Welcome to my blog.
Everything a bloke could want. General comedy and chat about all things Beer Footy and Birds, in no particular order!
Enjoy...............
Mark.
There are only seven days until Crystal Palace Football Club take on Watford at Wembley in what is comfortably recognised as the the richest domestic football match in the world.
The npower Championship Play-off Final 2013 is a game reportedly worth somewhere in the region of £120m to the winners, and can literally change a club's standing in terms of structure and development overnight, but who will be the hero on the day?
Ultimately the whole playing squad, the management, the owners and the fans will all be winners should Palace reach the promise land, but often in Wembley finals, the hero on the pitch is someone rather unlikely!
Think Booby Stokes of Southampton, Alan Taylor of West Ham, Lee Martin of Manchester United, Wade Elliott of Burnley or Brett Ormerod of Blackpool.
Not necessarily players who set your pulses racing, but all of them have made significant and winning contributions in past Wembley finals.
Now Crystal Palace are a club that boasts a squad of young flair players, just think Zaha, Williams and Bolasie alongside some very experienced ones in Speroni, Phillips, Delaney, Jedinak, Gabbidon and Ramage.
However I think the key to success at Wembley lies with a player who has only stated five league games this season, having had to play second fiddle to the Championship's leading goalscorer Glenn Murray. However since a recent season ending knee injury to Murray, this player has been thrust into the role of centre-forward, target man or lone striker (or whatever the correct modern day terminology is when you play with one out-and-out an out front man).
Step forward Aaron Thomas Wilbraham. The 33 year-old, 6ft 3" Cheshire born striker joined Palace from Norwich on a two year deal on 4th July 2012, after rejecting offers from several other clubs including Brighton and Bristol City.
The name Aaron is thought to descend from either ancient Egyptian origin meaning "Warrior Lion" or derived from various Hebrew roots meaning "Mountain of Strength."
Zaha & Wilbraham celebrate as Palace reach Wembley
In recent weeks Wilbraham has been given more game time and his performances have been reflected in that fact. He has taken on an almost no win role in trying to fill the boots of Palace hero Murray, but from what I have seen of his performances I have been impressed! He may not have grabbed the headlines but he was instrumental in our play-off semi final victory over Brighton and Hove Albion, a club now seemingly in freefall and reeling in the aftermath of that defeat!
He is by no means a goal scoring machine but he brings valuable experience to the team, and is particularly good at bringing other players into the game. He is a strong and mobile player and I think he holds the ball up adeptly, takes up good positions in and round the 18 yard box and has a decent touch in terms of ball control. In addition his work rate is good and as a result he is able to put pressure on opposition defences.
Wilbraham started his career in 1997 at Stockport County, where he made 118 league starts. He then had a spell at Hull City before joining MK Dons where he had a solid six years helping 'The Dons' to win the 2007–08 Football League Two title and in the following season under Roberto Di Matteo he was the clubs Players' Player of the Year, Player of the Year and was also was the clubs leading goalscorer.
On 1st January 2011 Norwich City under Paul Lambert signed the big man and he gained valuable Premier League experience in his 18 month spell with 'The Canaries.'
The season Norwich clinched promotion to the Premier League meant Wilbraham had won promotion from all three Lower Leagues: (League 2 to League 1 with MK Dons in 2007/08, League One to The Championship with Hull in 2004/05 and The Championship to the Premier League with Norwich in 2010/11)
Wilbraham became a member of an elite group of players who have scored at all 4 levels of English league football, namely for Norwich in The Championship and Premier League, the MK Dons and Stockport in League Two and the MK Dons in League One.
Now Aaron our "Warrior Lion and "Mountain of Strength" has the opportunity to step up and become a Crystal Palace hero with a match winning performance against 'Udinese Reserves' at Wembley in the Championship Play-Off Final in a week's time.
Can Palace do it on the 27th May 2013? Of course they can........and in style, with the help of Big Willie!
With just over 24 hours until Crystal Palace face Brighton in the 1st leg of the Championship play-off semi-final, I thought I would put together a list of statistics for the 2012/13 league season, ranging from the number of penalties awarded and scored to the the number of clean sheets kept, from the average number of goals scored and points won at home to the disciplinary records of the players.
2012/13 Championship season - Crystal Palace
Final League Position: 5th
Total points: 72 (Champions: Cardiff 87pts, Runners-up: Hull City 79pts)
Overall analysis: Played 46 Won 19 Drew 15 Lost 12 Goals scored 73 Goals conceded 62
Home form analysis: Played 23 Won 13 Drew 8 Lost 2 Goals scored 52 Goals conceded 31
(65.3% of Palace's total league points were won at home).
Away form analysis: Played 23 Won 6 Drew 7 Lost 10 Goals scored 21 Goals conceded 31
(34.7% of Palace's total league points were won away from home).
Most league appearances: Julian Speroni (46), Wilf Zaha (43), Glenn Murray (42), Damien Delaney (41 + 1 as sub), Mile Jedinak (41), Peter Ramage (40 + 1 as sub)
A total of 30 different players were used by Crystal Palace during the 2012/13 league season.
Top Palace goalscorer: Glenn Murray (30). Murray was the top goalscorer in the Championship.
Of Murray's 30 goals, 24 were scored at home and 6 away. 8 of his 30 goals were scored from the penalty spot.
12 other Palace players also scored at least one goal for the club this season.
Total club goals scored this season: 73
Club goals scored at home: 52 (71.2% of Palace's league total for the season)
52 goals was the highest number of goals scored at home by any team in the league.
Club goals scored away: 21 (28.8% of Palace's league total for the season).
Total club goals conceded: 62
Club goals conceded at home: 31 (50% of Palace's league total conceded for the season).
Club goals conceded away: 31 (50% of Palace's league total conceded for the season).
Of the 73 goals Palace scored in the 2012/13 league season 37% were scored in the 1st half of matches and 63% in the 2nd half.
Of the 62 goals Palace conceded in the 2012/13 league season 41.9% were scored in the 1st half of matches and 58.1% in the 2nd half.
Goal times in 15 min segments:
Palace jointly scored most goals (16 goals) in the 15 min period between the 46th and 60th min and also (16) in the 15 min period between 61st and 75th min.
