Round up of Palace's pre-season activities as the first game gets underway.

Even allowing for all the usual rumours, Palace have had a fairly busy pre-season period to date compared to a number of clubs in the Championship this season.

Departing so far as I write, we say goodbye to Tony Craig, who has re-joined Millwall on Friday (11/7) for a fee of £100,000 - no surprise given his loan spell there season.

Also on that front, Clinton Morrison has now left the Eagles. Despite being offered a good contract (as admitted by the player himself) this was obviously not all that was on his mind, and with the promise of guaranteed first team football not forthcoming from Palace, Coventry is strongly rumoured to be his next destination (odd given that he hadn't settled in Birmingham when he left Palace before). Dowie and QPR are of course waiting in the wings should he not agree terms there, and Steve Coppell's Reading will also soon be looking for replacements for the likely departures of Leroy Lita and Kevin Doyle.

Defender Mark Hudson left last month on a free to join Charlton. The ex-Palace captain cited his worry of a lack of first team football as a main reason for the move, but there's no doubt the team from the industrial areas of South East London are tightening the purse strings this season, and looked for him to be a cheap replacement for an outgoing player who was later sold to Palace for profit.

Youngster Ashley Robinson is another who has now left. Offered a contract by Palace that was dependant on certain conditions being met, he failed to fulfil these and after his national gaffe of publishing his next intent on Facebook, he is now on trial at Fulham. Behind Victor Moses and Sean Scannell in ability and with the better James Dayton and Jamie Smith nipping at his heels, it seems odd that the Cottagers are interested.

Finally, little used left back Jeff Hughes made a permanent move to Peterborough for an undisclosed fee in early June (it was actually £150,000 we can reveal), and the released Mark Kennedy has joined Dave Jones Cardiff City.

Also expected to depart sometime soon are Scott Flinders, and on the endangered list are Matt Lawrence, Dougie Freedman and Carl Fletcher.

In the reverse, it's welcome to promising young goalkeeper Darryl Flahavan who had impressed before in a number of games for both Woking and Southend when seen, and who joins Palace from the latter club. Also incoming are Austrian international defender Johannes (Jonny) Ertl, who joined Palace last week on a free after training with the club in the later part of last season.

Jose Fonte's deal is all but signed and should be announced next week, and Palace have also made a move for young Luton Town forward Calvin Andrew. The 21 year old is expected to put pen to paper early next week on a 300-400k deal.

On the flipside of the Hudson deal, Neil Warnock moved quickly to capture Charlton centre back Paddy (Patrick) McCarthy as his direct replacement. The ex-Leicester and Manchester City defender is similar in size and stature to Palace's departing Captain and will likely partner either Fonte or Clint Hill in the central role.

Another incoming is impressive central midfielder Nick Carle. The Australian has arrived from Bristol City in a 1 million pound 4 year deal, and looked sharp pulling the strings in Saturday's opening pre-season game at Bromley.

All that remains now is for Palace to sign a couple of badly missing decent forwards, and it could turn out to be a good season for the white, red and blue's this campaign.


Posted by alan.

Palace Echo in joint blog venture with SLP

Palace Echo are pleased to announce a joint blog venture with the South London Press website.

Echo editor Neil Witherow will be providing a regular Palace blog on the SLP website. The first entry is available to read at the link below:

http://www.slp.co.uk/tn/blogdetailall.cfm?id=67

The initial unpublished 'test' piece can also be found here.


Posted by neil.

All new podcast in associtaion with the BBS

As something of an experiment, we've quite literally thrown together a little podcast based on last weekend's game.

You can download here:
http://www.palace-echo.net/podcast/bbspodcast_1.mp3

Enjoy!

Posted by neil.

A Play-Offs muse from Neil the Eagle

The week leading up to the Burnley game was spend in a state of high nervous disorder that will be familiar to most fellow fans: Gazing at the League table for hours on end; working out the same results permutations over and over again; wondering why I can’t remember Wolves’ goal difference less than 5 minutes after one of those marathon Table-gazing sessions. Familiar symptoms, I’m sure.

And so the day of the game finally dawns, one last quick squizz at the table before heading to The Cherries and a meeting of my similarly nervy pals. Even before the first pint is served, the permutation discussions have started again and, sure enough, not one of us can remember Wolves’ goal difference without recourse to a paper. In truth, it all comes down to one thing – as it has all week - win and we are there; no ifs or buts. Finally we head off to the ground and you can taste the tension in the air.

Ten minutes after kick off, that tension has all but evaporated, replaced with a kind of confused joy. We are two up; they are down to ten-men. With a third before half-time, even Mr Pessimism himself (a.k.a. Wags) has a broad, confident smile. But then he has more to smile at than most. Down the years, his doom-laded predictions have more often than not been uncannily accurate. And sometime in early April, Wags had a dream. A very specific dream and one that has haunted us all since the git decided to share it with us.

