Weekly Views- Spygate, Safety and West Ham

Safety: it feels good doesn’t it? Now I know that Palace are not mathematically secure at the moment, but I am sure Pulis will already be planning for another stay in the Premier League next season. Another fantastic victory against a strong Everton side capped off what has been a brilliant few weeks for Palace. 4 wins and 3 clean sheets- that’s Champions League territory!

Despite the win on Wednesday night, many people have been left with a sour taste in their mouths over this whole ‘spygate’ scandal. I’m sure most of you know what I am talking about, but if not I will quickly sum up the situation for you. Vincent Tan and Cardiff City have accused Palace of getting information about the Cardiff team in advance of the game two weeks ago. This was apparently all found out when Iain Moody sent a text to the wrong person: a certain Dougie Freedman. Now, I always keep an open eye when it comes to claims made against Palace, but this one seems extremely strange. To me, it is as if Tan just wants to get his own back on a team that beat Cardiff 3-0 away from home, but I don’t see it happening.

Attentions now turn towards tomorrow’s game at West Ham. West Ham aren’t truly safe yet, and could do with some points just to keep them going until the end of the season. Because of this, this game will be just as tough as any other, but hopefully Pulis can guide Palace to a fifth win in a row. Palace managed to record a victory over the Hammers in December, in a game which was not the most exciting or the greatest advert for English football. It will be a similar game tomorrow, with both sides focusing on their defence. It won’t matter, though, as Pulis has taught us over the past few months that you can play good football but still keep it tight at the back and win games. Possession is just another statistic.

Palace’s key players will once again be the wingers. Bolasie and Puncheon have been in fantastic form recently, and they should be aiming to keep this going into the future, starting tomorrow. Counter attacks need to be quick, and that is what these two players offer. Palace fans will also be hoping that Bolasie can fetch himself a goal soon. He has come close in the past two games- hopefully he can send the travelling fans mental with a last minute winner tomorrow!

Up the Palace

Roundup- Speroni, Williams and more

Jonny Williams has been confirmed to be staying at Ipswich for the remainder of the season. This is a good move all round for all parties involved. He will get to hone his skills ahead of cementing a place in the squad next season. Palace will benefit from an improved player when he comes back, whilst Ipswich much be laughing at the fact that they get to keep such a brilliant player on their books for the remainder of the season. Pulis has said that the Jonny has a future at the club, and every Palace fan knows what he is capable of.

The under 21’s pulled off another victory yesterday, this time beating Swansea 3-1 at the Liberty stadium. This keeps their play-off hopes alive, with only one game left to play against Brentford. Currently only a point behind QPR, a win could see them progressing to the next round. This would be a fantastic achievement for Gary Issott’s boys.

There was some fantastic news in Speroni’s recent interview with the Croydon Advertiser. This is what he had to say for himself:

My priority is to stay.

“At the moment I don’t know what’s going to happen.

“As a professional footballer I need to understand different situations and I can’t say any more than that.

“As a player you prefer to sort things a lot earlier but sometimes you have to adapt to how the circumstances go.

“At the moment I just have to see what happens. I can’t thank the fans for all their support and I know they want me to stay.

“I want to stay – and I think the club wants me to stay as well. We need to sort things out. When? I’m not really sure.

“There have been some talks but I don’t think it’s going to happen any time soon.”

I would love Julian to stay and play a role at the club next season. His save against Eden Hazard on Saturday showed what a top class keeper he still is, even at his age. The man has been a hero for Palace over the last decade, and a new contract would be extremely fitting for a man who cares so much about the red and blue.

Up the Palace

Is a summer move for Zaha on the cards?

The Daily Mail are reporting that a summer move for Wilfried Zaha back to Palace could be on the cards. I’m sure that the majority of Palace fans would love this move to take place, but will it be good in the long term?

