FA Cup/too many fixtures hangover. Still no Neil Danns, so in went Calvin; 2 big’uns up front and that was it! We were off!
Calvin Andrew impressed from the start and with his and Lee’s persistence up front, we really looked game for a fight. Quite literally at times! You had Palace showing the guts and spirit of a “typical Warnock side” and you had Sheffield United showing the uglier, more mainstream view of a “typical Warnock side” It was like he hadn’t left either club.
There were a few moans in various match reports that Alan Lee should have seen red for an elbow. Well, in a truly Wenger-like statement- I didn’t see it. However, I did see Lee Williamson blatantly thrust an elbow into Claude’s face… I also saw him make at least 3 other yellow card “challenges”, yet only receive a booking on 68 minutes and was subbed shortly after (quit whilst your ahead perhaps?)
That being one of only 2 yellow cards that their whole team gathered. Which is a joke when you hear that we received 3! Neil Warnock isn’t here anymore, so I’ll assume his mantle for this week- the officiating was an absolute fahking shambles! It gets worse and worse each week-which seems ever more impossible as the weeks go on. That refereeing would’ve tipped him over the edge.

Luckily, the players grabbed a well-worked goal and then threw everything on the line to protect it. Nick Carle was demonstrating why he was brought to the club in the first place and I can see him particularly benefiting from Freedman’s guidance. A similar sized player with very similar feet. Let’s hope so.


Much like when Steve Bruce left, nobody really knows what brought about the Warnock/Hart switcheroo.

1. Brendan claimed Warnock had said to him “I don’t have the stomach for this anymore.” And a suitable compensation fee with QPR was negotiated.

2. Warnock said it was a contractual security/insecurity issue and he needed to protect his family.

3. Unsurprisingly, Simon Jordan has come out with his opinion on the whole thing. Surprisingly though, he has sided with the administrator rather than his old friend.



Now I’m no Vorderman - but adding the above 1, 2 and 3 together does not make 6. There’s a lot of grey between those lines and a consortium of Poirot, Marple, Creek & Holmes would do well to conjure the truth.
Warnock? No fight? Sounds unlikely. And let’s face it; he has gone to 'the biggest shambles of a club ‘09/10'… hardly a ‘cushy number’ is it?
Contract insecurity? Well, the players that Neil always managed to motivate are all in the same boat, so that excuse seems a tad rich (if true.)
Warnock’s and Guilfoyle’s versions were always going to conflict but it’s Jordan’s comments that really throw everything out.


“There is one reason and one reason only that Neil Warnock went to QPR. It is nothing to do with the administrator.”


His recent QPR interviews seem to be full of a man grinning, smiling and buoyant. No sign of the stern, frank and blunt statements of harsh realism that littered his last few weeks of Palace interviews. And who can blame him? A great burden has been taken from him. (A great big contract replaces it.)

Could it be all 3 individuals are speaking a certain degree of truth?

There’s no doubt he loved his time here, but administrators and dirty rumours of your best players being pimped out behind everyone’s back (Danns to Swansea apparently) is something no manager of his experience and caliber should be expected to deal with.
The guy loves football and he’s gone to a job where he’s got 2 of the manager’s favourite tools- money and time. Time meaning at least a month or two in QPR terms.
He’s been very complimentary towards us both during and after his Selhurst tenure; I can only reciprocate and wish him the best.

Whatever happened is irrelevant, and we will never know the truth- we are only the fans after all. But the song remains the same- we’re a club in administration with a small squad who are in a very real, very tight relegation battle which continues tonight against Bristol.


In the words of Theakston and co.-

“give it some Hart”


PTTP

P.S - yes Gary, we are sure the game is on- scout’s honour!


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Sunday, 21 February 2010

Villa Shmilla

There hasn’t been a Power To The Palace article for a while and we can only apologise- the last two league games dulled any inspirational high that the Villa game injected and thus, no word flurry has come to pass until now- and even this has taken longer than it should. It seems like a month ago that we nearly stole the FA Cup headlines with another “we’re proud of you” performance. In reality, it’s only just been a week.
Two poor losses since Valentines Day, still no real takeover speculation and now QPR’s ‘throw enough balls at enough targets’ method of manger selection, has inevitably chosen Warnock as it’s next temp.