It went like this: It’s a bright, sunny last day of the season and Palace need to win to get in the play-offs. However, the score stands at 1-1 going into the last couple of minutes. Palace are kicking towards the Whitehorse Lane end and get a penalty. Ben Watson steps up to take it… and hits the House on the Hill. Now, leave aside that the last bit is a physical impossibility, the fact is he missed and the play-offs were gone.

As the month wore on, results conspired to make the dream became a frighteningly real possibility. It got to the point where anxiously scouring the long range weather forecasts became second only to ‘Table-gazing’ as our new national sport of choice. For most of the week, the weathermen seem to be on our side predicting showers, but no, come match day its fine. As kick off approaches, the first break in the spell occurs; Palace will kick towards the Whitehorse. If you spotted a group of fans in the Upper Tier hugging each other like a goal had been scored shortly after the toss, well, you now know why. But it wasn’t quite finished there, seven minutes later, Palace get that penalty at the Whitehorse, the score is still level. We momentarily celebrate the decision, then turn, as one, to give Wags the evils.

Now I’m not one who cannot watch penalties (unlike the bloke who sits in front of us who assumes a crouching position, back to goal, with his head rather too close to Wags crotch, whenever a penalty is awarded), however this time I can barely look. Myself and the others who’ve had to live with his dream are getting ready to punch ‘seven shades’ out of Wags should the penalty go high, wide and right. Thankfully, Ben Watson remains unaffected by the waves of naked terror emanating from the other end of the ground and strokes the ball confidently low, left and in. We beat Wags anyway, it seemed like the most fitting celebration…

The second half sees us seal the win in some style with two more lovely goals and has me reflecting on how un-Palace like the whole match was. When Palace need a result on the last day of the season, they always have to work for it and don’t always get it. Remember Stockport? 87 minutes of feeling sick, 30 seconds of joy, 10 minutes of utter terror waiting on the final score from Huddersfield. Or Charlton? Where we let Premiership safety slip in the last 8 minutes. And what about 2004 at Coventry? We lost 2-1 but somehow Brian Deane dug us out of the mire with an injury time equaliser for West Ham against Wigan. Even the team of ’79, who were proudly paraded on the pitch at half time, kept us waiting 77 nail-biting minutes before finally doing the business against Burnley. Let’s face it, to win 5-0 in crucial must-win situation really isn’t Palace’s style… not that I’m complaining, mind.

And so we head to the play-off as the bookies favourites for promotion, again an unfamiliar position for us, but to be honest, I’ve given up worrying. Sure, I’m looking forward to the games against Bristol City, but the very unpredictable and atypical nature of this Palace side, has finally disarmed and, somehow against the odds, relaxed me. In the words of the song: whatever will be, will be.


Posted by neil.

It’s a busy loan deadline day at Selhurst

Palace have signed Chelsea's Scott Sinclair, West Ham's Kyel Reid and Nathan Ashton from Fulham on loan until the end of the season.

Sinclair, 19, can operate as a forward or on either flank and will be remembered by Palace fans for his wonder goal away at Plymouth last season. Scott is very highly rated and has had loan spells at Charlton, Plymouth and QPR, as well as playing for Chelsea in the Premier League, although his last loan club, Charlton, seemed unimpressed with him, barely giving him a start, despite their own disastrous form.

Left-sided midfielder Reid, 20, has played for England Under-19s and is under contract at West Ham until the summer of 2009. Former Charlton left-back Ashton, 21, has played in the top flight this term and has seemingly been brought in as cover for our currently injury-prone left-backs: Clint Hill and Lee Hills.

It was all incoming signings though, Tony Craig has rejoined former club Millwall, Ryan Hall moved to Crawley, Jeff Hughes joined Bristol Rovers and Scott Flinders (pictured) switched to Blackpool - all on loan.


Posted by neil.

The recent ins & out at Selhurst

Yesterday Palace captured midfielder Neil Danns and made Shaun Derry's loan deal for Leeds a permanent one.

Danns joins from Birmingham for £650,000 rising to £850,000 on appearances, whereas Derry's fee was undisclosed.

They join Clint Hill who's loan deal for Stoke was made permanent last week, again for an undisclosed fee. Leon Cort made the switch the other way, after a similar loan period, for £1.2m.

Back from loan at Fulham is Shefki Kuqi, whilst fellow striker Lewis Grabban (pictured), shortly after his return from a loan spell at Motherwell, has now left the club permanently joining Millwall in a £150,000 deal.

