STEW'S PREVIEWS
CRYSTAL PALACE v MIDDLESBROUGH
Stewart Flaherty, 6 Nov 2009
BORO EYE VIEW
Middlesbrough 0 Plymouth 1
Typical Boro? Bubble burst? Feeling let down? Quite frankly, I do not buy into
that kind of thinking.
It was a disappointing result and things could have gone
better.
Column Continues Below...
It would have been better had Adam Johnson not missed a penalty (ghosts of Gareth
Southgate circa 1996 anyone?), and had we scored in the seven minutes of extra time we would
not have felt as bad.
But the fact is that there is work to be done on the team and it will
be done by a man who has done it before.
His contacts will help in the transfer
market. This has been shown by how quickly he has brought in two Premier League loan
signings.
This has really excited me about January.
Andy Griffin is another Premier
League player who has openly expressed an interest in playing for the Boro now that
Strachan is in charge:
"It's something I'd really have to consider, playing for a manager of his calibre. It's a good club. If I get a phone call, which I haven't yet, then we'll have to wait and see."
Of course, if this poor home form continues, we could always use some ideas with which Strachan
has been involved previously.
See the quote below from the BBC website:
"When Southampton FC moved to their new stadium, St Mary's, in 2001, they just
couldn't win at home.
"This was subsequently identified to be the work of some dead
Saxons, upon whose ancient burial ground the stadium had been built.
"The curse was
lifted by adopting the two-pronged attack of inviting a pagan witch to bless the
ground on one hand, and hiring Gordon Strachan as team manager on the other."
We get away from the home worries temporarily but it is certainly not a relief as a
tough trip to London awaits.
The League table is starting to look distinctly
ugly - with Boro down in eighth, points are a must.
Strachan v Warnock, what
are the odds on seeing a sideline bust up anyone?
PALACE EYE VIEW
This week we have a treat. Whilst I like to study the opposition situation and
give my opinion, a better option exists.
Keith Moore is a friend of mine
and also a professional journalist who covers sports for the AP in London. He is
also an avid Palace fan and will write this week's Palace Eye view section.
So without further ado, Ladies and Gentlemen. Mr Keith Moore *cue rapturous applause*
BY KEITH MOORE
The days of Palace being tagged as a 'yo-yo' team are long gone. Expectations are
now to hope for a play-off place at best.
Realistically, we are a mid-table team and
this season's drop in home attendances has reflected as much. In truth, we've had
no consistency since Andy Johnson left for Everton in 2006.
Amid this season's transfer bans and Simon Jordan's whoring of the club, the academy
graduates are Palace fans' rays of sunshine.
Opposition and neutral fans' favourite, Neil Warnock, has done wonders to engineer
some of the performances that he has so far, in spite of the dearth of resources he has
at his disposal.
Like all of Warnock's teams, Palace work very hard, play with
enthusiasm and get men behind the ball quickly. But Palace fans never know
what kind of performance they will get.
An away win at West Brom is the highlight of the season so
far, a draw at QPR in mid-week was credible, a 4-0 home defeat to Scunthorpe in
September was a disaster.
I'm expecting a reaction from Boro after the embarrassing loss in Strachan's first
game in charge. If Boro get an early goal, Palace's youngsters could get a hiding.
Match up of the day, in my opinion, could be between Adam Johnson and, if he's
playing at right-back, Nathaniel Clyne. Clyne has a bit of a young Ashley Cole
about him: he is quick, athletic, great going forward and able to pull women well out of
his league.
Victor Moses is a fantastically gifted player and, on his day, he can skin anyone, as he
proved against Micah Richards in the League Cup.
French youngster, Alessane
N'Diaye's performances are probably reflective of Palace as a team: Lionel Messi one
minute, Aunt Bessie the next.
Reliable older pros, Shaun Derry, Paddy McCarthy and Julian Speroni, need to have big
games for Palace if we are to get anything out of the game.
Without a decent forward, though,
Palace are not much of an attacking threat, even at home.
Against Boro's superior
players, Palace will probably play deep and hope one of the quick youngsters can
nick a goal on the break.
I'll go into the game more in hope than expectation, both for a victory and for a
chance to abuse Stew.
HEAD TO HEAD
Goalkeepers
Brad Jones appears to have won the fight with Danny Coyne and will have between now and January to stake a more solid claim for keeping the jersey in the long term. An athletic shot
stopper, he is yet to prove he can command his area consistently and deal with
quality crosses.