All in all, the sad reality is, I couldn't give a toss about the Villa game anymore... win, lose or draw (after 90 minutes)

Don’t get me wrong- the 1st 'leg' was a fantastic occasion all round- a great display from the players, management team and fans alike. It will go down in my memory as one of the best days at Selhurst for a fair while.
However, the moment it went to a replay, we were all saying things like: "oh well, we were unlucky, but at least it's more TV money!" Well, once again, the little fish are being lightly simmered, whilst the bigger ones are being fried- ITV1 are understandably showing Chelsea’s Champions League match, but can’t find room on their 3 other useless channels to show our replay... it’s not like we need the money or anything, so a live stream on the FA’s website will have to do- which I’m sure will run really smoothly…. It is the website of the FA after all.

Should we defy the odds, and beat a team that just smashed Burnley 5-2, what can we expect as subsequent reward in the 6th round?
An away game at either one of the best championship sides, or one of the current form teams who are on a bit of a roll, including a 3-1 win at our place.
It’s highly unlikely to be shown on television, but very likely to sap more energy out of an already, tired, small squad. Even worse, it could go to a replay and give us another mid-week fixture. Yeeeees, i know that may get televised and give us more gate receipts yadda yadda, but the fact is this: we are knackered and playing too many fixtures. Championship survival is priority #1, not fairytale cup stories. It hurts to say it, but it’s true.
What with snow, FA cup exploits and a demoralizing 10-point deduction, our fixture list has become the exact thing that a team in a relegation battle doesn’t need. And believe me, the loss to Coventry does mean we are in a relegation battle.
Swansea, Reading and Coventry all at home and 0 points out of 9 is not good enough. But what makes it frustrating is that there’s nobody to point the finger at! I wouldn’t dare start to criticize playing/management staff because they are busting a gut, twice weekly! Sadly, you can’t boo, jeer or sack circumstances- they just exist.

Warnock is clearly feeling the squeeze, and the players are clearly shagged, and the only takeover talk, is paper talk.

The week ahead is going to be massive.

PTTP

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Wednesday, 10 February 2010

The return of Sheki, and a physio who was hefty!

Well boyos… where to begin?

Let's start with the pre-Swansea match factors.

-A very lucky, hard-fought win at Scunny.
-A 5th round glamour tie this coming weekend.
-An already depleted squad.
-2 more absent defenders.
-Shekfi Kuqi.

Were we ever going to win this game?

On paper, it looked tough; from the stands, it looked much tougher.
With the heat from a pre-match ‘Tasty Jerk’ dinner still stinging the lips, we sat and began to slowly freeze. By the time the chilli burn had subsided, it was clear that Palace were unlikely to score- even if we played all night (god forbid, it was ferr-reeeizng).
The boys looked absolutely shattered, and who can blame them? The amount of effort that’s gone into our performances since administration has been almost super human and this was bound to have an effect at some point. Call it sod’s law then, that the next opponents were a team that like to play slick football on the deck and arguably, are the best footballing side in the division bar Newcastle.
Swansea looked fresh and confident, we looked fucked and distracted! Throw that in with the hell-bent battering ram that is Kuqi and one of the oddest refereeing performances I’ve ever witnessed- the 1-0 loss wasn’t that bad. Our second half effort was much much better and we had a couple of near chances. Calvin Andrew looked lively and I wouldn’t mind seeing him and Lee upfront against Villa. The fact remains though- Swansea deserved the points- and I want to make that clear so the following rant doesn’t fall into the ‘sour grapes’ category.

Warnock was quoted in the week as saying, “Swansea don’t score a lot of goals, but they don’t concede many either” And how right he was! With the amount of time they wasted- it was surprising there was time for ANYBODY to score a goal.
Their players going down and staying down whilst Palace were in posession, only to magically arise if they won the ball back! Did the referee know that he’s only obliged to stop play if it’s a head injury? Didn’t look that way, as on a few occasions, he was happy to stop play for seemingly innocuous/non-existant ‘injuries’! And in other instances, Swansea would happily play on, with their man down, but the moment we won the ball, the whistle would go- not for a foul, he wasn't stopping play after giving advantage- he was just blowing for the injury/treatment. Like I say, an odd refereeing performance.

