December 7 2004

Iain Dowie

Over 48 hours later, it still hurts doesn't it? I know we don't care about Clowntown as much as they love to profess their hatred for us, but the way that game finished has left a bitter taste in the mouth that is proving hard to shift, by Ed Aarons.

But what we must make sure that we do not do is not wallow in our own pity. In the wake of such a defeat, it's easy to criticise and single out players who are perceived to have been at fault but our manager is a tad smarter than that.

"Defeat is very difficult to take because of the performance and I think we definitely deserved to win the game," Iain Dowie said on Sunday.

"We just went to sleep a little bit but I can't complain about the performance as they gave their all."

Now I'm sure Mr Dowie is fully aware that we didn't exactly set the world alight with our play against Charlton, but he knows that to castigate his players would be a massive step in the wrong direction. Take Andy Johnson.

Look how confident he looks every time he steps on to the pitch - you get the feeling he thinks he is as good as anyone in the Premiership these days and that is a result of the confidence Dowie has instilled throughout the team.

Fitz Hall is another example - spotted playing non-league football for Bob Dowie's Chesham in 2002, he has developed into a classy performer at the heart of the Eagles' defence thanks to the faith shown in him by the management team.

We should remember how worried some of our fans were when our first six matches only yielded one point back in September and it's important that we, as fans, can also show that we still have faith in the lads.

Part of the problem in recent weeks, especially at home where there is more pressure on us to perform, seems to have stemmed directly from our excellent run of results in October - we have become victims of our own (if limited) success.

Pundits up and down the country have been queuing up to praise Dowie and his backroom staff, especially the techniques of our favourite Aussie John Harbin and, unsurprisingly, some of the Premiership's other sides have started to take notice.

You could see from the way Charlton approached the game that they were extremely wary of the threat Palace posed to their rickety defence, but Alan Curbishley has not been manager for more than 10 years for no reason.

He acted quickly by bringing Rommedhal on for Johansson after only 20 minutes to match our five man midfield and from that point on, Watson, Hughes and Aki had their least effective game since the manager decided to switch his formation.

So where do we go from here? Well Saturday's game against Blackburn is the perfect opportunity to show that the originators of bouncebackability still know how to achieve it themselves.

Against what is statistically the league's worst side away from home and whose defence boasts Ted Danson lookalike Craig Short as its lynchpin, three points are imperative if we are not going to slip back down to the level of the likes of West Brom, Norwich and Southampton.

But if they insist on persevering with the long-ball tactics that failed so dismally against Charlton, then it could be Sparky's side, looking rejuvenated in recent weeks before Saturday's loss to Spurs, who may take the spoils.

Dowie needs to get the boys back to what they do best and ensure that our three potential match winners Johnson, Routledge and Kolkka get as much of the ball as possible. Fingers crossed for yet another nail-bating Saturday at Selhurst!