[Archived] Crystal Palace 0 Blackburn Rovers 0

[Paul]

I can only base my remarks on MOTD. The higlights showed we had at least 5 clear cut chances and should have put one of those away. Palace seem to have been restricted to two shots. Other than that the TV showed we were the better team all round.

Hughes is improving things, the players are fitter, we are no longer shipping goals like a leaky collander. The problem is scoring and until we recruit a quality scorer will continue to be so. Stead, Gally, Jansen are all capable od doing a job, how good a job remains to be seen. Dickov works hard, getting on the nerves of the opposition but he is not a quality striker. Good signing etc but not a proven goal-scorer

[Alan75]

The last two posts cracked my up.

How can you pass such judgement.

Have you not read the message board, you dont have to watch the game.

The jury returned as soon as the team was announced.

[philipl]

This report says Kiraly was the key to the result being 0-0: it is in line with all the other reports I read in the press

[Paul]

Have you not read the message board, you dont have to watch the game.

Just thought I'd delay the Hughes Out thread until I'd seen the highlights

Oh forgot to mention Thommo before. What an idiot, does he not understand we are short of players? Apparently he's desperate to get playing again? A totally undisciplined, childish, petulant performance has ensured you get an extra day off at Christmas. A whole extra day to throw your toys out of the pram. You're paid thousands a week to be a professional - start acting like one. If my kids behaved like that in sport they'd have a lot more than the ref to deal with. Rule No1, whatever happens keep your concentration and walk away.

[waggy]

the highlights were pretty one sided ,we are moving in the right direction,i was dismayed about flitty and matteo being in the team,but fanatics who were there have said they had decent games,thats why sparky's the manager and i am a printer.

[tcj_jones]

If Todd had not have played so well throughout the match, then Flitcroft would have been my man of the match for being just about the only player to show any fight - he did his defensive duties very well in the first half and came in with a few crunching tackles in the second. He and Matteo both came into the team after time out and they looked two of the only players that wanted their place.

[ptholt]

I have one question which whilst listening to the radio couldnt quite understand.

Before the game even started palace were quoted as playing 4-5-1, which indeed they did and to quote the radio commentators there forward didnt get a look in by the 4 rovers defenders who just crowded him out, who the rest of the time stood around doing v little.

Now to my mind, whilst palace sticking with this tactic shouldnt we have play perhaps someone like gray who is a better at going forward to try and get the ball forward and in the back of net, still leaving 3 at the back to deal with a lone attacker...

Then once palace changed and came forward a little he could have subbed gray for someone more defence minded (jay).

It just seems odd to me that you play 45 mins of football with 4 defenders covering one striker, we will stay in this league by winning games, not by drawing them and we wont win standing around at the back.

Nice cheerful reading on the bbc site that we now have the same stats as our relegation season at this date....

[Flopsy]

thats why sparky's the manager and i am a printer.

you didnt look like a HP Laser Jet when i met you waggster

[accyrover]

It wasnt a bad result, but we really should be beating teams like Palace. By all accounts their Hungarian keeper had a blinder and our strikers just had one of those days.

Unfortunately we have problems. No pace at the back, although I once saw Toddy beat Rad-what's-his-name in a foot race when the unpronouncable Canadian was at Everton. We have no creativity in midfield. I'm sorry, but Ferguson can go to the Barcodes because I dont think his heart is in it for us. Our wingers aren't really creating on a regular basis, Reid wants to come inside too much and Emerton is.....well....still the enigma he always was. Dickov works his socks off but has no support and pumping the ball up to him is a pointless exercise. Bothroyd could come good, Gally looks knackered and Stead couldnt hit a cows arse with a banjo right now.

Savage is not the answer in midfield, although I suspect he's on his way. Thommo could be the creative spark we need providing the daft bugger can stay on the pitch. Hartson........could be Dickovs foil but would he come ? I doubt it. Gabbidon is a done deal apparently.

I fear a long cold winter ahead, and survival......just.

Accyrover

Edited December 12, 2004 by accyrover

[greggyk]

Gabbidon is a done deal apparently.

And you know this how?

[roversWASmylife]

At least we didn't lose.

Saw the highlights last night on Football First and even though I didn't go to the game, yesterday, from what I saw I agree with Scotty's post.

We were creating chances in a variety of positions which is a positive.

But what really concerns me is that we're not putting them away.

So far this season we have only won two league games all season, it's not good enough. Although we've played well, come May, people won't remember the games that we've played well if we go down, they'll remember the results, not the performances.

Thompson was blatantly stupid, no need for what he did and none of us can defend him. With important games over Xmas it's the last thing we need. We need a creative spark to kill teams off and we have't got that.

A defender and striker would be a nice present in January, I can't see us attracting a big-name player in either position but strikers like Dean Ashton is the only striker I can think of. He's big, strong, aerially a threat and can score goals.

From people who went to the game and what they've said it seems like we've lost two points in my opinion and to be honest I can't really see us getting anything next week, but the Newcastle game could be the turning point in our season.

C Palace 0-0 Blackburn

[1864roverite]

Scotty

thats a one off from you, a short summary ! Whats all that about then ?