Argentinian Julian Speroni played 100 games in the Scottish Premier League and has
now played over 100 for Palace. Another athletic shot stopper, Speroni is described
on the Palace website as "one of the best goalkeepers in Crystal Palace's history".
Edge: Palace. They have a quality and experienced keeper.
Boro Defence v Palace Attack
Boro have talent at the back, but simply have not looked as rock solid since the
sale of Huth (four League games without conceding to open the season, 16 goals conceded
in the 11 games since).
Individual talent exists in both Wheater and St Ledger, but we
are yet to see a run of games where they show themselves to be a solid pairing.
Individual errors are occurring. Against Plymouth, Wheater made a bad error to let in Jamie
Mackie and then showed a lack of strength in trying to rectify his mistake.
Full-back wise, the return of Pogatetz was
sadly brief and the two spots seem unsettled. Hoyte appears to show more potential
than he does production so far.
Republic of Ireland International Alan Lee leads the line for the Eagles. He has
Championship goal scoring pedigree, with a previous spell of 31 goals in 91 games
for Ipswich.
He is joined in attack by West Ham youngster Freddie Sears, who made
22 Premier League appearances last season and is on loan at Palace for the season.
Palace can also call on
the international experience of Stern John, who has scored 69 goals for Trinidad and
Tobago.
Interestingly, Lee is the only forward to get on the score sheet this
season.
Edge: Palace. Lee is solid and Sears is a star in the making, many believe. Meanwhile, Boro
still look prone to errors.
Midfield
Rhys Williams has had a good season but it will be interesting to see if he keeps
his spot ahead of Isaiah Osbourne, who was signed on loan on Thursday. He is a defensive midfielder and was on Strachan's now infamous 'shopping list'.
Whilst YouTube videos can show only
what they want you to see (think Alves), this brief clip suggests he has more pace
and dynamic movement than Arca:
Okay, despite that shocking joke, Arca played well against Plymouth.
For all the
criticism of his right wing spot, when you have a player with technical ability who
may not be a good athlete and/or defender, I would rather see that player out wide than in centre-mid.
The comments above from Keith show the kind of respect that Adam Johnson is starting to
command throughout the division.
Palace have a good midfield. It is anchored by captain Shaun Derry and the
very impressive Darren Ambrose.
Ambrose has played in the Premier League with
Newcastle and Charlton. He has also played for the England Under-21s and has the very
impressive strike rate of seven goals in 13 games from central midfield.
Former Liverpool schoolboy Neil Danns has scored twice, as has the talented but enigmatic
Frenchman Alassane N'Diaye, who at 6'4" and 14st 2lbs is an absolute unit!
The Palace engine room is rounded out by attacking midfielder Victor Moses, who has won
the Golden Boot at the European U17 Championships. He gave Manchester City and
Micah Richards a hard time in the League Cup.
Edge: Even. There is talent on both sides and it is a real stiff test for the Boro. Ambrose is a
big threat, but the lethal Johnson can change a game at any second.
Boro Attack v Palace Defence
Marcus Bent is a welcome addition to the Boro front line. His size and movement was
a notable improvement from the pacy but fragile Emnes in the second half against Argyle.
His words also suggest a level of experience, perspective and
intelligence, and this bodes well for the rest of the season:
"I was in the division last season with Birmingham and we got promoted after a long
graft.
"Today wasn't the debut I would have liked because it wasn't the result we
wanted because we didn't get the three points, but on the positives, we had plenty of
chances and played some good football.
"It's going to be a very hard season. There's
going to be a lot of people jumping on our backs and we've got to stick together and
move on.
"It's two or three months into the season and although we've had a few
bad results over the last few weeks, we're still at the top end of the table."
Portuguese centre-back Jose Fonte is on loan from Benfica and has played 13 games for
Palace.
Clint Hill is a hard working defender who has previously won the Fans' Player of the
Year Award at Stoke City.
Danny Butterfield remains from Palace's last
Premier League season, and the back line should be rounded out by Nathaniel Clyne,
whose attacking instincts may play right into the hands of Adam Johnson.
Edge: Boro. Bent adds physical presence to a very pacy attack.
Fans
Boro Supporters South should ensure a fairly good Boro crowd at the game and an
upbeat atmosphere in the away end. Palace fans may be quietened should Boro start
well and go on to have another successful away day.
Edge: Even. Fairly run of the mill crowd and the Boro will be relieved that they are not playing at home.
Prediction
Draw. There is a lot of talent in a Palace side that has the ability to score. However, they
do not appear to have the ability to stop Middlesbrough from doing so too.
