Home horror show as Palace sink again

Many thanks to guest reporter Tony Humphreys of Eagle Pie fame, for stepping into the breech and helping us out again here.

This was a game against a strong West Brom team in which Palace struggled manfully for an hour or so but ended up well beaten. Peter Taylor continued his policy of square pegs in round holes by selecting Mark Hudson at right back and Ben Watson on the right wing; I assume the former was justified by injury to the two first choice right backs and by the reluctance to expose a younger debutante to the wiles of Jason Koumas, while the latter was presumably to accommodate Tom Soares in his favoured central position. In fact, the changes started off reasonably, with Watson sticking to his wing and providing decent cover for Hudson and between them they allowed little danger to develop from their flank, even if their attacking potential didn’t add up to much. After a slow start, Soares began to play with some determination and spark and with Fletcher adding more bite in midfield, Palace kept a better shape than of late. West Brom’s greater flair and experience always looked likely to give them the edge, however, and it was they who came closest , with Watson heading a goal-bound header from the line and a series of shots and headers flying high or just wide. Palace’s attacking was too predictable and slow to offer much hope of a goal, the closest being when Watson’s cross was met by a header which Scowcroft glanced just wide. Other than that there was little threat, with Kuqi offering nothing but unathletic running and reminding one of the “good” old days of Andy McCulloch, Ally Brown and others of less than fond memory. If at any time you thought you heard a stifled snigger, it was probably coming from Ewood Park.

West Brom took a deserved lead just before half-time when a quick attack down the right ended with a whipped cross, bundled in from half a yard by Zoltan Gera, though from where I sat, not admittedly in an ideal position, it seemed that Mark Hudson might have had the final touch. Half time saw Hudson replaced by Freedman, with Watson moving to right back, but whatever the plan was it was scuppered within two minutes as an incisive through ball saw Kamara speed clear and finish easily from the edge of the area. That, effectively, was that. Palace tried hard enough but there is simply no guile in this team and the best hope lay with Mark Kennedy’s excellent set pieces. Kuqi might have scored with a header from a deep cross, Freedman should have scored with a header from Watson’s excellent driven cross, Scowcroft hit a post with a clever lob and more might have come from a quick free kick played by Watson to Freedman who drove the ball across goal without anyone being able to apply a finishing touch. West Bromwich did, however, have chances to finish the game and with twenty minutes or so left they were in the comfort zone, replacing Nathan Ellington with the midfielder Nigel Quashie and settling for 2-0. A tiring Fletcher was replaced by an ineffectual Stuart Green and the almost totally useless Kuqi by Clinton Morrison, who had the ball in the net with a crisp drive only for James Scowcroft to be penalised for the umpteenth time, seemingly for the crime of wearing a red and blue shirt.

I’m afraid this simply will not do. It’s true that there are injuries at present and that West Bromwich are one of the stronger teams in this division – anyone who can leave out Kevin Phillips and still have a bench with Steve Watson, Quashie and John Hartson ought to do well in the Championship – but there seems no pattern to Palace’s play. There is no incision from out wide and with two big men up front you’d think that one obvious ploy would be to rain in the crosses. The only real pace in the team comes from Tom Soares and it remains to be seen whether Taylor knows where and how to play him. There is very little trickery apart from Jobi McAnuff, when he can be bothered, and there is no bite in midfield. When you see teams like West Brom knocking the ball about almost without thinking to players who anticipate where it’s likely to go and who ensure that the man with the ball is never alone, you wonder what the Palace coaches actually teach the players (they could start by considering the phrase “hunt in packs”).

Supporting Palace has rarely been that easy but performances like this make you wonder why you bother. Still, there’s always next time…

Palace: Kiraly, Ward, Hudson (Freedman 46), Cort,Borrowdale, Watson, Kennedy, Fletcher (Green 68), Soares,Scowcroft, Kuqi (Morrison 68). Subs Not Used: Speroni, Granville.

Booked: Hudson, Scowcroft.

West Brom: Zuberbuhler, Robinson, Perry, Curtis Davies,Albrechtsen, Greening, Gera, Carter, Koumas,Ellington (Quashie 73), Kamara. Subs Not Used: Steele, Watson, Hartson, McShane.

Booked: Curtis Davies, Perry.

Goals: Gera 45, Kamara 48.

Att: 16,105
Ref: R Lee (Brentwood).


Posted by neil