Earlier in the month, right back John Halls joined on loan from Reading for a month to cover Danny Butterfield groin injury. Going out on a month's loan is Ryan Hall to Dagenham & Redbridge. Loanees Franck Songo'o and Paul Dickov returned to Portsmouth and Man City respectively at the start of the month.

Posted by neil.

Winning streak continues for Warnock.



Battling back from a 1-0 deficit at half time, Palace secured three more points in the bag last night (4/12) with a 2-1 victory against QPR at Loftus Road.

Neil Warnock made one change for the short trip across London, as Danny Butterfield replaced the suspended Matt Lawrence at right back, but otherwise it was the same starting eleven that drew with West Brom the previous Saturday. On the bench were youngsters Lee Hills and Sean Scannell, and the young Irish international striker making his first team debut during the 2nd half.

Palace started brightly, pegging back Rangers with plenty of possession in their half during the opening 10 minutes, before falling victim to yet another poorly conceded goal.

Unmarked from an Akos Buzsaky corner, Damion Stewart arrived in the area in the 10th minute to power home a header and give the home side the lead.

Chances then followed at either end, with Mark Hudson almost finding the net with a header, before Julian Speroni was called into action to make 2 good first half saves.

Palace found the net in the 2nd half on 65 minutes as Clint Hall got a deft touch on the end of Ben Watson's free kick to steer the ball past the keeper, for his 2nd goal in Palace colours (and the equaliser).

Three minutes later and the Eagles had the lead.

Watson again was provider as his corner was met by Mark Hudson's firm header that rebounded down off of the crossbar and away from the goal-line, where Clinton Morrison was lurking to steer the ball home for a 2-1 lead.

Palace could have had a 3rd on 75, when Scannell making his debut skinned the defender to provide a cross that Lee Hills headed over, with only the 'keeper to beat.

Neil Warnock was then sent to the stands with only minutes remaining after an incident with the fourth official Lee Probert, but it had no impact on the finish and Palace ran out 2-1 winners, unbeaten now in their last 7 matches.

Crystal Palace: Speroni, Butterfield, Hudson, Fonte (Hills 52), Hill, Soares (Fletcher 73), Watson, Derry, Songo'o (Scannell 60), Scowcroft, Morrison. Subs Not Used: Freedman, Martin.

Booked: Butterfield.

Goals: Hill 65, Morrison 68.

QPR: Camp, Rehman, Stewart, Malcolm, Barker, Rowlands (Nygaard 72), Buzsaky (Bolder 86), Leigertwood,Sinclair, Sahar (Balanta 83), Vine. Subs Not Used: Cole, Ainsworth.

Booked: Rowlands, Rehman, Camp.

Goals: Stewart 10.

Att: 13,300
Ref: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire).


Posted by alan.

Dates have been scheduled for the upcoming reserve and youth cup matches.

Two dates have been arranged for Palace's upcoming reserve and youth team cup games.

In the Surrey cup - Palace enter as per normal in recent years during round 2, with an away fixture now arranged against Chipstead for Tueday 4th December at 7.30pm.

Annoyingly, the match has been scheduled exactly the same night that the first team are at Loftus road facing off against QPR in the Championship.

This is not the first time Surrey cup matches have clashed with first team games of course. In 2005 Palace also faced off against Chipstead in the Surrey cup (winning 6-2) while the first team were in action, and the same thing also happened in 2003 during Steve Kember's reign as manager with the first team playing up North whilst the reserves were away at Kingstonian.

As the Surrey cup is a competition eagerly followed by some Palace supporters, this raises choices and complications.

In the FA youth cup, there is no similar problem fortunately.

Palace are drawn at home to Hull City, and this 3rd round cup clash will be played at Selhurst Park on either Tuesday 11th or Wednesday 12th December, kick off time TBA.


Posted by alan.

One out and one in for the defence, as team re-building gets underway.



Neil Warnock began his sweeping changes to the Palace first team squad last week, with the agreement in principal of Leon Cort's transfer to Stoke in January when the transfer window opens.

Cort had been targetted by Warnock as one needing replacing, with the new Palace boss prefering more of a direct tackling no-nonsense style to his centre backs, instead of Cort's more stand up type of positional play.

Cort has joined Stoke initially on a two month loan until then, and made his debut for them last week at home against Iain Dowie's Coventry City (where ironically he was at fault for allowing ex-Eagles striker Dele Adebola in to score the first goal).

The popular ex-Palace player of the year had 50 games to his credit in red and blue, weighing in with a healthy 7 goals from the back.

However, he is likely now to have made his last appearance for the Eagles.

As part of the deal, Warnock has targetted Stoke's ex-Tranmere Rovers and Oldham centre back Clint Hill as a direct replacement.

Hill will be familiar to many Palace fans for his tussles with us in the past while at both clubs, and was remembered several seasons back in 2002 for unfortunately breaking his leg in a league cup clash at Selhurst Park when he was playing for Oldham against Palace (Oldham then under Iain Dowie's charge).