Then there was Swansea’s revolutionary corner tactics. 21st Century football at its’ greatest!
A corner would be given- a Swansea player would then pigeon step in slow-motion over to the corner flag with the ball (“come on!”), only then to wait whilst a second player made his way over in similar fashion (“come oooon!”)… to then take a fair while to decide who was going to take the kick (“FUCKING COME OOOOON!”). And even after all that, it wasn’t even a mid-90’s, two-man Chelsea-classic short corner that we all expected from their intricate (slow) positioning of players, it was just a regular cross into the box!!!
No need for the slow motion, no need for the second man! It’s time wasting, it’s a yellow card offence and it happened 4 or 5 times. Like I say, a really odd refereeing performance.
There was also a couple of classic “if that happened outside the box, it would be a free kick” NON-penalty decisions, but relying on a spot-kicks being awarded, says everything we need to know about the match.

We can’t be too down about it, it just wasn’t our night and the players/staff weren’t to blame. Our performance was similar to going to work the morning after a midweek Xmas party- you’ve had a great time, but at some point, you’re going to crash and burn…

…but at least you didn’t snog the fat physio under the mistletoe the night before.
(Should she really be in charge of the players' physical condition)



PTTP.


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Wednesday, 3 February 2010

Daniel Day Lewis DOESN'T dance with Wolves, Kevin Costner DOES... but Danny Butterfield waltzes around them!

Well… where to begin? I considered delaying the writing of this article by 24 hours, purely because I’m not too sure if everything I’ve seen over the past week or so has been real or not.
Roughly this time last week, administration greeted the team like a taxi-driver with a bad news name-card at Newcastle Airport, Moses was forbidden to play and a freak own goal was just the kick in the nuts (elbow in the breast for all you female readers) that we didn’t deserve. All aboard the doom bus- let the exodus begin!
Fast forward 6 days and we’ve “only” lost Moses, Danns and Clyne opted well and truly IN for ‘Operation Administration’, we’ve seen the team put in two outstanding performances, booked a much needed 5th Round tie and unleashed the goal machine that is Danny Butterfield! And by the looks of it, the team spirit has never been better. Stemming from Warnock, and immersing players and fans alike.
The 10-point deduction is but a mere scratch on this weeks patch-up paint job.

The Peterborough game suddenly became a great deal more significant. A game that we, as play-off hopefuls, expected to win suddenly turned into a relegation 6 pointer. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one whose gut was alternating between floppy nerve-churning somersaults and bonafide tension right up until 3pm Saturday.
Well, one thing’s for sure- the players certainly didn’t feel the same. They played with a calm, assured patience, which ultimately saw us beat the Posh comfortably. Butterfield up front deserved a goal or two (a warning of things to come) and Danns finished two classy efforts.
A great advert for all of our squad just after entering administration, but before the end of January- uh-oh. That doom bus was still waiting to depart after all. However…

In a move that was about as surprising as another John Terry scandal- Victor Moses left the club for the promised land of the Premier League with Wigan signing him up on a 3 and half-year deal, for an undisclosed fee. The amount doing the rounds on the various messageboards seems to be £2.5million, however, seeing as it’s announced as ‘undisclosed’ it may have been a fraction more than that, or even included a cheeky little sell on percentage.
As much as we need cash now, a part of me prefers the latter option. Wigan may not have been the lofty heights that we hoped Victor would leave us for, but based on their recent history of buying for little, selling for loads (Baines, Chimbonda, Palacios, Valencia,) even a 10% sell-on clause could see us earn another £1million - £1.5mill depending on his progress. If his brilliance continues to emerge in the way that we’ve witnessed over the past few months, expect the bigger fish in the Premier League and maybe even the Spanish giants to do what they should’ve done this January, but for what will be a significantly greater amount.
All the best to Vic- with the world at his feet, don’t be surprised if he does an overhead kick with it.


Two players that didn’t depart, much against the administrators' wishes, were Nathaniel Clyne and Neil Danns, who I shall now both refer to in full name- out of sheer, utter respect.
Both had opportunities to jump ship, not that I hold anything against VicMo or Jose Fonte for doing so, far from it! But after Neil Danns’ recent form and his fantastic brace at the weekend, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that thought he wouldn’t be here come Feb 1st. As it stands, he turned down the Saints and stayed put. Whose to say he would’ve done the same were it another Championship club, but that’s ultimately irrelevant! Neil Danns is a Crystal Palace player, and what’s even better; you can tell he wants to be a Crystal Palace player.