Firstly, let’s start with the positives. Zaha is a fantastic player, and anyone who was lucky enough to witness him play in red and blue knows what a talent he has. His pace, skills and desire made him caused one of the biggest clubs in the world to sign him last summer. Wilf was loaned back for the remainder of the season, and was instrumental in helping Palace to achieve promotion to the Premier League. It was his goals that led to a victory against arch rivals in the semi-finals, and it was his speed which one Palace the penalty that Kevin Phillips converted on that glorious day at Wembley.

Zaha clearly loves Palace. Being a local lad who was recruited into the youth set up at such a young age, for the majority of his life he has been in and around the club. Pulis loves a fighter, and all Palace fans know that Zaha will give his all for the club. At his peak, he is a cut above the wingers that Palace currently had, and Wilf could easily walk back into the team.

However, he hasn’t been playing regular football all season. A public fallout with David Moyes saw Wilf shipped off to Cardiff in January. Despite glimpses of brilliance, he hasn’t been able to cement a place in the starting line-up. This has meant that his match fitness will have slightly dwindled, so it would take lots of effort pre-season to get up to scratch. As well as this, Zaha still hasn’t been able to prove himself in the Premier League. Everybody knew what he was capable of in the Championship, but will he have the same effect for Palace a league above?

Personally, though, I would love to see Zaha back at Palace. It will be a new start for him, and I know for certain that he will give his all for the club. Everybody know the talent he possesses, and I for one am confident that he will be a massive improvement on what Pulis has available for team selection at the moment. It would just be a case of United letting him go. Saturday proved that miracles can happen!

Latest updates- Youth academy, Loan stars and more!

It was good to see us get a win over Charlton, albeit at development level. Goals from Reise Allaisani  and Morgan Ferrier (currently on trial at the club) secured victory over our South London rivals. A few first team members saw some action, with Bannan playing an important role in the first goal. Guediora had a few at attempts of his own at goal, something that the first team are in desperate need of at the moment. It’s always nice to see the academy doing well, and hopefully a new star will come off the production line soon.

A couple of our younger loan stars played well for their clubs over the weekend. I’ll start with Jose Campana, who scored a stunning goal for FC Nuremberg in their game against Eintracht Frankfurt. They ended up losing the game, but Jose’s goal was excellent. I’ll leave a link at the end of this article, so that you can enjoy his stunning strike too. It’s a shame that he didn’t settle into the club quite as well as hoped, but hopefully playing in Germany will make him stronger in his game, so that he can have his chance with us next season.

Jonny Williams played a starring role in Ipswich Town’s win against our South Coast rivals. He showed brilliant footwork before unleashing a pin-point cross to set up Daryl Murphy for their second goal. He then pretended to go to the toilet in by the corner flag, before once again mocking the Seagulls by celebrating his assist in the same way that Wilf during the Play Off win. If you cut the boy open, he would bleed red and blue. Hopefully Jonny can extend his stay at Portman Road until the end of the season, where, like Jose, he will pick up some valuable experience for when August comes around.

It was unfortunate to hear that Peter Ramage is likely to be out for the rest of the season. I know he isn’t currently on our books, but Rambo gave his all for Palace last season, and we will be forever grateful for his efforts in getting us to the destined land. Jack Hunt, another Palace player on loan at the Tykes, only played half the game in a disappointing loss to Bournemouth.

Tonight sees another round of Premier League games, although we won’t be involved. The only one which really concerns us is Liverpool against Sunderland. Hopefully Sturridge and Suarez will be on form, so that the Mackems do not gain on us! Later on in the week I’ll be having a look ahead to Saturday’s game, and as always any Palace news will be discussed. If you have enjoyed reading this over the past few days (or not) please feel free to give any feedback. Follow me on twitter for the latest updates, and if you really want you can subscribe by email through the link on the right. Thank you so much for all the advice and kind words I have received so far, and I hope that, with your help, The1905 can become a wonderful site!

Up the Palace

Campana’s wonderstrike! https://vine.co/v/MMIg03Q7nJ7