March 9 2003

Selhurst Park

Bottling was what one's great aunt Gertrude used to do with the plum crop from the tree in the back garden. Times and definitions change but Palace these days don't seem to, argues Jamesey

First let me say I don't want to become a regular old whinger. In many ways I am glad this season has ground to a virtual halt with the Bradford result because I, like many of you, see no future with the current manager.

Having got that off my chest, can I go on to say that the Bradford defeat upset me far more than the Wolves drubbing the previous Saturday?

OK there was a rainbow shining over Pride Park, Derby, late last Wednesday... but it was obviously a false dawn and led to a crock of ordure as far as CPFC is concerned.

When you get a good hammering from a respectably good club away, you can grit your teeth, lick your wounds and get ready for the next match, as was the case with Wolves.

But somehow, to go away to a very poor team with relegation problems, like Bradford, totally dominate the first half, score one and miss a couple more certainties, and then blow it in the second half hurts me more.

Well, we could discuss tactics all night, I guess. Should Tommy and Dougie have started instead of Akinrubbish and Thomson...or should we have played 2:7:1 or 6:2:2?

In the end, we tamely lost a game we should have won because, like so many times this season, we bottled it. We didn't have the desire or the guts to sew up the game and intimidate our opponents into accepting defeat.

With respect to the young age profile of many HOL members who are likely to read this column (one hopes!) I can recall two teams from reasonably recent eras who would have never in a zillion years have bottled it like our current squad seems to.

I exemplify the classic late 80s-early 90s team of Geoff Thomas, Andy Gray, Ian and Mark...and then later Andy Thorn, Eric the Ninja and Nigel Martin.

And our mid-90s squad, with Ray Houghton, David Hopkin and many more far too numerous to mention, would never have chucked away the advantage like that.

And, while we are talking about ex-Palace players with a bit of bottle, how about Gary O'Reilly who was commentating on the game on BBC London FM, a terrific station?

Gary said that Palace need "mental toughness" to get through this game and win it. Some chance!

Email Jamesey with any of your comments to Jevans3704@aol.com

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