Palace conceded most goals (18 goals) in the 15 min period between the 76th and 90th min (inc. added time).
Palace opened the scoring in 24 of their 46 games this season (52.2%).
Palace conceded the opening goal in 18 of their 46 games this season (39.1%).
Hit-man Murray scores again!
In the other 4 games no goals were scored by either side.
Average number of goals:
Average number of goals scored at home: 2.26 per game.
Average number of goals conceded at home: 1.35 per game.
Average number of goals scored away from home: 0.91 per game.
Average number of goals conceded away from home: 1.35 per game.
More than 2.5 goals per game:
In Palace's 46 league games, on 30 occasions (65.2%) they were involved in matches that produced 3 goals or more.
The league average was 52%.
Failed to score:
In Palace's 46 league games they failed to score in 11 (23.9%), with five of those blanks coming in a run of consecutive matches between 17th March and 16th April 2013.
Palace scored at least one goal in every one of their opening 18 games, from 18th August to 24th November 2012, before they were held to a goalless draw at Hull on 27th November 2012.
Penalties:
Number of penalties Palace were awarded/scored: 15/12
Of those 15 penalties 13 were awarded to Palace at Selhurst Park. The penalties that were awarded to Palace away from home were at Middlesbrough and at Bolton, (both were scored). Murray missed 3 pens this season versus Blackburn, Ipswich and Hull. The other penalty scorers this season were Garvan (2) against Watford and Brighton, Easter at Middlesboro' and Phillips versus Hull.
Number of penalties Palace conceded/scored: 4/2
Palace conceded penalties away at Bristol City, at home to Millwall (both were scored), and at home to Huddersfield and away at Derby (both were missed).
Clean Sheets:
In Palace's 46 league games they kept 11 (23.9%) clean sheets.
Margin of victory/defeat:
Biggest league win of the season: 5-0 versus Ipswich at Selhurst Park on 6th November 2012.
Biggest league defeat of the season: 4-0 versus Birmingham at Selhurst Park on 29th March 2013.
Most goals in a league game this season: (7) Palace 4-3 Burnley on 6th October 2012.
Attendances:
Biggest home crowd of the season: 22,154 versus Peterborough on 4th May 2013.
Lowest home crowd of the season: 13,153 versus Nottingham Forest on 18th September 2012.
The total number of fans to visit Selhurst Park during the 2012/13 season was 397,450.
The average attendance at Selhurst Park for the 2012/13 season was 17,280. (That is 65.6% of the grounds official capacity)
This was the 13th highest of the 24 clubs in the division.
Cup competitions 2012/13:
FA Cup: Lost 4-1 versus Stoke in a 3rd round replay at The Britannia Stadium on 15th January 2013.
League Cup: Lost 4-1 versus Preston North End in the 2nd round at Deepdale on the 28th August 2012. Naughty Boys:
Damien Delaney - 9 yellow cards and 1 red card, Dean Moxey - 6 yellow cards and 1 red card, Mile Jedinak - 10 yellow cards, Glenn Murray - 9 yellow cards, Wilfried Zaha - 8 yellow cards, Kagisho Dikgacoi 8 yellow cards.
(Jedinak also received 2 yellow cards in cup games and Zaha 1 yellow card in a cup game).
Player of the Year: Mile Jedinak.
Young Player of the Year: Jonathan Williams.
Academy Player of the Year: Hiram Boateng.
Palace Goal of the Year: Glenn Murray v Middlesbrough on 16th February 2013.
Upcoming fixtures:
Friday 10th May 2013: Championship play-off semi-final 1st leg: Crystal Palace v Brighton at Selhurst Park (7:45pm ko). Monday 13th May 2013: Championship play-off semi-final 2nd leg: Brighton v Crystal Palace at The AMEX (7:45pm ko).
Amber Russell was born and raised in the small town of Titusville, Florida, United States. From an early age Amber pursued her lifelong dream to be an entertainer. When she was the age of 14, Amber auditioned for and became a member of a girl pop group called 'Girl Zone' out of Orlando, Florida. With 'Girl Zone' she recorded an album titled 'Never One Thing' and performed in over 50 shows throughout central Florida.
As the girls in the group grew older and made plans for college the group disbanded. Amber, however, kept singing and training her voice with her vocal coach Barbara Browning. She is currently working on her first solo project with her production team Thunda Tracks.
Amber is also a fan of British football, and is as overseas supporter of Crystal Palace Football Club.
Pop artist Amber Russell's performance of "Bad Girl" at South Broward Artist Showcase in Fort Lauderdale, Florida last Saturday.
Sexy American pop artist Amber Russell chilling out!
Liverpool's £22.8 million forward Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz hasn't won over many fans outside of Merseyside since his move to the English Premier League in January 2011. Last season he spent nearly as many games suspended as he did score goals. The Uruguayan undoubtedly has talent, but he's spent more of his time rolling around on the grass than he has dribbling the football.
The Liverpool striker found himself in hot water again last Sunday when his bite on Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic (right) sparked universal condemnation and resulted in the Football Association slapping a ten game ban on the tempestuous Uruguayan.
Luiz Suárez first gave a glimpse of his dark side aged 15, when he was sent off for head-butting a referee and breaking the official’s nose.
Since then, the striker, nicknamed "El Pistolero" meaning "The Gunman" has scored goals and courted controversy wherever he has played.
Here is a list of the the life and crimes of football's serial offender!
February 2007 - Suárez makes his senior international debut for Uruguay on 8th February 2007 in a 3–1 win against Colombia. He is sent off in the eighty-fifth minute after receiving a second yellow card for dissent.
November 2007 - Internal suspension at Ajax for half-time bust-up with team-mate Albert Luque over a free-kick. July 2010 - During the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals, Suárez (right centre) prevents Ghana's Dominic Adiyiah from scoring in the final minute with a deliberate handball on the goal-line and is subsequently sent off. A penalty was awarded but missed by Asamoah Gyan and footage showed Suarez celebrating on the sidelines. Uruguay eventually went through to the last four on penalties.
July 2010 - In a match for Ajax against FC Twente with the game approaching half-time Suárez loses possession on the edge of Twente's box and tries to win back the ball with a 'shocking' tackle on Cheick Tiote, and in the process feigns injury himself. The referee didn't hesitate in showing the Ajax skipper a straight red card.