The same applies to Nathaniel ‘more refreshing than a KFC lemon wipe’ Clyne.
I remember seeing an interview with him after a televised Southampton match (08/09), which was both one of his and Warnock’s early matches. He’d had a blinder all game, set up a great Kuqi goal and shown an abundance of confidence. Yet when put between the interview camera and advertising backdrop, he came across as one of the quietest, withdrawn and humblest of people, let alone professional footballers, I’d ever seen. Head down, barely looking at the interviewer and softly spoken, you’d have been forgiven for thinking he was a guilty schoolboy being told off for something!
Natahniel Clyne has never given us any Bostock-esque “My dream is to be here” hot air so if he had gone on deadline day, yes we would have been sad, but in no way let down! But as Warnock pointed out that same night against Southampton, Nathaniel Clyne speaks very few words- he’s a man of actions. His latest actions culminating in a preference to beat Wolves rather than speak to them, and helping us earn the cash that we would’ve got for selling him anyway. Calculated risk 1- Administration 0 .



I’m going to try and talk about last night as briefly as possible. a] because it pretty much spoke for itself and b] I might cry (again!) As mentioned on the Twitter, I was confident of a win. But a comprehensive victory, via a Danny Butterfield hat-trick? I’d never have guessed that and still find it difficult to believe. Although on Sky Sports News today, they keep showing Paul Merson’s in-studio reaction to the second and third going in. If a straight-laced, sobre Mers is getting excited about it, then it must have happened right?!

One departure, two (great) victories, three goals for Butts, four points from safety and a 5th round tie. Just a standard week at Selhurst Park eh?

Now, onwards to Scunthorpe.

PTTP

P.S- shame on those that read this and didn't spot the intentional (ahem) error in the original title ;)

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Wednesday, 27 January 2010

Administration... so fun we're doing it again!

Administration pounced yesterday... deep down, we all knew it would happen.
Even selling Moses for the much-hoped £5million would barely have suggested to the wolf that he move away from the door, let alone keep him away from it.

The negatives of administration certainly don't need going over, in fact- negativity of any sort isn't needed right now.

What is needed is the togetherness that hauled us through similar circumstances 11 years ago. The same togetherness that willed in that goal at Stockport. The same togetherness that took us up to the Premier League in 03/04 and the collective belief that nearly kept us there.

With a shrug and a smile, on we go! It'd be typical Palace if this time tomorrow, we had another 3 unlikely points to help keep the fire burning.

Ladies and gentlemen, please keep all arms and legs inside the vehicle, hold on tight, and smile for the camera- it's gonna be a bumpy ride!



PTTP

Monday, 25 January 2010

Da Do Ron Ron

Good day! It’s certainly been a while.

Thanks to those who voted in the poll, a fairly interesting outcome. For the record, we agree with the majority.

Since we last updated (I refuse to say ‘blogged’), we’ve been to Plymouth and won a vital 3 points, come away from Wolves unlucky (or lucky from a financial point of view) to have a replay, Moses is still here and so are our financial woes.
I must say, I thought there’d be a lot more big bad changes to talk and moan about.


The team did fantastically well at Plymouth. Not a particularly great place to go at anytime. But before playing us they’d beaten Cardiff away, smashed Reading at home, and held Newcastle to a draw in the cup before going out in the replay. Taking that into account, throw in the awful pitch conditions and the 3 points were never going to be easy to achieve. The fact that it needed a(nother) Moses wonderstrike to overcome them, indicates Plymouth’s contribution to the match.


A few days later and the BBC treated us to the Carling Cup semis- both very watchable, both very different. Man City didn’t turn up for the first half, Man United didn’t turn up for the second. Neville, after 15 years suddenly became an interesting character by apparently ‘sucking off Ferguson’s boots’ and then fingering Tevez! What a slut!
Carlos Tevez is swiftly becoming my favourite Premier League player (ssssh, don’t tell Warnock.) After his acrimonious departure from the Manchester Reds (that’s the colour of the shirts, not the managers’ face), all the talk of was how Ferguson “didn’t think Tevez was worth the pre-agreed fee.”
Which is quite frankly an arrogant, bullshit-ridden, refusal to actually admit the truth. That truth being they simply couldn’t afford him. You only have to look at the signings Fergie did make to see that. £16million for a flash-in-the-pan Wigan winger, wages only for an ex-England international that would’ve been put down years ago if he were a racehorse (something Fergie should know full well) and a barely known, injured French U21.

