September 23 2013

Dear, oh dear...a tough day for the Eagles when the Swans flew in.

Palace supporters were hopeful of picking up at least a point against Swansea, Jamesey among them. But...

Well the day started pleasantly enough...a cloudy but mild autumnal Sunday (Sept 22) and - the Man on the Croydon omnibus might have surmised - a chance to pick up some points against one of the less illustrious outfits in the Wadsocash League.

I suppose one day we might get a 3 'o'clock kick-off on a Saturday afternoon again. If the game isn't on TV why shift it to an early Sunday kick-off in the first place?

Anyhow 22,466 souls turned up although your columnist was all too aware that a few days earlier in a Europa League fixture, the Swans had breezed into the intimidating Mestalla stadium and given Valencia a good 3-0 seeing-to.

No sooner had we settled down to watch the proceedings than the excellent Michu banged one in for the visitors and after that things went from bad to worse.

When you've been watching Palace for as many decades as I have, inevitably you will have seen some grisly spectacles - our 9-0 dismemberment against Liverpool in 1989 springs immediately to mind.

But I can't think of many occasions at Selhurst itself when the home side have looked so completely outclassed in every department.

It was only the Swans' somewhat careless finishing that kept the score at a respectable-looking 0-2 which completely belies the truth of the matter.

Maybe Ian Holloway was under the impression that the Whites were going to be a pushover too, as several newcomers wandered around the park looking as though they weren't sure why they were there - Cameron Jerome and Barry Bannan, in particular.

The latter (who looks incredibly like Jon Williams's kid brother) did, however, seem a promising player and as the game progressed he began to justify his selection rather more.

An early second half goal from Nathan Dyer pretty well closed out the game and after that it was very much a case of damage limitation.

As is often the case, former Palace alumni come back to haunt us and this game's candidate was the inspirational Wayne Routledge who grew into the role of one of the chief torturers as time went by.

I always thought that Wayne was one of our finest products and his talent was sublime right from the start even when he was in the youth set-up and so small that his shorts went from neck to ankle.

He established himself in the England under-21 side but inexplicably never found favour with senior managers, especially looking at some of the dross that gets selected in the current era.

Anyhow under the stewardship of Michael Laudrup, Wayne now has a fitting showcase for his great abilities.

So we are at a crossroads now. We have two difficult away games coming up (are there any easy ones?) before the international break in October. Ollie had better start showing his managerial mettle quickly or it will not only be a bleak season ahead but a humiliating one too.

Email Jamesey with your comments to jevans3704@aol.com

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