November 2010 - Playing for Ajax versus title contenders PSV Eindhoven in November 2010, team mate Rasmus Lindgren had been shown a red card for a reckless tackle on Ibrahim Afellay. A scrap ensued and Suárez decided to bite Otman Bakkal on his shoulder (below). A subsequent seven game ban followed.
October 2011 - Everton's Jack Rodwell is shown a red card for a 'fair tackle' on Luis Suárez. However, the Liverpool player goes down like he'd been shot and the Everton midfielder sees red, which was later overturned on appeal.
October 2011 - Suárez racially abuses Manchester United's Patrice Evra during a Premier League match at Anfield on 15th October. Suárez is later found guilty by the FA and is banned for eight matches and fined £40,000 ($60,000).
December 2011 - After a 1-0 defeat at Fulham in December 2011, Luis Suárez is seen making an offensive gesture (raising his middle finger) in the direction of the home fans as he walks off the pitch. During the match the Uruguay international was subjected to chants of "cheat" after referee, Kevin Friend, turned down a penalty appeal when he went down following a challenge on him by Brede Hangeland.
Suárez is subsequently given a one match ban, immediately prior to his FA suspension for racial abuse coming into effect.
February 2012 - In Suárez's first game back following his eight game suspension for racially abusing Evra he clashes with Tottenham defender Michael Dawson. Dawson beats Luis Suárez to a ball down the line and concedes a throw in. As Dawson falls over in making the clearance, Suárez decides to go over to the defender and kick him whilst on the ground. If kicking Michael Dawson wasn't enough, Luis Suárez also puts his boot into Scott Parker's stomach in the same game.
February 2012 - Manchester United and Liverpool meet in the first match between the two clubs since the Suárez/Evra racial abuse incident, and much hype surrounds the game. With the chance to put the racism row behind him ahead of the big match Luis Suárez decides not to shake hands with Patrice Evra and he make the headlines for all the wrong reasons once more. United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says: "For a club with their history, I'd get rid of him, I really would."
October 2012 - Suárez dives in front of David Moyes to celebrate a goal after the Everton manager had accused him of diving.
January 2013 - Suárez is involved in controversy when his handball directly leads to him scoring the decisive goal in Liverpool's 2–1 win over Mansfield Town in the FA Cup third round tie at Mansfield on the 6th January 2013.
February - 2013 Luis Suárez's indiscipline again sullied another excellent individual performance in Liverpool's Europa League win against Zenit St.Petersburg, as the Uruguayan stamps on Zenit defender Tomáš Hubočan (below).
Neither the referee nor the official beside the goal apparently saw the incident, and UEFA decided to take no further action, despite having the option of reviewing the incident on video after the game.
March 2013 - In a heated battle with Manchester United, Liverpool's Jamie Carragher attempted a nasty challenge on Rafael only for the Brazilian to commit a terrible foul on Lucas just seconds later. This resulted in a scrap between both sets of players in which Luis Suárez did something commonly associated with girls, and pulls Rafael's hair.
March 2013 - Suárez appears to punch Chile defender Gonzalo Jara on the chin during a World Cup qualifier. The Liverpool striker was jostling with defender Jara during his country’s 2-0 defeat in Chile when he struck out with his fist. Argentine referee Nestor Pitana took no action at the time, but Suárez could still face a lengthy ban should any retrospective action be taken by FIFA.
....................................to be continued!
With Crystal Palace Football Club’s on field performances stuttering badly of late it seems everyone associated with the South London Club is in the firing line. There is a definite divide amongst the fans of the the club as to who and/or where the significant blame lies – is it with with the players, the management, the owners.......or perhaps, although far less likely with the Kayla the Eagle, The Crystal Cheerleaders or the guy in the Palace scarf who walks his dog around Ashburton Park at 7am every weekday morning - everybody is ostensibly a potential scapegoat!
As a write on the back of another ‘pointless’ trip to Ipswich on Tuesday night and previous docile displays against the likes of Brighton, Birmingham, Blackpool and Barnsley it was interesting to study the Club's financial accounts that were published this week.
For the period July 2011 to June 2012, the accounts show a net loss of £2.2m, but that figure is down by more than £7m on 2010/2011 and that the Eagles' turnover has risen by £2.3m, and this does not include monies from the sale of Wilfried Zaha to Manchester United. Wages for players, managers, coaches, administration and commercial staff are up by nearly £3m, but directors Steve Parish, Steve Browett and Martin Long (pictured above) took no salary.
Although it is fair to say that the financial accounts of a football club are far more complicated than they appear above, it is a credit to the business acumen of the consortium ‘CPFC2010’ who purchased Crystal Palace FC three years ago, when the club was on its knees. They are carefully managing the club's finances and are indeed reducing the debt, so as not to put the club in any kind of financial risk, unlike some of the other Championship clubs.
To put it into perspective, in the last financial year Palace spent 78 per cent of their turnover on wages, Middlesbrough 119 per cent, Nottingham Forest 119 per cent, Leicester City 130 per cent and at the other end of the table, relegated Bristol City were quite literally flushing money away, as they spent an incredible 157 per cent of their turnover on wages.
I want to get away from discussing our current ownership situation and for the purposes of this article focus on some histrionics that came about not once, but twice in the last ten years regarding ‘rumoured takeovers’ that actually made the front pages of some newspapers.
Daily Star - 23/3/2011 - 7 months before his death!
Back in the summer of 2004 Colonel Gaddafi, known as 'The Mad Dog of Tripoli' was reportedly contemplating purchasing Crystal Palace, who had just been promoted to the Premier League. Gaddafi was increasingly keen to join a growing cosmopolitan group of club proprietors in the Premiership at the time, including Mohamed Al Fayed at Fulham and Russian oil baron, Roman Abramovich at Chelsea.
The offer at the time was expected to come through the state-owned Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company, (Lafico) the body that was used by Gaddafi to buy a 5.31 per cent share in Juventus, the Turin-based football club.
