Crystal Palace 1-2 Watford FC - 12/01/2019

It rarely is needed.

 

Are you saying he has the option of taking them off!

 

Points needed to avoid relegation since the PL had 2o teams.

17/18 - 34
16/17 - 35
15/16 - 38
14/15 - 36
13/14 - 34
12/13 - 37
11/12 - 37
10/11 - 40
09/10 - 31
08/09 - 35
07/08 - 37
06/07 - 39
05/06 - 35
04/05 - 34
03/04 - 34
02/03 - 43
01/02 - 37
00/01 - 35
99/00 - 34
98/99 - 37
97/98 - 41
96/97 - 41
95/96 - 38

 

So roughly once every 6 seasons

 

Bit harsh zz...

He has us 7th with a lower net investment that newcastle, and look at the credit benitez gets for his 'achievements' there.

I agree we have the potential to improve, but that isn't a fault of JG. At the moment, we only seem to be going one way under JG, and it is the right way

 

The only way we would go down this season now is if we lost all our remaining games. I think another win would just about rid anyone of any outlandish thoughts of Championship football next season.

 

Really we shouldn't even be talking about it, but just enjoying the feast of football and points won on offer!

 

He's excellent all round.

 

I think it was because everyone was returning from the concourse,which is also cramped and dangerous,at the same time.
This created a queue at the gangway and the stewards were clueless in their control of it.People started to push, this caused others to withdraw and stand in areas that other stewards didn't want.
Watford fans,started to lost their temper and it was turning toxic.
My friends were seated near the pitch but elected to stay by the disabled area as they had no chance of returning.

I completely understand and all three of us said this last season.
There is one,that's one, ladies lavatory in the whole stand and in no part of the stand can you walk without feeling confined.
As you say,the view is dismal and because of the hostility between the two clubs over recent times,some of the fans become over excitable. I suspect drink may have been taken!
After both our goals,after my initial celebration,I spent my time trying to prevent numerous lads,aged 19-35 I'd say,from crowd surfing and breaking their necks.
Dump sums it up perfectly.

 

Don't hold your breath.

 

Twice in a season?! Maybe a tad greedy haha.

Saying that, they'll be Son-less and he's been superb.

 

One other reason was that supporters weren't being let back into certain sections unless they showed a ticket to prove they were sitting there in the first place. Not everyone had one on them.

 

When you consider they’ve had one more season in the premier league (or is it 2?) what have they done with their money? The ground is poor and the team have hardly been transformed . In fairness they’ve stayed up and are still there. Have they put a lot into other areas? Training facilities etc? Yet again compare that to what our owners have done!

 

True.
Some gormless lady steward kept repeating "please show your ticket on return,you won't be allowed back if not".
It wasn't Shakespeare to begin with and lost any appeal after the 51st hearing!

Two seasons I think.
They have scored a zero for food hygiene at their training ground.
The rodents are happy though!

 

Yep was on the live Tv stream, was pushing one of the medics, then a few mins later they cam onto the pitch to get him off, clearly very keen to stay on the pitch, also clearly not quite right , but great to see a player so desperate to play

 

They spent their money on dud-has-beens, see Benteke and Townsend for details.

We have bought a few duds but they have mostly been kids so haven't cost huge sums.

 

Would have thought Fulham and Huddersfield will go down with under 30, think the 3rd slot will be mid 30 , like you say can’t see anyone needing 40 to say up

 

Maybe a little harsh, as he has done brilliantly, I was just pointing out where I think we can do better.

 

Not really - twice in the first 3 seasons and then twice more. The trend is going down as the teams at the top get better / richer. 36 max. Max

 

The concourse there must be smaller than what we give away fans in the Vic, so I'm not surprised to hear that. By your & others' accounts, the stewarding left a lot to be desired with unnecessary ticket-checking strategies for the cramped space and the timing.