Hill signed on loan for Palace late on Tuesday afternoon (also for 2 months) just in time to make his debut at left back, covering for injury against Cardiff City.

The January deal is expected to be a player plus cash exchange, slightly in Palace's favour.

Hill will make his home debut this weekend, in the clash against London rivals QPR.




Posted by alan.

Another point on the road for Palace

Palace claimed another away point on their travels Tuesday (6/11) evening, with a 1-1 draw with Cardiff City in the Championship at Ninian Park.

With Neil Warnock gradually making changes to the side, there has been some upward improvement, but also a
highlighted lack of goals lately and this proved to be ultimately the same in this encounter.

Making a full debut in midfield was John Bostock, in to cover for the injured Carl Fletcher. Injuries have been a bane for the Eagles of late and with Lee Hills suffering from a back problem, he was joined on the sidelines by fellow left back Tony Craig, Palace already missing Dave Martin with a bout of flu and Besian Idrizaj with an injury received at Scunthorpe.

In the defender(s) place was late Tuesday loan signing Clint Hill. The centre back had been tracked by manager Warnock as a no-nonsense replacement for Leon Cort the past two weeks, and his two month loan signing (probably to be made permanent when the transfer window opens) was confirmed yesterday. Slotting in at left back for cover this time, it of course will no doubt confuse some fans having both a Hill and a Hills on the books !

Amongst the substitutes were promising midfielder Victor Moses (later to come on) and Warnock opted for a 5 man midfield with 1 up front to smother the Cardiff attack of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Robbie Fowler.

Cardiff have had plenty of their own problems on the pitch just recently, and Palace came off well in the first half with a lions share of possession, despite a back injury scare to forward James Scowcroft in the opening 3 minutes of the half.

However, it was the Welsh side that took the lead on 10 minutes when Darren Purse jumped to head home from 6 yards and under the Palace crossbar following a corner conceded on the right.

Palace's response was immediate, and 5 minutes later Songo'o teed up John Bostock to try his luck with a left footed shot that was smothered by loan goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel with a parry.

Stephen McPhail shot wide of the right hand Palace goal post in the 29th minute, but Palace continued to spend most of the half in the opposition's side of the pitch, and won a penalty with 3 minutes remaining before half time.

Running onto James Scowcroft's flick, Tom Soares was fouled right on the edge of the area by a defender. It may or may not have been just inside, but his momentum carried him forward and the officials had no hesitation in awarding a spot kick. After some time wasting shenanigans by Schmeichel and Fowler, Ben Watson stepped forward
confidently and scored yet another pen - sending the
'keeper the wrong way for 1-1.

The 2nd half began with a double Palace substitution, no doubt with Warnock looking to capitalise on the first
half possession and look for the three points.

Paul Ifill returned on the right from injury to replace Songo'o, who'd been failing to track back adequately and
had picked up a first half caution, and Clinton Morrison was a straight swap for James Scowcroft, possibly due to that early injury.

Two early sortees from the home side failed to trouble Palace, and Fowler who had hardly been involved in things
was then replaced by Cardiff with Scottish striker Stephen Thomson. Despite possession being more even in this 45 Palace continued to give as good as they got.

Victor Moses came on for John Bostock, as Palace bled in another of the promising academy players and the best
chance of the half came on 71 minutes to Paul Ifill.

From a corner on the right the midfielder dug out a curling top corner shot that was saved by the diving Schmeichel. Palace had a nervy moment or two in the last 10 minutes, as the home side suddenly came out of their shell, but despite being on the back foot they didn't look like scoring and Cardiff's closest effort was a tame Hasselbaink header at Speroni from close range.

So in the end only the one point, but a well deserved one as Palace gradually seem to be turning things a bit on
the pitch.

Of course the lack of goals is the main concern right now, but if this can be addressed soon, there's no reason why
things can't suddenly be looking a lot brighter on the field.

Crystal Palace: Speroni, Lawrence, Hudson, Fonte, Hill, Watson,Bostock (Moses 72), Songo'o (Ifill 46), Soares, Kennedy,Scowcroft (Morrison 46). Subs Not Used: Flinders, Fletcher.

Booked: Songo'o, Lawrence, Morrison.

Goals: Watson 44 pen.

Cardiff: Schmeichel, McNaughton, Purse, Johnson, Capaldi,Parry (Sinclair 80), McPhail, Rae, Ledley,Fowler (Thompson 61), Hasselbaink. Subs Not Used: Oakes, Loovens, Whittingham.

Booked: Thompson.

Goals: Purse 9.

Att: 11,781
Ref: Lee Mason (Lancashire).

Posted by alan.

