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I'd been looking forward to today; a Christmas London Derby, relegation six-pointer, Palace there for the taking after a dismal run of form. I was expecting a lively encounter and maybe even an electric atmosphere (remember those?)!
What I saw instead was a disjointed, tedious affair between two dreadful sides. We played right into their hands by booting the ball up to Zamora every time we won possession and showing no imagination. Such a dull affair meant that the atmosphere was even worse than usual. The PalArse fans outsang us from start to finish with embarrassing renditions of football's worst club anthem, 'Glad All Over', and 'is this a library?', to which a fan near me retorted 'at least we can read'. All in all, I left the ground feeling very disappointed. A waste of an afternoon really, and definitely two vital points dropped against comfortably the worst team I've seen us play this season.
Where was the link-up play between midfield and the strikers? Practically non-existent. I'm intrigued as to what Hoddle actually does; he's supposedly been brought in to get us playing attractive, incisive football, yet our players look desperately uncomfortable on the ball and often clueless in possession. I felt sorry for Austin; totally isolated and unable to make any impact whatsoever because of the dire service from the midfield.
Harry's substitutions were mystifying as always. Just as Fer was growing in confidence, picking up the ball and actually running at the opposition, 'Arry goes and takes him off! Why? Who knows?
Hoilett was once again abysmal. Not good enough for the Premier League, I'm afraid, and we should look to get rid in the transfer window. I became sick of what footballing scholars have termed the "Hoilett cycle" months ago (get ball, run, cut inside, produce crap cross/whack it into defender's shins, repeat sixty times). My feelings are the same regarding Phillips. I like the bloke (works hard, runs about Hogan Ephraim style) but does he have the quality to succeed at this level? Afraid not. We need to invest in several quality wingers. Hopefully there's some truth in the speculation surrounding Scott Sinclair and Andros Townsend.
There were few positives, and they all related to the defensive display. Once again, Dunne was immense. Caulker put in his best display in a QPR shirt and Isla saved us on innumerable occasions. But going forward? My God we were bad. It's a footballing cliche, I know, but I genuinely wonder what on earth goes on in training. We're not doing the basics right - trapping the ball, looking up before you pass, making runs into space...
The pro-Redknapp, 'optimistic brigade' will highlight the league position - and, sure, they have a point. 15th, yes, we all would've taken that at the beginning of the campaign. Yet I feel there's an illusory quality about it. Something tells me we're still in deep trouble. We're not showing enough ambition, not taking enough risks - and sometimes, as Burnley showed today against City, that's what gets you crucial points. Plus, our ball retention is appalling.
I still think we need to improve, big time.
What I saw instead was a disjointed, tedious affair between two dreadful sides. We played right into their hands by booting the ball up to Zamora every time we won possession and showing no imagination. Such a dull affair meant that the atmosphere was even worse than usual. The PalArse fans outsang us from start to finish with embarrassing renditions of football's worst club anthem, 'Glad All Over', and 'is this a library?', to which a fan near me retorted 'at least we can read'. All in all, I left the ground feeling very disappointed. A waste of an afternoon really, and definitely two vital points dropped against comfortably the worst team I've seen us play this season.
Where was the link-up play between midfield and the strikers? Practically non-existent. I'm intrigued as to what Hoddle actually does; he's supposedly been brought in to get us playing attractive, incisive football, yet our players look desperately uncomfortable on the ball and often clueless in possession. I felt sorry for Austin; totally isolated and unable to make any impact whatsoever because of the dire service from the midfield.
Harry's substitutions were mystifying as always. Just as Fer was growing in confidence, picking up the ball and actually running at the opposition, 'Arry goes and takes him off! Why? Who knows?
Hoilett was once again abysmal. Not good enough for the Premier League, I'm afraid, and we should look to get rid in the transfer window. I became sick of what footballing scholars have termed the "Hoilett cycle" months ago (get ball, run, cut inside, produce crap cross/whack it into defender's shins, repeat sixty times). My feelings are the same regarding Phillips. I like the bloke (works hard, runs about Hogan Ephraim style) but does he have the quality to succeed at this level? Afraid not. We need to invest in several quality wingers. Hopefully there's some truth in the speculation surrounding Scott Sinclair and Andros Townsend.
There were few positives, and they all related to the defensive display. Once again, Dunne was immense. Caulker put in his best display in a QPR shirt and Isla saved us on innumerable occasions. But going forward? My God we were bad. It's a footballing cliche, I know, but I genuinely wonder what on earth goes on in training. We're not doing the basics right - trapping the ball, looking up before you pass, making runs into space...
The pro-Redknapp, 'optimistic brigade' will highlight the league position - and, sure, they have a point. 15th, yes, we all would've taken that at the beginning of the campaign. Yet I feel there's an illusory quality about it. Something tells me we're still in deep trouble. We're not showing enough ambition, not taking enough risks - and sometimes, as Burnley showed today against City, that's what gets you crucial points. Plus, our ball retention is appalling.
I still think we need to improve, big time.
SIR LESLIE FERDINAND!!
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