The third round draw for the FA Cup has been made and once again Palace have been handed a mega-bucks glamour tie…away at Sheffield Wednesday. To be played on the weekend of January 2/3.
Why do the FA hate us so much?
The Football League Supporters Survey 010 has been launched, giving fans the chance to have their say on a range of issues.
Go here – http://www.sportswise.info/surveys/fld/fld.htm - to take part.
Many of FYP’s readers won’t be aware of Johnny Ertl’s blog – located here.
Those who do know about it, will probably find it difficult to understand, as the Austrian international’s blogs are written entirely in German.
However, due to my bilingual abilities, FYP will provide a translation of his blog updates when they arrive – the first of which is below.
The international break gave us the opportunity to recharge our batteries. We had a few days to spare, which I used to travel back to Austria so that I could re-acquaint myself with the culinary delights of home.
The last few games have been the best I’ve experienced since my move to England. Before we could take our well-earned break, we had fixtures against Preston, Queens Park Rangers and Middlesbrough to think about.
The local derby against Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone’s club was played at Loftus Road – a stadium with typical British flair. The explosive fixture also encapsulated the British style – with lots of pace, effort and emotion.
Our goalkeeper, Julian Speroni, was praised by the media after he made three fantastic saves in difficult situations. The 1-1 draw was probably more than a fair result – and so the visit of Middelsbrough awaited us on Saturday.
With international players throughout and a new manager in Gordon Strachan, a massive club made its visit to Selhurst Park. I almost had a reunion with another Austrian that day – Emanuel Pogatezt and I used to play together on the same youth team for HIB Liebenau. It would have been funny to see him again, 15 years later in the middle of London at Crystal Palace – a typical football story – but unfortunately he couldn’t make the trip down to London due to an injury. I wish him a quick recovery.
I would consider the defeat of Middlesbrough a ‘big win’ – not just because they were relegated from the Premier League last year, but also because of their financial might and squad. We couldn’t even afford their rejects, and yet we earned a 1-0 win.
And just last weekend we made a trip to Coventry. We took a point from the wonderful [read: impressive] Ricoh Arena, with Darren Ambrose scoring his 11th goal of the season. Goal for the Eagles!
We’re now completely focused on the duel with Watford.
There’ll be more about that match in my next update.
We’ll make sure to provide a translation for his next update!
Crystal Palace 3-0 Watford
Two goals in the first five minutes sent Palace on their way to a comfortable 3-0 victory at home to Watford.
Victor Moses and Alan Lee made the telling contribution in the first half when they scored a goal each early in the game – something of a rarity for Palace, with it being only the third time we’ve scored in the first half this season.
Watford were given a glimmer of hope late in the first half however, when Alan Lee was adjudged to have upended Henri Lansbury in the penalty area. Video replays suggest that the challenge was made outside the box, so Palace will have felt that justice was done when Julian Speroni made a magnificent save from Danny Graham’s penalty.
And it was goal-machine Darren Ambrose who rounded off the scoring for Palace with a magnificent goal from a perfectly weighted Moses pass. It was to be the former Charlton man’s sixth in six games.
Manager Neil Warnock told BBC London that he was delighted with Victor Moses’ entertaining contribution to the match.
He said: ”When he’s (Moses) like that, he’s unplayable. It was a great game for him, but we all played our part today in a cracking match.
“He’s had good games, and I thought today his contribution won us the game. It was a thoroughly professional performance.”
Palace face Doncaster Rovers next weekend, followed by a trip to Reading on the following Tuesday.
This week Andy and JD discuss Palace’s 1-1 draw at Coventry and the merits (and demerits) of having one 
player grabbing all your goals and headlines. With Darren Ambrose in fine form, we’ve almost forgotten about the rest of the team. Speaking of DeMerits, Palace play Watford at the weekend and the boys look forward to that, as well as the ongoing takeover rumours at Selhurst. They also have the traditional sing-song at the end of the pod – this week’s effort is dedicated to our very special No 7.
To download the pod go here – http://fypfanzine.jellycast.com/podcast/feed/2
Or type in FYP to iTunes.
Enjoy!
As always your feedback is welcomed, so if you have any topics you think should be discussed, or just want to get something off your chest, email the pod at james@fiveyearplanfanzine.co.uk
Crystal Palace’s youth academy has been credited with producing a number of talented youngsters in recent years; but for many non-Palace fans, the opportunity to see such talent in the flesh has been limited. With many similar-sized clubs loaning their youth products to lower-league sides, it seemed that the Eagles were missing out on an opportunity to give their players more game-time.