Manager Peter Taylor has been sacked by Crystal Palace.

With effect from this morning (8/10), Palace have sacked manager Peter Taylor.

The club have so far not elaborated on the why's and wherefore's but after a stumbling perfomance against Hull last Saturday where the team looked fragmented all over the pitch, the departure is not a major surprise.

Taylor took over as a popular choice at the start of last season, after all the mess surrounding Iain Dowie's departure.

The ex-Palace winger initially found his feet quickly as Palace recorded 3 wins out of 3 in the league last August 2006, to find themselves top of the Championship table.

However there were then 4 defeats out of the next 5 games, and truthfully the football never flowed as well as many had hoped, with Palace's season fizzling out with a finish of 12th.

An often far too cautious look to the side saw Palace defend with 11 men at corners, something that no-one in the crowd could work out why, given Taylor's pedigree as an winger during his playing days.

The signing's have been rather hit and miss too with goalkeeper Scott Flinders and striker Shefki Kuqi disappointing on the whole, and winger Paul Ifill often out injured.

Palace's good start to this season soon ran aground too, and after thumping Southampton in the first fixture of this season the Eagles have struggled to win (only one more victory since then) against sides all as average as each other, or in the case of the league cup at Bristol Rovers, even ones below them in the league.

Despite failing to bring better times to Selhurst, Taylor departs with our best wishes for the future and will always be remembered positively for his time as a player during the 1970's.

In the short term, Kit Symons will no doubt take charge, but Neil Warnock is sure to be number one choice with the bookmakers to take over soon

More as we have it.


Posted by alan.

Match report from the all Palace clash at Selhurst

For the 2nd time in the past year, Palace faced off against their new U.S counterparts last week at Selhurst (7/9) in a friendly game played at a reasonable pace in front some vocal backing from the main stand.

The end result was a 1-0 victory for original Palace - and while Peter Taylor surprisingly didn't feature players like Rhoys Wiggins and Victor Moses (later revealed to be injured) he did choose to tinker with some of the player positions.

Captain for the night and in central midfield was Dougie Freedman, while Tony Craig filled a centre back's role, and Jeff Hughes slotted in on the left of defence. Danny Butterfield anchored the right midfield and up front in his first appearance was Paul Dickov, alongside new loanee Bezian Idrizaj.

Palace America had a couple of new signing's on the bench, but with Charlie Sheringham and Lewwis Spence back now in the UK (and the former on the CP 1905 bench for the evening), it was the same players on display that had featured for them recently.

The first half got underway with a soft shot from Danny Butterfield after 5 minutes, although the low drive
didn't trouble USA 'keeper Brian Rowland.

Two minutes later there was a good forward move in the American box, as Idrizaj laid the ball back to Butterfield
in the area and he flicked it on to Dickov whose shot at the near side right post was then saved.

Dickov again was involved 6 minutes later when his deflected shot spooned up and the follow up from Fonte as he
turned was just wide of the left goal post.

In response, Palace USA opened their goal attempts in the 24th minute when Matthew Mbuta held off Tony Craig on the edge of the area, but fired over the bar.

The only goal of the match then arrived in the 27th minute. Danny Butterfield took the corner from the right and in the box from 5-6 yards out was Matt Lawrence, who rose unmarked to head home his first ever goal in Palace colours.

With 12 minutes left in the first period, there were then two more chances for CPUSA. First the ball was poked into
the "original" Palace penalty area and Jamaican forward Gary Brooks (who'd done some eager first half running)
got slightly ahead of the defence. Flinders came out though, and smothered the ball before he could react
too quickly.

Then in the final moments of the half Brooks had a good chance to equalise when he just missed Urquijo's teasing
low cross from the left that skimmed across the penalty box.

With the 2nd half then under way, Palace laid their mark out early when Dickov (who switched across to the right
wing) stole the ball off of Ibrahim Kante in defence and advanced into the area on the right, before firing a shot
just off the post. Sergio Flores responded in the other direction just after with a long effort on goal that Flinders caught without any problem.

Palace then started a good move through the middle through Dougie Freedman, who passed the ball right to Danny
Butterfield. His low cross arrived in box courtesy of a deflection and as the ball bobbed up, Dickov's attempt hit
the side netting.

The very next attmempt was 6 minutes after as Dave Martin's free kick was nodded over the bar by Idrizaj, and then in
the 73rd Leon Cort had a header in the area that went down and wide of the goal, from another Butterfield cross.

Flinders had to then be on his game with 9 minutes left as an error from Tom Soares was almost punished with an
equaliser. Without looking, he attempted a pass across the pitch, but it was intercepted by the alert Brooks who bore down on goal and made Flinders come out to block his effort.