The then chairman of Palace Simon Jordan was was making no secret of the fact that he wanted to sell the club saying – "I don't enjoy football anymore" and declared to reporters "I have been told that Gaddafi and his son are interested in acquiring Palace. If Gaddafi's money was able to progress Palace and allow them to be a successful football club then one would have to take that under consideration”
It is interesting to note that a year earlier one of Gadaffi’s seven sons was signed as a player by the Italian club Perugia. The 30-year-old managed only 15 minutes of first-team action however, before he was suspended for failing a drugs test. Also when his son was playing for the Libyan national side, his team-mates had to allow him to take all the free-kicks and corners he wanted, under the orders of the manager!
Obviously nothing came of Gadaffi’s apparent interest, and only a few days after the story broke Mr Gaddafi denied knowing anything about the rumours linking him to the purchase of Crystal Palace. However it is a pretty frightening thought when you sit back and try and envisage with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi at the helm, how he along with his family and his Libyan 'representatives' might have gone about running the South London Club, had a deal gone ahead!
Gadaffi may have been the most controversial suitor to show an interest in acquiring ‘The Eagles’ but he is not the only high profile public figure to do so in the last ten years.
Back in March 2010 with the the bankrupt club in chaos, Rap mogul P Diddy (right) was planning to splash some of his reported £360million on the Selhurst Park side. As mad as it seemed, the multi-millionaire American wanted to invest in an English football club, and it was Palace that caught his bling-obsessed eye.
Why Palace you may well ask? Well according to insiders he 'liked the name,' which could be considered an innovative if not bizarre reason to throw your money at a football club in administration.
Brendan Guilfoyle, administrator of the bankrupt Championship side, said at the time he "would willingly fly to New York to meet him to discuss a purchase".
Mr Guilfoyle, of The P&A Partnership financial firm, said he was "a big hip-hop fan" and would be "delighted if P Diddy wanted to buy Crystal Palace."
Diddy it is reported actually sat down and had a meeting in London to discuss a possible swoop for the then beleaguered London club. With the finance in place, it was just left for him to decide whether or not to go ahead with the deal!
A few months later P Diddy, real name Sean Combs confirmed that somebody "had looked at it" for him, but "it just wasn't the right business move for me at the time."
Perhaps P Diddy thought he was buying an actual Palace made out of Crystal, and with P Diddy in charge the Palace fans’ might have been 'treated' to a rap version of 'Glad All Over,' the song adopted by the fans of the club as their anthem in the 1960's.
When you think of what might have been as a Palace fan, are you not relieved that the club is now owned by ‘CPFC2010’ and in a safe pair of hands, or would you rather the Club had been bought by a ‘terrorist’ or a ‘rapper?'
As former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan entitled his recent book, ‘Be Careful What you Wish For’ – never has a phrase been more apt in the rollercoaster that is Crystal Palace Football Club, both on and off the field!
The 2012/13 football season is reaching its climax and now it’s time for Crystal Palace Football Club to pull one final rabbit out of the hat!
Crystal Palace’s recent form has dipped with 'The Eagles' taking just 2 points from their last five Championship fixtures, conceding 10 goals and scoring just twice in the process. Palace and hitman Glenn Murray have not scored since our 2-2 draw with Leeds at Selhurst Park back on the 9th March.
A month on and this poor run of form threatens to destabilise Palace’s promotion push. It looks very much like Palace will have to settle for a play-off place at best, but I think the Club still need another seven points from their remaining five games to be sure.
So what can the boys from London SE25 do to make sure that this nine month long season ends with a bang and at least the opportunity to compete for a place in the financial promise land that is the Premier League!
A new TV deal coming into play next season will see the bottom placed top flight side still receive around £60million in TV cash.
Enter Mr Aruna Dindane.......!
Dindane is an experienced 32 year-old Ivory Coast international, who plyed his trade with RSC Anderlecht in the Belgium league between 2000 and 2005, helping the club win two league titles and winning the Belgium League Player of the Year award in 2003. He then joined French Ligue 1 club RC Lens in 2005, where he spent five years which also included a loan spell with then Premier League outfit Portsmouth during the 2009/10 season, where he scored 10 goals in 24 Premier League appearances and helped the Fratton Park club to the 2010 FA Cup Final. He left Pompey at the end of the 2010 season and spent two-and-a-half years in the Middle East, before being released by Qatari side Al-Sailiya Sport Club in December 2012.
Dindane has represented his country at the 2006 African Cup of Nations held in Egypt. He was also selected for the Ivorian squad for the 2008 African Cup of Nations hosted by Ghana.
He currently has 67 international caps to his name and has scored 11 goals for his country, where he often partners Didier Drogba (right) in attack.
He also participated in the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups, in Germany and South Africa respectively.
On 23rd March 2013, Dindane signed for Crystal Palace until the end of this season, after eventually receiving international clearance from the Middle East. On joining he clearly lacked match fitness and only made his first outing in a Palace shirt as an over-age player in the Under-21 development match versus Stoke City at Tooting and Mitcham's Imperial Fields last night, but he did play 70 minutes and more importantly got on the score sheet!
Ipswich Town at Portman Road is our next league game on Tuesday 16th April, so the Ivorian has another 10 days to improve on his fitness. The Crystal Palace gaffer Ian Holloway is a student of the game and a deep thinker, and although I do not claim for one moment to be his eyes or ears I expect Dindane to play a part in this crucial fixture. I think Holloway sees something in Dindane that is lacking in the side at the moment. Dindane boasts a wealth of experience but that is not an area where I feel the squad is lacking with the likes of Phillips, Murray, Ramage, Delaney, Jedinak, Wilbraham, Dobbie and Speroni on the books!
It may be just as a goal threat, but equally ‘Ollie’ may feel Dindane can provide us with some 'fresh guile' or possibly something different tactically.
Dindane was training with Palace before he was officially signed. Holloway has been trying hard to get his fitness levels up. He may have featured against Blackpool at Bloomfield Road on Easter Monday if it had not been for an issue with red tape. There are only five league games to go and I cannot see why the gaffer would exert the amount of time and energy into Dindane, if he did not have a game plan that involved the Ivorian striker!
Whether he starts in place of Glenn Murray who is struggling with a hip injury as I speak, plays him alongside Murray in a 4-4-2 formation or behind Murray in a 4-4-1-1 formation that we have used frequently and fruitfully this season remains to be seen. He may alternatively be used as an impact substitute, particularly if we need a goal with the clock ticking down.
So what can the Palace fans truly expect from Aruna Dindane?