I was looking forward to reading a full length version from you and am disappointed to see only a few lines

[USABlue]

If I am reading correctly we did play reasonably well. I can take encouragement from that since I really expected us to lose. I was very worried about Rouledge and Johnson. Another tough one next week, onward and upward slowly but surely we can pull ourselves out of this.

Why did Thommo get 2 yellows, most posters seem to think he was stupid, any details please.

[USABlue]

Dickov - 5

Bothroyd - 4

I don't know why...but it's just hit me how poor our strike force is and how much people are deluding themselves about these two.

Bothroyd couldn't even make an impact at Coventry, the excuse so far is 'fallings out with the management' but if he was good enough he wouldn't have been offloaded from there on a free. I think he scored 6 goals for Perugia...that's nothing really, he is undoubtedly a good athlete, but a Premiership footballer? Never.

Dickov has spent his entire career in teams either in Division One or not good enough for the Premiership, why at 32 should we assume that he has suddenly become better than that? His workrate is a useful asset to us but should never in a million years be the focal point of our attack.

If that is our first choice partnership then we do have the worst strikeforce in the league...couple that with our erratic defence then we really are in trouble.

Edit: Didn't actually get as far as USABlue's post before I wrote this...any reason why those two shouldn't be first choice? Jansen has more goals from open play than Dickov since he came back into first team contention (I think) and Stead is still a quality player.

Yes Le Chuck. Stead I have no problem with, I like him a lot. Poor Matty however, he will have to show me a lot more to convince me he is on the way back. Granted he has bagged a couple (just) but he seems to offer little else, he has impressed me a bit in the air but that is about it. I don't know, perhaps I am being too harsh, remembering Matty of old and all. As I have said before, his instincts seem to have left him.

Stead/Gally or Stead/Bothroyd for the future.

[Alan75]

USA,

First yellow, Tommo running along touch line is brought down by palace player, their legs entangle and Tommo kicks out. Was lucky in my opinion not to get a straight red.

Second yellow.

Neill is badly tackled, bit of a player confrontation.

Tommo meanwhile decides to start a second arguement off the ball, and pretends to nut Palace player. Bit of a handbags do but the refs assistant reports it. Tommo off.

In other words Tommo was a prat there was no need for him to be involved.

[JAL]

After watching Football first we definitely were a better stronger team than Palace which fills me with optimism for the future.

I thought we looked like a team - everyone seemed to work for one another but the weaknesses are there for all to see or lack of quality to bury a team like Palace with ease. But at least everyones rolling up their sleeves and doing their best which is what we need.

As for Palace attacks on our goal i thought Todd was the main culprit in letting Palace in - one when were Todd got caught out of position towards the half way line and Johnson run on goal and Friedel made an excellent save to earn us a point.

Then there was a Palace cross that Todd missed, luckily ithe Palace player failed to connect with his head inside the six yard box which could have led to us conceding an easy goal.

Then there was the one were Todd nearly gave a penalty away on the edge of the box.

If Todd was somebodys man of the match then i'm very concerned for our team but overall the criticism goes to our strikers having failed to give us that edge that cutting edge in winning footaball matches. Watching Bothroyd, Dickov and Stead plus Gally last weak we definitely need not one striker but two strikers at the club of an higher calibre.

I know money is tight but were talking about the immediate future of the club - securing premeirship status and instilling confidence and excitement into the fans we need some quality strkers from somewhere.

[trueblue]

I was really looking forward to Thommo coming back from injury, but the performance he put in when coming off the bench against spurs and the awful actions at palace have convinced me he's lost it !

Sorry Thommo.. but you're becoming a liability now

[Tris]

After what Jay Bothroyd did a few weeks ago, what the hell was David "can't wait to be back in the first team" Thompson doing?!

I think the problem with Thompson is that he's completely frustrated about his 18 month injury lay-off, and now he's trying to put that 18 months behind him when he gets on the pitch for 18 minutes.

We know he's a good player. He knows he's a good player, and in his game, energy and involvement are important.

Problem is, he can't expect to get totally involved in a game, or exorcise the nightmare of the last 18 months when coming on as a late sub.

Hopefully one of the management staff can see this, and turn his sending off into a positive. Calm him down a bit and channel that adrenaline towards helping Rovers rather than letting us down.

He certainly isn't becoming a liability (post above) - he just needs some tlc and pointing in the right direction imo.

And finally, to flog a technicality, he was very unlucky to get sent off for the second yellow. Yes he deserved to go for the kick - but he didn't, that's football - and the bookings were harsh.

Edited December 13, 2004 by Tris

[wicklowrover]

Hey, I am over in Australia at the moment so I won't get to see the highlights until tonight.

Just have a couple of questions though... can anyone explain to me why Gally was dropped in favour of Jay (not the decision I would have made given Gally's performances recently and you need a striker to be in form)

Also I can see how Tommo was stupid but hasn't he justified a starting place yet (if we were to discount the weekends performance)?

[chris]

Hey, I am over in Australia at the moment so I won't get to see the highlights until tonight.