A foul on Freedman in the final 3 minutes allowed Jeff Hughes a chance from a free kick, but he put his effort around the wall and wide, and the game finished with Palace UK once more on top through good chances from Paul Dickov (a cheeky attempt at a shot from the right wing that almost caught the 'keeper napping) and substitute Charlie Sheringham.

An relatively entertaining evening, although it didn't really serve too much purpose other than goodwill and to keep the players fitness ticking over. In answer to the obvious question though, whilst the American players did their best and never stopped trying, there weren't any obvious stand out candidates that looked as though they might cope with English league football (not at the moment anyway).

The experiment is worth continuing with for now though.


Palace Team: Flinders, Lawrence, Fonte, Craig, Hughes, Butterfield, Soares, Freedman, Martin, Dickov, Idrizaj

Subs: Wilkinson, Speroni, Cort (For Lawrence '46), Sheringham (For Martin '76), Hudson, Morrison (For Idrizaj '76)

Match Stats:

Palace Shots/Headers: 20 (8 on target)
Palace USA Shots/Headers: 6 (1 on target)

Palace Crosses: 9 (5 from left / 4 from right)
(Butterfield 3, Martin 3, Dickov 2, Hughes 1)
Palace USA Crosses: 3



Posted by alan.

Match report for AJ's return to Selhurst Park

Probably one of Palace's tougher pre-season tests was this visit of Everton, and the return of Andy Johnson to Selhurst Park, last Saturday, in a game that ended goal-less.

And yet the visitors apart from a few close moments, did not pose too much of a problem for the Eagles, with Johnson a stand alone figure up front for the Toffees, well marshalled by either Mark Hudson or Jose Fonte, making his starting debut.

On a warm sunny day Palace began with Scowcroft and Morrison up front, and Jeff Hughes (doing well) on the
left side of midfield ahead of Tony Craig. Absent with injury were the midfield trio of Paul Ifill, Carl Fletcher and Mark Kennedy while Victor Moses was once again a later 2nd half substitute.

Palace should have taken the lead in the 2nd minute. James Scowcroft missed a golden opportunity after robbing Alan Stubbs of possession on the right wing, he was free to advance forward on goal with only 'keeper Tim Howard ahead of him. Unfortunately after shooting when close, his shot lacked power and conviction and was stop by the 'keeper's legs just inside the box.

Scowie had another chance two minutes after, rising to meet Stuart Green's corner he nodded the ball over the bar.

The same player again was involved in the 14th minute when he latched onto Matt Lawrence's forward punt by getting in front and around the 'keeper. With the ball then finding Tom Soares on the right of the area at an acute angle, he shot into the side netting.

With AJ alone and fairly isolated in his service from the Everton team, it was new signing Phil Jagielka who was looking their most dangerous bet.

The 19th minute saw the first notable attempt from the visitors, when meeting a free kick from the right, Jagielka got his foot on the ball with a good shot that thudded back off the bar, before bouncing up and away from near the goal line.

Some good approach play from Jeff Hughes on the right in the 21st minute resulted in a floated cross that was nodded back across goal with a cushioned header from Scowcroft to Morrison, whose own header was then over the crossbar.

Everton (seeing plenty of the ball but not really penetrating the Palace defence) then had one final effort of the half, when Victor Anichebe connected with a cross from the right with a shot inside the box that also crashed back off the bar.

Palace made 5 changes during the break and Everton chose to make a couple, but for the most part while Palace pushed forward well still during the 2nd period, chances at either end in the warm weather were few and far between.

Shefki Kuqi popped up with Palace's first of the 2nd period when his header from Danny Butterfield's cross went straight to the 'keeper in the 78th minute and then finally with 5 minutes left on the clock 2nd half sub Dave Martin struck a good shot towards goal, which Tim Howard almost fumbled as he tried to hold on to it.

A good work out for the Palace players, a chance to cheer AJ once again (who was quite rightly given good vocal backing from the Palace fans) and more experience for young Victor Moses. Plus Palace still remain un-beaten during pre-season, which hopefully will do the confidence the world of good.

Palace Team: Speroni, Lawrence, Cort, Fonte, Craig, Green, Soares, Watson, Hughes, Scowcroft, Morrison

Subs: Flinders (For Speroni '46), Butterfield (For Green '46), Hudson (For Cort '46), Kuqi (For Morrison '46),
Freedman (For Scowcroft '46), Martin (For Hughes '61), Moses (For Watson '65), Swaibu (For Fonte '80)


Match Stats:

Palace Shots/Headers: 9 (3 on target)
Everton Shots/Headers: 6 (2 on target)

Palace Corners: 4
Everton Corners: 11

Palace Free Kicks: 5
Everton Free Kicks: 7

Palace Crosses: 14 (8 from right, 6 from left)
(Butterfield 4, Craig 4, Green 3, Lawrence 2, Hughes 1, Martin 1)
Everton Crosses: 7

Attendance: 10,010


Posted by alan.