Well realistically and honestly, absolutely nothing! He has only played 14 competitive games since January 2012, and none since December 2012, that was before last night.
However now and then when you least expect it you can be holding the key to the ignition! Palace need a spark from somewhere right now, and in Dindane perhaps this skillfull, powerful and experienced striker can be dusted off and a like sparkling gem and be subsequently restored to its former glory.
Dindane (right) has nothing to lose and everything to gain! At present he only has a two-month contract. Could he inject that flash of brilliance, a magical on-field moment or two that could ignite the tail end of what has so far been a wonderful season for a Club, that were one of the favourites for relegation at the start of the season.
If Dindane can prove himself and help guide the Londoner’s to the Premier League I am pretty sure he could secure himself a lucrative deal with Palace next season, and perhaps become a fans’ favourite.
'Roy of the Rovers' material it may sound, but that’s what football dreams are all about..........so let’s just wait and see!
As Oscar Hammerstein once famously said: “If you don't have a dream, how are you going to make a dream come true?”
Laura Robson in action at Wimbledon, London, England - 5th July 2012
Laura Robson was born 21st January 1994 in Melbourne, Australia. The Australian born British tennis player is the no.2 ranked female player in Britain. Laura and her family moved from Melbourne to Singapore when she was 18 months old, and then to the United Kingdom when she was six.
Laura entered a junior tennis academy at the age of seven. She signed with management company Octagon when she was 10, with Adidas at age 11, and also signed a racket deal with Wilson Sporting Goods.
Robson's first tournament on the junior International Tennis Federation (ITF) tour was in May 2007, where she went from the qualifying draw of the tournament to the quarter-finals. She reached the final of two other tournaments in 2007, and won her first tournament in October.
Robson competed in her first junior grand slam at the Wimbledon girls' event in 2008, as an unseeded player, aged just 14. As the youngest player in the tournament, she beat first seed Melanie Oudin on her way to the finals, where she defeated third seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn. Her victory made her the first British player to win the girls' event since Annabel Croft in 1984. Robson then went on and turned professional in 2008.
Her first match on the WTA tour was courtesy of a wildcard into the 2008 Fortis Championships in Luxembourg City.
Robson returned to the junior tour for the first half of 2009. On 9th June, Wimbledon announced that Robson received a wildcard for the Ladies' Singles event at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships. She faced former World No.5 and 2002 Wimbledon quarter-finalist Daniela Hantuchová in the first round but lost.
Robson began 2010 playing with Andy Murray in the Hopman Cup, as part of Great Britain's first team in the tournament since 1992. Robson and Murray made it to the final of the tournament, but narrowly lost to Spain's Martinez Sánchez and Tommy Robredo.
On 21st September 2010 Robson announced that she was to split with her coach Martijn Bok. In 2011 Robson hired a new coach, Frenchman Patrick Mouratoglou, and moved her working base to Paris, but her season was disrupted by injury.
Robson has appeared at least once in the main draw of every Grand Slam, with her biggest success coming at the 2012 US Open where she made the fourth round. In doing so, she became the first British woman since Samantha Smith at Wimbledon in 1998 to reach the fourth round of a major tournament. At the 2012 Guangzhou Women's Open, Robson became the first British woman since Jo Durie, in 1990, to reach a WTA main-tour final, before losing to Hsieh Su-wei in three sets.
Laura Robson of Great Britain posing for a picture before the official team dinner on 5th February 2013 at the Sport Hotel in Eilat, Israel, ahead of their Fed Cup Group B matches.
Laura won a silver medal playing with Andy Murray in the mixed doubles at the 2012 London Olympics.
In August 2012 Robson changed coaches once more. Željko Krajan a Croatian tennis coach and former professional tennis player began coaching Laura.
She was named WTA Newcomer of the Year for 2012 and along with Heather Watson, won 'Young Sportswoman of the Year' at the 2012 Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Awards. She was also nominated for Sports Journalists' Association 'Sportswoman of the Year' and the William Hill 'Sportswoman of the Year.
At the start of 2013 Robson reached the top 50 for the first time in her career. She followed this with her first victory at the 2013 Australian Open with a convincing straight sets victory over Melanie Oudin. In the second round she played former Wimbledon champion, and fellow left-hander, Petra Kvitová. Robson came back after losing the first set to beat Kvitová in a three-hour match, to set up a third-round meeting with Sloane Stephens. After stopping for several shoulder treatments, Robson was eventually beaten in two sets.
Last week at Miami in the singles Robson reached the second round before losing to Alizé Cornet. In the doubles Laura Robson was given a wildcard to play with American Lisa Raymond. The pair reached the Sony Open Women's doubles final, beating the World No. 1 pairing of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in straight sets in the semi-finals, before losing to Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik in yesterday's final.
The results as this tournament saw Robson reach career-high singles and doubles rankings of 42 and 90 respectively.
Laura Robson attends the Burberry Spring Summer 2012 Womenswear Show at Kensington Gardens on 19th September 2011 in London, England.
Laura Robson - Biography
Born: 21st January 1994 (Melbourne, Australia)
Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Plays: Left-handed
Coach: Zeljko Krajan (since September 2012)
Fitness trainer: Dejan Vojnovic (since November 2012)
Trains at: National Tennis Centre, Roehampton,
UK Highest Singles Ranking: Highest ranking: No. 42 (1st April 2013)
Highest Doubles Ranking: No. 90 (1st April 2013)
Racket: WilsonBrand partners: Wilson, adidas, Virgin Active
Promotion to the English Premier league (EPL) next season and the huge financial windfall that goes with it is oh so close that clubs and their fans' can almost taste the sweet smell of success! It is akin to dangling a scratch and sniff card in front of a host of clubs, except that this season, for some inexplicable reason the clubs in the race for promotion seem to have lost their sense of smell!
With just eight games to go in the npower Championship there are seven teams that are in with a realistic shout of going up automatically. For those clubs that fail to make the two automatic places and with it a guaranteed place in the top flight of English football next season, four of them must face the drama and potential pain or elation that is part and parcel of the play-off lottery!
Cardiff look almost certain to go up automatically, probably as champions, but that still leaves one automatic promotion spot available, and six teams to fight it out for the right to take their place in the English Premier League at the start of the 2013/14 season.