I'm not sure some of our fans helped however, this developing 'faux rivalry' between the two clubs brought out the tw@ats on both sides. On my train in for example there was bunch of young Watford 'fans' banging on the windows and chanting, including the 'Zaha, Zaha, you're a c...' one. Well, he may well be that, but inappropriate on a train with Palace fans and non-football-going families as well. I was embarrassed enough to apologise to the family I was sitting opposite and the dad said 'no worries, Palace have their share of idiots as well'. The stewards may have been advised to be stricter on checking seating because of the atmosphere, but saying that I've never felt totally safe or comfortable at that ground anyway. There is not enough space for general milling around, never mind if there's an issue. It always reminds me of the caged terraces of the 80s. Treat fans like animals and guess what you get...?!

NB. During the match there was one bloke, must have been in his 50s, kept running down the gangway steps to middle finger the Palace fans, most of whom weren't 'asking for it' anyway. Grow up ffs!

 

I think we're all guilty of this – I certainly am. I look back at the matches played so far and think – "We should have won at Fulham and Everton. We should have held on at Bournemouth. If we'd played properly at home to Newcastle we could have won that; ditto at Southampton. We deserved more at Newcastle too." And before you know it I can identify 10 points that slipped away.

But football isn't really like that – unless you're supporting one of the very top clubs who rarely drop points. Luck and unintended consequences play a huge part in determining results. Just look at the first half yesterday – Watford hit the post twice (albeit both in the same phase of play), and Deeney should have done better with the header. In an alternate universe they'd have been 2-0 up before the pinball in the six-yard box led to Palace's goal.

I will just enjoy the fact that so many of the games recently have been open (perhaps too open), fast-paced, attacking and flowing. We've seen some great stuff and the entertainment value (aided by the results, admittedly) has been high.

Granted, there have been mistakes and misfortune but – to borrow and adapt a phrase from the game of golf – football is not a game of perfect.

 

I can't agree with this bit of your post. I think the opposite! His tactics are generally flexible, subtle and well carried through. That doesn't mean he doesn't ever get it wrong: It's a competitive league and that includes some very fine coaches, who are all trying to get one over the opposition.
Strategy is not much in his hands - he's a coach, employed to coach the squad within the club philosophy, with a squad picked to that end and with the strengths and limitations that implies.
The strategy will largely dictate the possibilities and limitations of his tactics.
By and large I would have criticised his substitution-timings, mostly earlier in the season; and certainly not yesterday.

 

There was one chap probably mid 50's carted out in the early stages of the second half, I wonder if it was him, although considering the way he was taken out I believe he would have come from the upper section

 

Why should anyone feel "guilty" about looking to improve? You said that football is not a game of "perfect", and looking for ways to improve is an acknowledgement of that. Every coach, supervisor, or manager should be looking for ways to improve, and I am sure that is why Gracia spends most of his time on the training pitches trying to improve on what has gone before.

Fair enough, it is a matter of opinion. But I like some tactical changes to be clear rather than subtle to make the opposition change their tactics to counter them. I would like our two wide men, who both like to cut inside, to swap sides and go down the outside and cut the ball back for a change, even if it's just 5 or 10 minutes at a time. Swap with Dele for a bit. Just make the opposition think a bit. I'd like different players to take corners, sometimes putting someone taller at the near post. I'd like Quina played, or introduced more. I'd like the occasional tactical sub brought on at half time, or after 60 minutes.

I think that one of the main reasons we give the ball away so often is because we are too predictable and that makes our "pass to" options too easily marked or countered.

 

It wasn't him as this numpty carried on right through to the end.

 

I suspect that there will only be one big sale in each summer transfer window so we'd only lose Doucs or Bobby P. This would give us the best chance of filling the resulting gaps in the team gradually.

 

That would make a lot of sense

 

40 it is, then.

 

Sounds similar to when Basil Fawlty had that nasty bang on the head.

 

Maybe Kane-less too, looked in pain at end of Manu game.

 

Who is Dele?

 

I know.

Maybe the great man wanted to get back to his Bucks/Herts roots.

 

Bleedin snowflake.

Back in the day, ALL grounds were like that.

A ladies' loo was unheard of opulence.

 

Yes,we had a few young lads singing the Zaha version of "My Old Man's A Dustman" both on arrival and departure at Norwood Junction.
I couldn't see the gangway runner,thankfully. Infantile to say the least.