Anderlecht pose a good test for Palace, full match report

Palace have managed to line up some quite decent opposition for the home pre-season friendlies the past few seasons, and so it was again here last night as Belgian champions and champions league particpants Anderlecht flew into London for this one off game against Palace.

Having played a Belgian supercup match against Bruges the previous weekend, and with a league match scheduled for later this week, the white and purple clad visitors opted to rest all 11 players that had featured for them the previous Saturday.

So it was largely a reserve 11 side that took to the field against Palace, but this in no way diminished their part in the game, as they game us a stern test and look a dangerous
passing side, zipping the ball about sharply in the final third of the field, especially with their fitness levels probably slightly better at the moment.

They certainly weren't short on quality either with a number of wide or forward players catching the eye, including French striker Cyril Thereau and Belgian international midfielder Walter Baseggio.

But what of Palace though ?

Manager Peter Taylor decided largely to employ a 4-5-1 formation, although in the first half both Clinton Morrison and Shefki Kuqi tried their turns up front, with one often supporting the other in a withdrawn role and Dougie Freedman out (largely anonymously) on the left of midfield.

The 2nd half saw James Scowcroft plow a lone furrow upfront, but with Victor Moses behind him in a attacking advanced role after coming on as a sub.

As has strangely been the case in most of the pre-season games as well, the better performance from the Eagles came in the 2nd half, this time once Moses, Martin and Green were all on the pitch.

Palace had the first effort of the match too when in the 5th minute Tom Soares pass found Clinton Morrison, who needed laid the ball left for the advancing Dougie Freedman to shoot and make the 'keeper get down to make a low save. Unfortunately the move was flagged offside, but Palace had showed some good forward movement.

One minute later, the dangerous looking Roland Lamah (wearing number 2, but playing in a forward wide left role) turned Danny Butterfield on the edge of the area and shot sharply toward goal at the near post, where Scott Flinders pushed the ball around.

Shefki Kuqi then had a good chance to score on 20, intercepting a short back pass on the left he bore down on goal as the goalie came out, but snapped off his shot too eagerly into the side netting.

The lead came on 25 minutes for Anderlecht, who were crisply moving the ball around on the deck of the green Selhurst Park pitch (which also was looking a bit narrower along the main stand, with a hint of the white lines being moved in slightly).

It was the earlier mentioned two players who put them ahead. A pass forward and behind the Palace defence from Baseggio as they attacked from the left, found Thereau who then took a yard or two before rolling a low shot under Scott Flinders and into the back of the net.

With 28 minutes then on the clock Palace responded with their own well taken effort. Craig provided the cross
from the left as he got to the byeline and after chesting the ball down inside the area, Kuqi let fly with a volley toward goal that the 'keeper parried away one handedly.

After another minute Sebastian Siani directed a firm header at Flinders from a left sided cross, and a few minutes on from that Mark Kennedy lashed a shot well over after meeting Danny Butterfield's deep cross from the right.

The last attempt of the first half fell to Siani again for Anderlecht, as he crashed a fierce shot back off the
bar from just inside the penalty area.

Rather than replacing the whole side at half time, Peter Taylor opted to make 5 changes for the 2nd period as it kicked off, with the visitors making just the one.

With both Stuart Green and Dave Martin taking to the pitch out wide on either side, Palace looked much more of a threat during the 2nd period, and with better shape. Again though it was Anderlecht who almost extended their lead first.

From a corner on the right straight after the break, Baseggio stepped forward from outside the Palace box and
lashed a shot at the net. Alert to the challenge, Julian Speroni flew to his right and tipped the ball over.

With Palace also beginning to have more of a midfield impact on the game, it was through a 50th minute penalty
that they regained parity.

Stuart Green found space on the right to float a cross in, that was then retrieved by Dave Martin out on the opposite side. Returning a cross of his own into the area, the ball was met by Leon Cort's header which then came off the
outstretched arm of defender Cor Gillis.

The referee blew for a penalty and up stepped regular taker Ben Watson, who slotted the ball to the 'keeper's right for his 2nd penalty strike of pre-season, and to make the score 1 all.

Palace went close again on 54 minutes when Scowcroft leant back slightly to meet Green's cross with a good header directed at goal that just rose over the bar and right hand goal post.

On 63 minutes Victor Moses was introduced into play replacing Mark Kennedy, and allowed a free role to play in front of the midfield but behind James Scowcroft. Eager to be involved it wasn't long before he began taking on players and drifting past them, and as a result of sensing him a threat, was bought down three times when going forward, resulting in two yellow cards for Anderlecht.