The teams that fail to take that final automatic spot following a ten month season spanning 46 games will then have the outcome of their season defined by just two, possibly three matches. There is no single sporting event in the world more valuable to the winners, than the victors of the play-offs, who will end up approximately £85million better off, predominately made up from the commercial television revenue that the English Premier League generates. However, by convention the two finalists agree that the loser will keep all the gate receipts from the game, so as to very slightly soften the financial blow of missing out.......(at a guess i would say a figure in the region of £3million - peanuts in comparison).
The Football League Championship play-offs are a series of matches contested by the teams finishing from 3rd to 6th in the Football League Championship table. The semi-finals are played over two legs, with 6th playing 3rd and 5th playing 4th, with the return fixtures following. The final is played at Wembley Stadium and the winners are promoted to the English Premier League.
Cardiff have been top for sometime now, and although they have had the odd wobble over the last few months, so have everyone else around them. Taking Cardiff out of the equation as they are nine points clear of dropping out of the top two places, the battle for the second automatic spot is between Hull, Watford, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, Leicester and Brighton with Bolton and Middlesbrough in a position to pounce should the wheels fall off of any of the aforementioned clubs in the final month of the 2012/13 season.
As I write only two points separate 2nd placed Hull from 3rd placed Watford, just three points separate Hull from 4th placed Crystal Palace, while six points separate Palace from 6th placed Leicester. Brighton lie 7th on the same number of points as Leicester, but with an inferior goal difference.
Looking at the run-in:
Hull still have to play Watford, Middlesbrough and Cardiff, but face difficult games against Barnsley, Bristol City, Ipswich and Wolves, who are all fighting for Championship survival at the bottom.
Watford's fixtures obviously include Hull, but also Cardiff and Leicester and potentially tricky games against Peterborough and Blackburn who are both fighting to stay in the division.
Forest's run in includes games against Brighton, Cardiff, Middlesbrough and Leicester along with struggling Barnsley and Blackpool.
Leicester's fixtures include games against Brigthon, Bolton, Watford, Palace and Forest and they like Hull and Forest face Barnsley.
Brighton's run in includes matches against Forest, Leicester,and Middlesbrough, along with relegation candidates Wolves and Peterborough and struggling Blackpool.
Crystal Palace would seem to have the easier of the run-ins, but as anyone who watches Championship football knows, there are no easy games in this league hence why no teams have run away at the top or been cast adrift at the bottom. Four points separate the bottom four clubs, and only eight points separate the bottom eleven.
Palace only play Leicester of the current top ten teams, but face a plethora of fixtures against struggling sides, namely Blackpool, Barnsley, Ipswich, Blackburn and Peterborough on the final day.
You can argue that it's better to play teams around you at the top as you are in control of your own destiny, but at the same time they are the form sides. On the otherhand playing the bottom sides may seem a better option, but they will be fighting for their lives and definitely won't role over easily. Perhaps fixtures against mid-table teams with nothing to play for is the best option, but to be honest this is not a division where any one team has the 'right' to beat another team, and the higher you finish the more that club earns financially.
There will also be players at all clubs in the division playing for new contracts or looking to impress the powers that be at other clubs. At the end of the day as a club you firstly need to get out and win your own fixtures, then you will have done everything in your power to put yourself in a the best possible position come the end of the season. What will be will be, but at the end of the day you cannot rely on other teams to do you so called 'favours.'
When the Championship play-offs were first introduced for the 1986/87 season, they originally featured a top flight team as well as the three second tier clubs. This format was continued for the 1987/88, but discontinued afterwards to include only the four teams who finished behind the team or teams winning automatic promotion. As before, the semi-final and final were both two-legged.
The New Wembley Stadium
Since 1989/90, the final has been a single game, played at Wembley Stadium, although from 2001 to 2006, it was played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, while Wembley was being rebuilt.
Ipswich Town have been in the Championship play-offs a record seven times: 1987, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000, 2004, and 2005, making the final only once and winning it in 2000.
Leicester City have reached the Championship play-off final four times, losing two in 1992 and 1993 and winning two in 1994 and 1996.
Crystal Palace have also appeared in the final four times, losing in 1996 and winning in 1989, 1997 and 2004.
Birmingham City have reached the Championship play-offs four times consecutively from 1999 to 2002, losing the first three attempts before, in 2002, reaching the Play-Off Final at the Millennium Stadium, and finally winning promotion to the Premier League.
The team finishing highest in the league (third) has succeeded in winning promotion ten times out of twenty-six seasons up to 2012, with the 4th placed team managing four promotions, the 5th six promotions and the 6th five promotions.
The play-off winners have managed to finish above the Championship winners and runners-up in the subsequent Premier League season on five occasions: Blackburn Rovers in 1992/93, Leicester City in 1996/97, Ipswich Town in 2000/01, West Ham United in 2005/06 and Swansea City in 2011/12.
Championship Play-Off Records:
Most play-off promotions: 3 – Crystal Palace (1989, 1997, 2004)
Most play-off finals: 4 – Crystal Palace, Leicester City
Most play-off final defeats: 3 – Sheffield United (1997, 2003, 2009)
Most play-off participations: 7 – Ipswich Town
Most unsuccessful play-off participations: 6 – Ipswich Town (from 7 in total)
Teams without any unsuccessful play-off participations: Notts County (1991), Hull City (2008), Burnley (2009), Swansea City (2011)
Biggest aggregate win: Chelsea 6–1 Blackburn Rovers (1988); Leicester City 6–1 Cambridge United (1992); and Hull City 6–1 Watford (2008)
Biggest home win: Leicester City 5–0 Cambridge United (Semi-final, 1992)
Biggest away win: Birmingham City 0–4 Barnsley (Semi-final, 2000)
Biggest win in a final: Bolton Wanderers 3–0 Preston North End (2001); Sheffield United 0–3 Wolverhampton Wanderers (2003); and Leeds United 0–3 Watford (2006)
Highest scoring tie (aggregate): 12 goals – Ipswich Town 7–5 Bolton Wanderers (2000)
Highest attendance: 86,703 – Bristol City vs Hull City (Final, 2008)
Lowest attendance: 9,225 – Cambridge United vs Leicester City (Semi-final, 1992).
