May 28 2017

Jamesey's golden moment for '16-17…Chelsea pipped by 2-1 at the Bridge.

Jamesey reflects on another season where Palace have experienced the customary blend of joy and anxiety.

The Eagles kicked off with two pre-season games that gave us the usual unpredictable results - a lacklustre 3-1 loss against Fulham at Craven Cottage followed by an impressive 3-1 win versus big name opposition at Selhurst when Valencia were put to the sword in blazing Spanish-style heat.

Last year, having combined an FA Cup Final with what is becoming the usual relegation flirtation, Palace left it until a win against Stoke City in May ensured your correspondent would be reviewing life in the Bagsomoulah League once more in the following season.

The serious business began with a home fixture against West Bromwich Albion which ended in a 0-1 defeat - a late winner from the Baggies, to become a not-unusual event, exemplified by a 1-0 away defeat to Tottenham the following week.

The end of August saw CPFC scrape a 0-0 draw against newly promoted Bournemouth. One point out of nine and 17th in the table. So far, not very good at all.

As autumn shadows lengthened, Palace’s first win of the season was a 1-2 away victory at Middlesbrough on Sept 10, followed by a 4-1 victory against Stoke City although the supporters’ relief was tempered by the fact that three of the goals came from defensive players. Nevertheless, was this the start of a good run?

An away win and draw sent the Eagles up the table to a more respectable position and an October home evening fixture against an out-of-form West Ham looked promising. It was a filthy night with monsoon-like rain lashing down on the Selhurst turf.

The Hammers scored an early goal and our mega-bucks striker Christian Benteke managed to miss a penalty so another match was lost.

A defeat to Leicester was followed by a late afternoon televised game at Selhurst when the visitors were Herr Klopp’s Liverpool. Palace have had some glorious victories against the Scousers in recent seasons and the prospect of meeting them always excites this supporter.

My own experience goes back to the mid and late ‘70s when Liverpool were undisputed football’s top dogs in England and Europe - and it was done with an almost exclusively British team too.

However on this occasion, no glory was in the offing for the Eagles who lost 2-4 and that meant three losses on the spin. Manager Alan Pardew was being sorely tested given the generally dire results for the whole of 2016.

Matters were going from bad to worse and up at Turf Moor, Palace fought back from a two-goal deficit to Burnley only to concede in the 6th minute of time added on.

Mid-November saw the team facing one of the country’s top clubs at Selhurst.

It wasn’t looking too bad at 1-1 against Manchester City until a defensive blunder allowed the visitors to side-foot a simple goal and notch up a 1-2 win.This was truly worrying - five defeats on the spin and it was looking ominous for Alan Pardew although the board was staying loyal as far as his future was concerned.

Palace’s style of football was being labelled as Kamikaze and a visit to the league’s bottom club gave some hope of stemming the losing flood. Being 3-4 up against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium gave us hope that a win was within reach at last.

Well, knock me down with a feather duster, the Eagles only managed to concede 2 goals in stoppage time and another game was chucked away.

Six defeats running. It wasn’t even Christmas yet but relegation looked a real likelihood now.

A much improved performance in the home match against Southampton brought a 3-0 win and a palpable “phew” of relief hovered over SE25 but could that winning mentality be maintained against Hull?

Not really but at least a 3-3 draw saw the Eagles, not the opposition, throwing the sucker punch with an 89th minute header from Fraizer Campbell.

The rot had been stopped but pre-Christmas visits from Man U and Chelsea brought two more losses. This supporter was pleasantly surprised when Victor Moses, in Chelsea colours of course, was given a great salvo of applause by Palace spectators.

Even in the most miserable circumstances sportsmanship and appreciation of “one of our own” emerged.

Just before Christmas the inevitable happened and Pardew got his marching orders. Palace had won only six games out of 36 in 2016 and it wasn’t long before his successor, the great “keeper-upper” Sam Allardyce was named.

Sam’s opening statistics were not to make encouraging reading, with a 1-1 away draw at Watford, a 0-2 away defeat to Arsenal and an ignominious 3-0 defeat to West Ham.

Yet another very late goal from Everton gave the Toffees the points at Selhurst. However we were cheered by a workmanlike 2-0 victory against Bournemouth.

