Get
Moritz out for the lads!
Finally
we have a win under our belts. We have dropped some form recently and picked up
the bad habit of throwing away the lead. When I saw this Saturday's fixture at
home to Wolves I felt very confident. I know Wolves are having some problems at
the moment but it was the perfect opportunity to grab 3 points and bring back
some much confidence to the side. Palace have now done the double over Wolves
this season despite the fact that they are a side that have only just dropped down
to the Championship. I know it is said often but anyone in this league has the
ability beat one another.
Something
I found very refreshing was the fact we scored a goal directly from a free
kick. I cannot personally remember the last player to score a goal directly
from a free kick for Palace!?(Darren Ambrose against Villa?) Somehow Moritz
managed to bag two superb free kicks in one game! The first was well placed in
the top corner and no goalkeeper on the planet would haven been able to reach
it. The second had great pace, dip and swerve which wrong footed Ikeme and
sealed the 3 points. This is rare even by Premier League standards. I liked
Holloway’s comments about Moritz after the game; he mentioned that he practices
free kicks week in and week out on the training ground. He also eluded to the
fact that he has not been match fit for a long time hence not starting games
every week. It is good to see there is competition between Garvan and Moritz
for a starting spot as both players are brilliant going forward and they are
both great from a dead ball situation. It was good to see Belasis score his 2nd
for the club and to watch him tormenting the Wolves back four for the entire
game. To be fair Wilf was doing exactly the same on the other wing and the
Wolves defence did not get a moment of rest during the game. I believe Wolves
to be the dirtiest team to come to Selhurst Park this season so how they
finished the game with eleven men I do not know! They should be ashamed of some
of their tackles and the constant pulling of shirts as they were being beaten
to the ball left, right and centre. I have never really liked Wolves mainly as
I have found them a bit boring to watch… it was annoying how long they managed
to stay in the Premier League considering how badly they performed.
I
want to mention the January transfer window, which I have personally been
dreading. The main reason being, the many Premier League vultures around Wilfried
Zaha. The media have not helped the situation and they have been trying to stir
things up, but this aside I really hope he stays at Palace. In my opinion it
would make a great deal of sense to promise Wilf that he is free to leave
should we fail to be promoted this season. He will still be worth the same
amount of money and it gives us the better opportunity to gain promotion if we
can hold on to him for a little while longer. The other problem we have is the
goal machine Glenn Murray leaving for the Premier League. Rumours have been
flying around that a club is going to come in with a £3M bid for him but we
would be a fool to accept. Yes we got him on a free and he is no spring
chicken, but his goals this year have been priceless and he would be a bigger
loss than Zaha. I believe he would do a decent job in the Premiership as Ricky
Lambert has proven he can score goals despite his age and the fact he was more
of a lower league player. Ian Holloway has indicated that the Board have given
him money to spend in the January transfer window and I hope he brings in some
decent replacements, especially as we will be without KG who is off to the
African Cup of Nations. I feel we also need another striker to support Murray
and challenge him for a starting position as I feel Wilbraham is not up to the
task.
Up
next we have Stoke City. Holloway has been told he is not expected to win the
FA Cup but we will give it a go. It will be nice to face a Premiership side to
test what we are made of and it gives some of the other lads a run out.
I love a decent free kick and here is Darren Ambrose' against Villa in the FA cup 2010.
