Surprised parking isn't a problem, I would have thought parking there would be just as hard if not harder as it would be at Watford were it not for the grammar schools.
This was a few years back not in the PL. First time I went was when we played Charlton (they groundshared with Palace at the time) - we went by coach, all the way round the M25 and up the M23 through Croydon....took forever. Drove the next couple of times and decided to try the direct route through London, took 3 hours - never again. Then followed the coach route and that took 2.5 hours - never again. Last time I went, I remember the train from Clapham Common to Palace was a frenzied free-for-all as it was a Monday night game at the height of rush hour (2007 we won 2-0). A platform packed with Watford fans after the game had to wait an eternity for the train and we weren't sure if we'd make the last train from Clapham Common to Watford Junction - we just made it. It was horrendous though. I swore I'd never go to Palace again - I hate everything about it.
Sarr will have a great game at Palace. They do not think it is fare to hassle or foul, or even tackle a skilful player, so will give him loads of space and the freedom to do what he wants.
We have a pretty good record in recent years at Palace, it's just unfortunate that the three times I've been which have occurred during that time have all been defeats! I went in 2005/06 (league game), 2016/17 and 2017/18. All games characterized by us shooting ourselves in the foot, poor performances, or both, and against a Palace side below us in the table which made it all the more annoying. 2005/06 - 1-0 up, lost 3-1 with two own goals and Jordan Stewart having a 'mare as so often 2016/17 - Deeney own goal in a very poor game, with Amrabat putting in a woeful performance when he came on which made me think his time was up 2017/18 - got Cleverley sent off and conceded two goals all in the dying minutes after being ahead, summed up much of the Silva era
It is a particularly difficult place to get to. I lived in nearby Beckenham for years. And still have to make that trip every two weeks or so. Awful, just awful. Going through central London is bad enough but if not that its the worst bits of the awful M25 then horrible, slow, congested single carriageway for miles and slow ******* miles for hours. Then you get to the hellscape of Thornton Heath and its environs, cant park, surrounded by the stench of gray shattered hope
Been aged for me going to that hole. A Sasa Curčic dive lives strong in the memory. They lot were really giving it that day ...
Always been like that, annoyingly. I presume there's not usually much demand for that route late on a Saturday afternoon. There is a direct train at 16.19, useful if we're 4-0 down at half time with Sarr injured!
I checked out their forum today and they are really going off Wilf. No doubt partly as his form has not been so good this season, but mainly as they see that he brings so much of this on himself with his poor attitude.
Yes, I 've said the same to myself: I'm not going there again: It's a badly-stewarded, archaic tin hut, with poor visibility. (In addition, it has to be said, many of the Watford supporters behaved badly, last time I was there).
Yes. Palace will play nothing like Liverpool and present different problems. I can't see them allowing so much space behind them. Mind you, if we do get a goal ahead, Palace will display much less threat of an equaliser. Not much chance of this being first on MOTD. One of the key things is to play with energy and concentration for the full 90 minutes, something we've not been good at this season.
I’ve had a professional opinion. The recommendation was a low heat 2 hours with onions and chopped tenderised brisket, which didn’t please the vegetarian missus.
The important thing about this game is to use it to improve our dismal away record, a point wouldn't be bad but would leave us with just two away wins in 15 and likely reliant on our home form to stay up - winning this and thus building on Saturday's result would give our survival push a real boost.
Interesting, I assumed they were just as much a one-man team as us, but then noticed he's only scored three all season, less than five of our players! And only three assists, equalled by Sarr and beaten by Deulofeu. They're still having a decent season, so I wonder who's been their key player(s) in that? Cahill, McArthur?
Couldn’t say for sure. A few do say that it’s because he is now being double/triple marked that his form has dropped. So I guess maybe that has given more space for the rest of the team. Plus they don’t let in many goals at all so can get away without scoring many - they have scored the least goals in the league, joint only with Norwich!
Actually it's Newcastle, who are on 24 and haven't won their last five league games and have only scored in one of their last six in all competitions (that being a replay at Oxford). Some are saying they are dark horses for the drop...
Hodgson on the tube into work trying to stay incognito whilst formulating this seasons Harry the Hornet rant ahead of this weeks press conference.
Oh yes, how did I miss that! From my Newcastle fans they are very lucky to have picked up the points they have. They have played poorly all season but somehow picked up points. whereas Palace despite being goal shy are probably in a fair position and deserved most of the points they’ve picked up. In fact just checking on the xg table... Newcastle would be bottom! With 13 points less than they actually have.
Cahill, has definitely been one of Palace’s standout players this season. They have been such a boring team this season as already stated. Just defend defend defend and hope for one or two chances. The importance of this game is to not concede first. They have only scored 25 goals, less than a goal a game. Conceded 32, just over a goal a game. Out of their 9 wins they have; 4 1-0’s, 3 2-1’s 2 2-0’s Out of their 9 draws they have; 2 0-0’s 5 1-1’s 2 2-2’s Out of their 10 losses they have; 3 0-1’s 4 0-2’s 1 1-2 1 1-3 1 0-4 Out of those 28 games They have failed to score in 10 games. Have scored 1 goal in 11 games, and have scored 2 in 7 games. Bottom line, score 3 goals and we have a 100% chance of winning. Score 2 and we have 75 % chance of winning. It will be a tight game, a game they will look to nick 1-0, but will be happy with a 0-0. Important to do exactly what we did against Liverpool, energy wise, and be relentless. Everything will go through Zaha, but with Kiko and Sarr on that side, they will have some serious thinking to do. Van Aanholt likes to push forward, so if he does, and we win the ball back, with him and Zaha on that side, the counter for Sarr will be on every time. The Liverpool result will mean nothing if we don’t win here. They are practically safe, they need one more win in the last 10 games. We need the win so much more than them and I expect Pearson to be drilling that into them this week in training. Just got to keep our heads, not do anything stupid, rattle Zaha by all means, but not at the risk of a red. I always worry about Kabasele, Deeney and Capoue in this game letting their head go. However I think the players know what is at risk so I expect another professional performance. Heart says we win 3-1 Head says we win 2-1
We have a history of pulling off an unexpected win and being complete and utter toilet in the next game. We will not score, we just need to stop Palace scoring to get anything from the game.
He always tells me that P fans are such a lovely bunch. He can chat to them without me launching into Godley and Creme, when Mr Tumble gets the ball!
Hopefully this season ends up the reverse of last. At game week 28 last season we had 40 points and Palace had 30. They ended up finishing a point behind us on 49 with us on 50. Obviously neither team will finish on those totals, but relatively speaking they spent most of the season struggling at the bottom, they had a late rally and we had our usual collapse and we ended up just a point ahead.
One of the things I noticed most in the Liverpool game is we didn't blow our load in the first half so had energy in the second. In our recent previous games we chased the oppo down so much in the first half that we seemed leggy and out of it by 60 minutes and conceded late on but v pool we seemed to control our pace more evenly. Hopefully the same here. Don't chase the game down for 45 minutes trying to force mistakes against lesser opposition and have nothing in the tank for the second half for wilf and co to run all over us. 2 good 45 minutes and we get something good out of this.