Leaving out any Cup games which, unlike the previous season, weren’t going to go very far, Sam must have been wondering at the size of his task as February approached and the Eagles were now firmly in the drop zone.

If I must award “worst moments of the season” the match against Sunderland definitely takes the honours (my “golden moments” come further below).

A February fixture against fellow-strugglers Sunderland who were as deeply in the mire as CPFC would surely give the chance for some points.

But No, it was not to be. A characteristic fumble by Wayne Hennessey gave the Mackems an early opportunity which they gratefully took. As half-time approached we weren’t all that bothered with all of the second half to equalise and then maybe win the game.

Then came one of the most horrific few minutes I have witnessed in my long-suffering history as a Palace supporter and I should have known never to underestimate our ability to turn a disadvantage into a catastrophe.

Sunderland scored again in the 43rd minute and added two more in time added on. The stunned Eagles were already 0-4 down at half-time and for the first time in the ’16-17 season, the crowd turned nasty with boos and cries of “you’re not fit to wear the shirt”. And that’s the way the score stayed.

After another defeat away to Stoke even the most loyal Palace fans were beginning to wonder if Sam was the right man for the job as we still floundered in the relegation zone and, frankly, looked like prime candidates for the drop.

Then something happened.

In the late February home match against Middlesbrough there were definite signs that Sam’s managerial expertise was beginning to pay off. Three of Sam’s new signings were playing and one of them, Patrick van Aanholt, scored a smashing goal that won the game for the Eagles.

Overall the team looked far more convincing but was it a flash in the pan? Supporters weren’t entirely convinced but in another home match, this time against Watford, Palace got the big break. An own goal from the Hornets’ Troy Deeney (what better to bring joy to home fans) decided a drab game but at least CPFC had crept up to 16th position.

Next game what was for me my golden moment of the entire season. I attended my first away game of ’16-17 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and boy, did I choose the right one.

I have strong emotional and nostalgic links with Chelsea from my boyhood and I hadn’t visited the Bridge since 2005.

Chelsea looked every inch like Pilesocash League champions and when Cesc Fabregas’ strike flew in after only 5 minutes, we away supporters in the Shed End had visions of a possible thumping.

But shortly after that Wilf and Christian both scored and we were, unbelievably, two goals to one up. We defended with grit and guile for the rest of the game and, with the help of the magnificent Mamadou Sakho, we away supporters waltzed out onto the Fulham Road with another victory.

What a win and what a time to achieve it.

Next up were the mighty Arsenal at home and in a Monday evening televised TV match they were despatched by 3-0. This was like living a dream. Was this the same club who had capitulated so lamely against Sunderland? Yes it bloody well was.

We were back to our old bad habits when Leicester City came to town, giving a shocking early goal away with a defensive blunder and even worse went 0-2 down in the second period. However this new and resilient-looking Palace came back into it with two goals to draw the game.

Surely we were reaching a point where relegation was unlikely weren’t we?

Even better, Palace travelled to Scouserland and won 2-1, both goals scored by our Liverpool “reject, Benteke. Surely relegation was not even an issue now, many thought, but we older pessimist couldn’t help remembering the “Oldham syndrome”, despite having climbed to 12th in the table?

As if on cue, the Eagles proceeded to lose to Tottenham, Burnley and Manchester City in succession and once more plunged the club into a relegation position.

So the penultimate game of the season at home to Hull City was to be a possible relegation decider.

Wilf eased our nerves somewhat with a glorious early goal and Benteke scored another before half-time. Two more later goals meant an emphatic 4-0 victory. The Eagles were staying up and the Tigers were going down.

More top-tier for the Palace next season and a club record five consecutive seasons in the Loadsamoulah League.

Your columnist travelled up to Manchester for his second away outing and enjoyed a great weekend in the city although the 2-0 defeat hardly mattered. Palace ended the season in 14th place.

I had barely settled back in London on Monday evening when the shocking news of the bomb atrocity at the Arena broke.

Even the surprise of Sam Allardyce’s resignation seemed largely trivial in the circustances and, as I write, no new appointment has been made.

So we must wait and see who’ll be at the helm for 2017-18 and what sort of season awaits us.

Email Jamesey with your comments to jevans3704@aol.com

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