January 26 2005

Crystal Palace

Dougie Freedman. Palace legend. But the great man is not resting on his laurels as his virtuoso performance against Spurs on Saturday demonstrated, writes Neil McSteen.

After we grabbed a point up at White Hart Lane in December, ending the game with Sandor Torghelle upfront alongside AJ, Dowie opted to start the return fixture with an attacking 4-4-2 formation.

The talismanic Scotsman was called upon to do a job, and the man AJ calls "the best finisher at the club" duly rolled back the years.

Whether Freedman can hold down a starting place remains to be seen but he is clearly part of Dowie's plans again.

With IVAN KAVIEDES gone and no other strikers likely to come in, it's a straight fight between Freedman and Torghelle for the second striker role.

The lack of transfer activity is a worry, but we can't put it all down to Dowie.

Our manager is regularly credited as being the reason why people join us (Fitz Hall, Emmerson Boyce) and why people stay (Andrew Johnson).

Is it just lack of transfer funds or agents not wanting to deal with our club? Who knows, but with a reported increased bid for Wayne Routledge now on the table from Spurs will Dowie now have a couple of million to spend?

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