Having signed on a year's loan earlier in the day, centre back Jose Fonte was also bought on for Leon Cort at the same time, and look quite assured covering in the centre of defence.

There weren't really any clear cut chances at either end following these changes but both players did well, and with Moses, Green and Martin all posing a threat from midfield positions, Palace looked a much better and free flowing side, and it's likely the side playing Everton this weekend will be similar to the one that takes the field for the start of the season in just over a week's time.


Palace Team: (4-5-1) Flinders, Butterfield, Hudson, Cort, Craig, Soares, Watson, Kennedy, Freedman, Kuqi, Morrison

Subs: Lawrence (For Butterfield '46), Scowcroft (For Kuqi '46), Speroni (For Flinders '46), Martin (For Freedman '46), Fonte (For Cort '61), Hughes (For Craig '46), Green (For Morrison '46), Swaibu, Moses (For Kennedy '61)

Match Stats:

Palace Shots/Headers: 6 (2 on target)
Anderlecht Shots/Headers: 10 (6 on target)

Palace Corners: 3
Anderlecht Corners: 7

Palace Free Kicks: 9
Anderlecht Free kicks: 11

Palace Crosses: 15 (7 from right / 8 from left)
(Craig 3, Butterfield 3, Green 3, Martin 3, Morrison 1, Kennedy 1, Soares 1)
Anderlecht Crosses: 8

Scorer: Watson ('50)
Attendance: 5,232


Posted by alan.

Palace romp on tour...

Palace rounded out their Swedish tour with a fine 4-1 win over part-timers IK Oddevold on a tricky, heavy pitch.

The game opened brightly with Tom Soares ghosting past two defenders and spanking a shot into the side stanchion within 90 seconds. At the other end, the Palace defence failed to deal with a pulled back cross and Paul Hermansson was inches away from turning it home.

From there the pace of the ganme slowed considerably and chances were at a premium, Mark Kenndey and then James Dayton both had a chance to turn a bobbling ball in the six yard box home, but in the end could only force a corner.

Palace opened the scoring on 25 minutes when Danny Butterfield fed Dougie Freedman down the right and he cut back a glorious ball to the unmarked James Dayton who drove home a slightly-less-than-perfect strike from 15 yards, but nevertheless was clearly and rightfully delighted with his first senior goal.

Ten minutes later, Palace had a series of corners during which Kennedy saw a goalbound effort deflected away and James Dayton rifled back a clearance from 25 yards which hit the top edge of the bar. Just before half time, Shefki Kuqi rose above the Oddevald defence to meet a Kennedy cross from the left, but his header was well saved.

Due to the heavy conditions, Peter Taylor elected to play an almost entirely different XI in the second half with only Moses Swaibu remaining, presumably because Jose Fonte - who warmed up and down with the teams - still hasn't had his international clearance through. This policy did however give us a first look at Clinton Morrison and Jeff Hughes in this term, the latter acquitting himself well in a central midfield berth.

On 57 minutes, Mark Hudson and Morrison combined well and Clinton was unlucky to see his chance deflected away, but from the corner, Oddevald broke and Marcus Larsson hammered a fierce, swirling shot from range which Scott Flinders could only parry and David Engelbrektsson followed up and gobbled up the rebound.

For a while, the game looked to be drifting into a midfield stalemate, but as the game worn on fitness told and Palace forged ahead. The Hudson-Morrison axis combined again from a corner and this time, Clinton knocked Hudson's header home to restore the lead on 72 minutes. Five minutes later, it was game over for the Swedes as Stuart Green chased a seeming lost cause and pulled the ball back from the byline to give David Martin a simple tap in from close range. Ben Watson rounded off the win with a sizzling free-kick from 25 yards, in the dying minutes.

Peter Taylor was pleased with the performance, but was quick to point out that the tour games had not been easy by any means. "It's a different type of ball they use here and the pitches have been heavy, so I was delighted with the win. I thought we played exceptionally well the other night against Gothenburg, perhaps, not quite so well tonight. There were some excellent goals though, especially Ben's free kick which really had some power in it. The first goal was also very clever play between Butts and Dougie and I'm pleased for Dayton and Martin on getting their goals - which was a good experience for the lads." The news on Paul Ifill was also encouraging: "We are hoping it's not as serious as we first thought. It could be more of a spasm than a tear in the hamstring, so it'll only be a week or two weeks at the most. We'll know more when he has a scan on Monday". Taylor also confirmed that there were no other injuries from the tour.

First half: Speroni, Butterfield, Cort, Swaibu, Craig, Freedman, Soares, Fletcher, Dayton, Kuqi,

Second Half: Flinders, Lawrence, Swaibu, Hudson, Hills, Green, Watson, Hughes, Martin, Scowcroft, Morrison

Att: 705

Posted by neil.