T’was a simple case of not having enough cash to seal the deal that was already agreed- nothing to be ashamed of but evidently backed up by last week’s reports that had they not sold Cristina Ronaldo for £80m, they would have made a total annual loss of £40m!
There was absolutely no need to insult Tevez’s abilities, at the time of letting him go (Fergie) or just before the cup game (Neville) so who can blame him for giving it a bit of a Chas ‘n’ Dave-esque “yup yup rabbit yup yup yup rabbit rabbit bunny jabber yup rabbit” gesture?
Let’s hope for a little more at Wednesday’s 2nd leg.



On Saturday, Palace went to Wolves for the FA Cup, alas, I went to the IMAX to see ‘Avatar’- something I’d booked long before we progressed into the 4th round. From just after 3pm, my phone went on a mad vibrating spree with updates that I was too scared to take out of my pocket to read. The fear stemming from a potential scalding by the uber-nerds next to/behind/all around me, plus I also didn’t want to see the score whilst wearing 3D glasses. To see news that we may be winning in three dimensions could potentially blow my mind more than the 50ft, blue smurf/human/cat hybrids that seemed to be trying to poke me directly in the eyes for 3 hours.
And to see news that we were getting tonked in three dimensions would be more depressing than the sci-fi native death fest playing out before me. (It’s actually quite enjoyable on the whole, go see it at IMAX if you can- visually amazing, OK story.)

By all accounts, we were unlucky not to walk away with victory but we can, and should be, ever proud of our current form. That equalizer was something special too.
Hopefully, depending on squad size/availability, I reckon we can go that one step further in the replay. Yes it’s on the tellybox (ITV4- after ‘The Sweeney’, before ‘The Professionals’), but hopefully the cheap tickets should gather a great crowd and atmosphere.
It’s easy to stay at home in the warm, but let’s look at it this way:
If we have a mad flurry of tickets bought over the coming days, maybe that little guaranteed cash-injection will work in our favour when we go to HMRC later this week, cap in hand, trousers round ankles…. Arses clenched.
Let’s turn up and sing up! (to the replay, not the tax hearing.)

Wednesday sees us at St James’ Park. Difficult under any circumstances but their 1 win in 5 league games may give us a little confidence boost. We are sure to be knackered and it’s unlikely that Claude will play but whatever the result, whatever the score, it’s going to be tough and coming away with nothing, shouldn’t dishearten anyone.
To those supporters brave enough to travel up there, all the best and don’t feel pressured to go topless like the locals. (Unless you’re a good looking lady and close to the cameras)

And finally… what may become a regular feature that I’m going to call:

Noades Knows.

I commented on Ron Noades last time and I don’t want to tread old ground too much. However, he’s still rambling on so why can’t I?
This week, Ron graced us with this-

“If David Gold had bought Palace and asked me to come back as a director I would’ve done that.
“I went to David and tried to persuade him to buy Crystal Palace instead of West Ham, because he lives locally and is a friend of mine.”


Again, thanks a bunch Ron. That must’ve really taken it out of you.
More if’s and hypothetical saintly deeds from the old sack of shitwind.
Should you like to deal in IF’s Ron, try this… “IF you weren’t such a money grabbing old mercenary (or ‘good businessman’ as some of his supporters put it), you wouldn’t have sent us down the swanny with that Goldberg shaped buffoon of a chairman. Remember Simon Jordan saying he’d only sell to someone who has the clubs best interests at heart? How cute, how apt and dare I say how honourable.
IF only Ron had the same attitude.

And with that thought, I give you a pleasant little ditty that I’ve entitled ‘D-DO ONE RON!’

Altogether now, sing along- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqgtsai2aKY

When he sold the club, he sold it to a clown-
D-DO ONE RON RON, D-DO ONE RON!
And even though he sold it, he still kept the ground -
D-DO ONE RON RON, D-DO ONE RON RON!

Yeeeeeah, he sold to a clown
Yeeeeeah, he kept the ground
And, his wife is a whore

So DO ONE RON RON, D-DO ONE RON!



Please, feel free to add your own verses below. It may take off in the stands

See you at Selhurst.


PTTP


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