The English Premier League:
The competition formed as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992 following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to break away from The Football League, which was originally founded in 1888, and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. This deal will be worth £3 billion as of 2013–14, with BSkyB and BT Group securing the rights to broadcast 116 and 38 games respectively.
The Premier League is the most-watched football league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes and a TV audience of 4.7 billion people.
The Premier League distributes a small portion of its television revenue to clubs that are relegated from the league in the form of "parachute payments". At the end of the current season 2012/13 those clubs relegated from the EPL will get a proposed £23m in the first year after relegation and £18m in the second, followed by £9m a year in years three and four!
In contrast Championship clubs that are not in receipt of parachute payments will receive around £2.3m in solidarity payments. This ridiculously one sided financial divide is currently being looked into by The Football League as they attempt to look at ways of mitigating the advantage of parachute payments handed to clubs relegated to the Championship. Some Football League Club owners who attended a summit meeting last Wednesday (20th March 2013) claimed they may have to walk away from the game if they were forced to compete with clubs that received more in parachute payments than their entire budget for the year.
Brighton and Hove Albion host Crystal Palace this coming Sunday lunchtime, the 17th March 2013, as one of the fiercest fan rivalries in British football is reignited again!
At first glance, it may seem strange that one of English football's fiercest rivalries is between two teams 60 miles apart, one Club which resides on the South Coast, whilst the other is in South London.
Correct, they are not in the same county let alone the same city, there's no deep routed historical reason, no trading rivalries between the areas, no religious differences, it's pure and simple - a genuine footballing rivalry based on the fact that both clubs used to play each other a lot and had managers happy to stoke up the fires of rivalry.
Crystal Palace and Brighton are fierce rivals - See why!
Many football fans assume that Millwall and Charlton are Palace’s main rivals, being so close in location, and that Portsmouth 40 miles along the coast might be Brighton's number one enemy.
To really understand the hatred between Palace and Brighton you need to turn the clock back to the 1970's and the days of Mullery v Venables.
Between January 1963 and August 1974 there were no competitive fixtures at all between Palace and Brighton - as Brighton got relegated into Division Four in 1963 and Palace started their climb into the top flight.
Their rivalry did not develop until Palace's relegation to the Third Division in 1974. The clubs had two of the division's biggest followings, communications between Croydon and Brighton were good and many fans were keen to travel to an away fixture.
So in August 1974 the two teams met in full competition, for the first time since the early 1960's in the old Division Three, and both clubs with new nicknames to boot. "The Dolphins" versus "The Eagles" was the first game of that 74-75 season and Palace suffered a 1-0 reverse in front of the largest crowd to watch Palace at home that season. The following March, revenge was metered out by Palace as they defeated the South Coast side 3-0. The win did little to aid Palace's dying promotion effort, but it almost spelt disaster for Brighton, who only narrowly avoided relegation.
The following season Palace got off to a flying start, were undefeated in their opening seven games and sat proudly at the summit of the division. Then came the visit of Brighton and with it a 1-0 defeat. It wasn't a disaster in footballing terms at the time, as come Christmas Palace were sitting pretty at the top of the league by seven clear points. By the time the away fixture came around, Palace were in the midst of the great FA Cup run of 1976, but their league form had deserted them and Palace went down 2-0. Brighton finished the season in fourth, a place above Palace on goal difference and they had completed the 'double' over their rivals.
It was the following season that the fireworks really began! Terry Venables, fresh out of coaching school under the late Malcolm Allison was the new manager at Palace, and Alan Mullery was appointed the new boss at Brighton, after Brighton manager Peter Taylor rejoined his old mate the late Brian Clough, up at Forest. Both clubs were the biggest in the old Division Three and doing quite well.
In the 1976-77 season the sides meet five times: twice in the league and three times to decide an First Round FA Cup tie. To say neither manager had much time for the other would be understating the case. Palace remained undefeated against Brighton over the season recording three draws and two victories.
It was an FA Cup second round replay at neutral Stamford Bridge that finally ignited the already smouldering blue touch paper that season. Mullery got out of his pram about a number of dodgy decisions from referee Ron Challis, including a converted Brighton penalty that had to be retaken and a disallowed goal! The retake was saved by Paul Hammond. That referee is still known as "Challis of the Palace" down in Brighton! It culminated in Mullery blowing his top in front of the Palace fans who were giving him abuse for his outraged protests. He flung down about a fiver's worth of change into a puddle and screamed "You're not worth that, Palace" - in the end, the police had to lead him away! At the end of the 1976-77 season both sides were promoted.
Alan Mullery's outspoken-ness continued to fan the flames of a rivalry that often violently spilled over into the alleyways, railway stations and park areas of Brighton and Hove and, on more than one occasion, the side-streets and shops of Croydon. It was rumoured that he was motivated by jealousy having wanted the Palace managerial job himself. He decided to change the Club nick-name once again, this time to "The Seagulls"
The 1978-79 season saw Palace, Brighton, Stoke and Sunderland all slog out a nail-biting promotion race. On the last Saturday of the season, Brighton, Stoke and Sunderland had finished their seasons, Brighton ended up top on goal difference, Stoke and Sunderland provisionally claimed second and third, but Palace still had a game in hand - win it and Palace were Champions, displacing Brighton, lose and Palace would miss out on promotion completely, on goal difference.
On the 11th May 1979 Palace defeated Burnley 2-0 in front of a record 51,801 people at Selhurst Park, and in doing so Palace snatched the Second Division Championship title away from Brighton.
The news was broken to the Brighton players at 30,000 feet whilst on route to play in a tournament in the US. That wasn't the only bad news they were receive that day, when they landed they found the tournament had been scrapped, due to a fuel crisis!
The next season saw both clubs in the First Division, Brighton for the first time in their history. To cope with the larger crowds that top-flight football brings, Brighton erected the naffest temporary grandstand of all time on one side. Even their own fans nicknamed it 'The Lego stand'. Palace fans quickly coined the phrase and the Goldstone Ground became known as 'Legoland.'
Later that season, fire swept through the South Stand, gutting the seats and wooden structure. An act which many local fans pointing the finger at Palace fans, who lived in the area! On the field, both sides held onto their First division status.
The following season Palace were relegated but Brighton went on escaping relegation for another two seasons, band managed a Cup Final appearance in their last season in the top flight.