This has changed in recent weeks however, with a number of youngsters spreading their wings and parting the nest for more match practice. With Lee Hills at Oldham Athletic, Kieran Djilali at Chesterfield and Kieron Cadogan at Burton Albion, Palace fans have been given an extra incentive to stay up a little later to watch ALL of the Football League’s somewhat turgidly presented highlights.
Those who did stay up for the majority of tonights show will have been delighted by the sight of Djilali scoring to put Chesterfield 3-1 up against Darlington. John Sheridan’s side went on to score a further two goals in a convincing 5-2 win.
Meanwhile, Cadogan’s influence led to his Burton Albion side winning 3-2 against Hereford United. Albion were tied at 2-2 when a foul on Cadogan gave the side the opportunity to score the winner from a free-kick in the 85th minute.
As for Hills, the Palace left-back started for the Latics. It was his 77th minute replacement, Ryan Brooke, who went on to score Oldham’s equaliser. The Lancashire-club also featured Daryl Flahavan in goal.
Neil Warnock will no doubt be pleased by the way his younger players have already adapted to competitive matches. There is no question that the three of them will profit from their moves.
Coventry City 1-1 Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace’s players and fans were left frustrated by a 1-1 draw against out of form Coventry City at the Ricoh Arena, with the Eagles failing to make the most of a first-half dominance which should have seen more goals.
An all-too-familiar tale of missed chances hit Palace again, with the club’s strikers once more being shown up by Charlton reject and instant Palace hero Darren Ambrose, who scored midway through the first half. It was the midfielder’s 9th goal in 17 games for the club.
Despite having a number of additional chances before half-time, Palace struggled to deal with Coventry’s more purposeful approach to the second half and quickly allowed the Sky Blues back into the game, with former Southampton striker Leon Best nipping in and equalise.
Neil Warnock felt that Coventry would not have been as motivated had his players put them to the sword a little more.
He told the BBC: ”"If we had gone in 2-0 up I don’t think they would have come back from that.
“”I am pleased with a point. I felt we should have had a penalty in the first half.”
Palace have a visit from Watford to look forward to next weekend.
Crystal Palace’s North American sister team, Palace USA, have announced that they are joining a break-away league, kicking off in April 2010, according to a press release on their official website.
CPFC Baltimore, formed in 2007, have been playing in the United Soccer Leagues Second Division with limited success and little financial incentive. With soccer’s growth in popularity in recent years, the club feel that the newly formed league will provide a more competitive, financially rewarding competition.
Highlights from Palace’s official statement include:
Crystal Palace Baltimore is [sic] pleased to announce that they, along with The Tampa Bay Rowdies, have joined the new professional soccer league announced last week, beginning play in the United States and Canada in April 2010. The addition of Baltimore and Tampa Bay brings the new league to nine teams, as they join the owners of the Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina Railhawks, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, St. Louis Soccer United and Vancouver Whitecaps.
“A name for the new league will be announced next week. The new league is also active in its search for a full-time commissioner and will introduce an extensive marketing campaign in the coming months.
“Tampa and Baltimore joining our efforts is a testament to our game plan, our current ownership strength and our promise for the future. The ownership groups of both teams share our vision for soccer in North America and we are thrilled to welcome them to our new league,” said Joey Saputo, Chairman of the Board of Governors and President of the Montreal Impact.
“Crystal Palace Baltimore is pleased and honored to join and be a part of what we see as the future of North American soccer. We are particularly excited about the structure of a team-controlled and owned league, especially when you look at the quality of owners that we have in this league and the impressive history of the clubs,” said Pete Medd, co-owner of Crystal Palace Baltimore. “We are proud to be one of the founding members and believe it’s the right league at the right time for us and for soccer in North America.”
With the idea of a breakaway league being aired in the UK in the form of a second Premier League division, we might well see Simon Jordan pushing for such a move in the future.
The Croydon Advertiser are carrying quotes with local businessman David Gold on his rumoured takeover of Crystal Palace.
The former-Birmingham chairman has been linked with the chairman’s role at Selhurst, and this week admitted talking to Simon Jordan.
He said: “Simon Jordan called me and we had a very pleasant conversation but I am taking my time before I come to any sort of decisions.
“I am interested in big clubs and I consider Crystal Palace to be a big club. It is the club closest to my home and everyone knows I don’t want to go north of Watford.”
FYP would welcome Gold as chairman, at least to have someone with a bit of business noose nouse at the helm. Finally.
