February 21 2010

Crystal Palace

A week's a long time in politics, as former PM Harold Wilson once said. But a month's a long time in football, Jamesey sadly reflects.

Here we are again... not really as happy as can be.

After two home defeats against Reading (1-3, Feb 17) and Coventry (0-1, Feb 20) we are in deep faecal material and sitting in the relegation places.

Yes, I certainly enjoyed our draw against Villa but I don't give a fiddler's toss about the FA Cup compared with the possibility of watching Third Division football next season.

And that would be the first time for 35 years since the mid-70s when I lived near the ground and religiously observed our consecutive two-season drop and stayed the course till we rose, Phoenix-like, from the lower reaches.

And it's only a month since we were entertaining play-off hopes until administration and the 10-point deduction seem to have sent us into total free fall.

I have to pinch myself to realise how much fortunes can change in such a short space of time and, of course, the administration penalty is the principal culprit.

We played badly against Reading and frankly deserved to lose, but the Coventry game was winnable and although Superhands Speroni looked shaky at times we should certainly have gathered a point.

But, of course, we gave a daft goal away right at the end when our keeper got lobbed and that was that.

When you are struggling against adversity fate tends to kick you in the teeth and that is very much a commonplace.

I, for one, won't be going to Villa during the week and, at the risk of offending all the supporters who make the trip to Birmingham, I hope we lose, take our wedge of dosh and get back to the far more serious business of staying in the Second Division.

Neil Danns was sitting near me in the Main Stand for the Sky Blues game and I decided to leave him in peace. Some pillock asked him if the rumours about Warnock departing to QPR were true and he had the good grace to laugh and, naturally, say nothing.

Apart from the fact the Danns was about as likely to know the club manager's intentions as a turnstile operator or hot dog seller, even if he did he would hardly rush to be quoted.

Why don't people just shut up and not pester players with pointless questions.

Email Jamesey with your comments to jevans3704@aol.com

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