Just have a couple of questions though... can anyone explain to me why Gally was dropped in favour of Jay (not the decision I would have made given Gally's performances recently and you need a striker to be in form)

Also I can see how Tommo was stupid but hasn't he justified a starting place yet (if we were to discount the weekends performance)?

I think every striker seems to struggle to play with Dickov, but Jay seems more effective out of all of them (excluding Saturday when both were crap). and Dickov is first choice for Hughes

I would love at this point to see a different pairing upfront that didn't involve Dickov, purely for a change, he's played in every game and had a purple patch recently but I still think he not good enough for a decent PL team as do many on the board only "lately"( no doubt that will change when he scores another pen)

Although he would be a decent sub, excluding the pens he's got one goal in 15 games in open play and that was a last 10 min goal. so his workrate in the last 10-20 mins could be effective and catch a few defenders out.

And I think away from home Hughes wanted to use a Defensive midfielder, Flitcroft was ok aswell. Thats why Thompson didn't start

[jim mk2]

Hughes should come down like a ton of bricks on Thompson for his crass stupidity in getting sent off on Saturday.

Not only did he deserve both bookings he was lucky also not to be sent off for kicking out at the Crystal Palace player.

He also compounded the error by arguing with the linesman after his second booking, which the FA is bound to punish by increasing the length of his suspension.

The fool has just returned from serious injury and an enforced absence because of a idiotic and needless dismissal is the last thing he needs when he is trying to regain match fitness.

Thompson should be reminded forcefully (and handed a hefty fine) of his obligations to the club, which needs every player available for selection in the fight against relegation.

If Thompson had half a brain he would have realised that.

[bob fleming]

Oakside Nursing Home - how long have you been living over the pond then Jim? You kept that quiet. They must really love you in the States. "That goddamn miserable limey".

Thompson was unlucky if you ask me. Sure, he could have been shown a straight red for his first booking, but the second booking was a bit of a joke (from what I saw on Football First). Anyone of a number of players could have been booked in that "handbags" incident - strange that the officials singled out our unfortunate, quietly spoken, midfielder.

[Realbluesman]

[i think every striker seems to struggle to play with Dickov, but Jay seems more effective out of all of them (excluding Saturday when both were crap). and Dickov is first choice for Hughes

I would love at this point to see a different pairing upfront that didn't involve Dickov, purely for a change, he's played in every game and had a purple patch recently but I still think he not good enough for a decent PL team as do many on the board only "lately"( no doubt that will change when he scores another pen)

Although he would be a decent sub, excluding the pens he's got one goal in 15 games in open play and that was a last 10 min goal. so his workrate in the last 10-20 mins could be effective and catch a few defenders out.

I agree with Chris in dropping Dickov to the bench and trying a different pairing. Much as Dickov always gives 110% he simply is not a Premiership striker and never has been. I wonder what he would be like in midfield in the Scholes type late running role? Worth a try with tugay and Thommo out for a spell (and possibly Barry if they use TV evidence)

[The Producer]

[i think every striker seems to struggle to play with Dickov, but Jay seems more effective out of all of them (excluding Saturday when both were crap). and Dickov is first choice for Hughes

I would love at this point to see a different pairing upfront that didn't involve Dickov, purely for a change, he's played in every game and had a purple patch recently but I still think he not good enough for a decent PL team as do many on the board only "lately"( no doubt that will change when he scores another pen)

Although he would be a decent sub, excluding the pens he's got one goal in 15 games in open play and that was a last 10 min goal. so his workrate in the last 10-20 mins could be effective and catch a few defenders out.

I agree with Chris in dropping Dickov to the bench and trying a different pairing. Much as Dickov always gives 110% he simply is not a Premiership striker and never has been. I wonder what he would be like in midfield in the Scholes type late running role? Worth a try with tugay and Thommo out for a spell (and possibly Barry if they use TV evidence)

Dickov is really struggling with his finishing. BUT the problem with replacing him is that Stead looks equally unlikely to score at the moment and would be half as good at retaining possession and putting himself about, while Gallagher is a better finisher but at the moment gets knocked off the ball far too easily. I suppose we might just get away with one of those two in place of Dickov at home, but not away where we have less possession.

[Blueboy Downunder]

I was at the match and fully agree that tommo deserved the first yellow card. But the second one....i am still to figure out what he did wrong to deserve that second yellow. for goodness sake all i saw was that he had a little shove and push with that lanky streak of crap fitz hall......and if that itself is deserved of a yellow card then we might aswell all give up.

what the ###### hell the linesman was doing i also am yet to figure out. he say (metaphorically speaking) that tommo should get a second yellow, but the @#/? who started it all stayed on the pitch, how that happened i just don't know. lucas already had a yellow card, so if the linesman/ref thought that he was wrong then he too should have walked. but the guy who CHEATED and tried to get lucas sent off is an absolute disgrace. this guys play acting insighted a melee and caused a player to be sent off...and yet he finished the match.

how many times did we not get given free kicks when our players were BALTENTLY pulled back.....no wonder fans get so ###### with refs and their bungling assistants.