In November 1981 Palace played a 'friendly' against Brighton and came away with a credible 1-1 draw adminst another management upheaval at the club as Dario Gradi made way for Steve Kember. Then in a enormously unpopular move, Ron Noades appointed Alan Mullery as manager. Palace fans couldn't not swallow this and deserted the Club in large numbers, whilst some drifted back slowly over the years - plenty never came back at all. One of Mullery's first games in charge was a home 'friendly' against Brighton, which Palace managed to win by a single goal.
Palace renewed acquaintance with Brighton again in the 1983-84 season, the second year of Mullery's two years. The now traditional Christmas and Easter games saw Mullery stick the dagger even further into mortally wounded Palace hearts, yes, he let them get away with all six points again. This were the nadir of recent Palace history and the serious violence that followed the April trip to the Goldstone served only to counterpoint the frustrations.
Mullery slipped away quietly to Q.P.R. after two relegation struggles, giving way to managerial new boy Steve Coppell. His first season saw an early South Coast encounter end in 1-0 defeat, but the home game saw a Trevor Aylott goal ensure a deserved draw. The game was surrounded by controversy with Palace defender Henry Hughton sent off for a late tackle on Brighton winger Gerry Ryan, who sustained a badly broken leg, which ultimately ended his playing career. The Brighton Manager Chris Cattlin claimed in the press it was the worst tackle he'd ever seen, but Ryan himself refused to condemn Hughton.
In the 1985-86 season Palace lost at Brighton on New Year's Day, a game mainly remembered by Palace fans for a scandalous dive by Terry Connor which earned Brighton a penalty. Late in March, Palace managed to chalk up a narrow league victory against their rivals in the reverse fixture.
Later that year in another bizarre twist of fate surrounding the two clubs, Brighton re-appointed the 'Prince of Darkness' Allan Mullery OBE as their new manager.
The following season, Palace fans saw this as their chance for revenge on Mullery in the Boxing Day fixture of 1986. The players duly obliged as Palace beat their rivals and relegation strugglers. By Easter Monday, Barry Lloyd was in charge of a Brighton side that had not won a League game for three months.........enter Palace, chasing a 'play-off' place, but on the day they somehow contrived to lose 2-0 to a woeful Brighton side, that were up for this fixture and ultimately this result helped end Palace's play-off hopes for that season.
The mood of the Palace fans was not pleasant, angry at the scoreline and fed up at being so tightly packed onto a tiny corner terrace, when the Brighton fans had the run of the open East Terrace. With ten minutes left, a sizeable number stormed out of the terrace, to confront Brighton fans in their own end. The ensuing violence spilled out of the ground into Phoenix Park which played host to several running battles before The Sussex Constabulary eventually brought order to the seaside town.
There was some consolation for Palace that the result did nothing to assist Brighton's survival. They ended up getting relegated, thanks in the main to the ministrations of their one-time idol, Alan Mulllery.
Two seasons later and Brighton were back in Division Two. Palace lost at Brighton in another Boxing Day encounter in 1988, but the return fixture on the 27th March 1989 still holds a place in the English League record books thanks to a certain referee named Kelvin Morton. Morton awarded five penalties, Palace were given four of those five and incredibly managed to miss three of them - but Palace still won the game 2-1! Morton also sent off Brighton midfielder Mike Trusson in the first-half.
That season Palace were promoted to Division One via the play-offs, whilst Brighton finished 19th.
However, the two did not play in a league encounter between 1990 and 2001, although there were have been a number of 'pre-season friendlies' staged between the sides, all at Brighton!
The first in August 1992, saw an injury-struck Palace side once more deliver a below par performance, although still managing to win 1-0. This game was originally scheduled for a Saturday afternoon, when it would have attracted a much larger crowd, but was eventually played on Friday night. Possibly the only friendly fixture ever to have been moved on Police advice!
After the game, however, it was Palace fans getting back on the train who were subjected to a CS gas attack at Hove station.
That season ended with Palace's relegation from the Premier League, whilst Brighton having survived a number of High Court actions maintained their Division Two status.
In August 1993, a second 'friendly' took place, the game was to have been a testimonial match for Palace player Gary O'Reilly, but a row about gate receipts scuppered that. Once again, some Palace fans were subjected to another tear gas attack, this time before the game in a pub. Just for a change, Palace really turned on the style on the pitch. A 2,000-strong Palace posse of supporters saw Palace score three times without reply. A performance that underlined the major difference in class that now existed between the sides.
The 2000-01 season saw Brighton, under the stewardship of Mickey Adams, promoted out of Division Three as Champions, Palace on the other hand, had a shockingly bad season and coming into the final week of that season they were firmly ensconced in the relegation zone.
On the morning of Sunday 6th May 2001, Brighton paraded their Division Three Championship trophy through the streets of Brighton, and afterwards their supporters settled in pubs everywhere to watch Palace get relegated to Division Two, thereby setting up two mouth-watering encounters. For 87 minutes, the party was in full swing, then Dougie Freedman worked his magic and his epic late winner at Stockport sent the South London fans' delirious and the Brighton fans were left inconsolable!
Crystal Palace beat the drop - 2000/2001 season
The following season, despite losing manager Mickey Adams to Leicester, Brighton appointed former Palace legend Peter Taylor as manager. Taylor helped Brighton get promoted as Champions, thereby setting up two more spicy Brighton versus Palace derby matches for the forthcoming season, before he walked out on them. Another ex-Palace player, Martin Hinshelwood was appointed the new manager.
So 2002 saw the return of Brighton to the second tier but they started the season poorly and Hinshelwood was kicked upstairs, and then the unthinkable happened - they went and appointed Steve Coppell, the former Palace manager as their new boss a couple of weeks before Palace hosted the South Coast side at Selhurst Park!
On 26th October 2002 Palace thrashed them 5–0 in a memorable game, with Palace striker Andy Johnson scoring a hat-trick. That date and scoreline is etched in Palace history forever!
The return fixture, the following March was a dull affair, the game ended 0-0 with Palace full-back Danny Granville getting himself sent off, but endearing himself to the Palace faithful by telling the jeering Brighton fans near the tunnel to "f*ck off".
Brighton were relegated that season, making Steve Coppell an even bigger cult hero at Palace, for taking their bitter rivals down a division, while Palace finished the season mid-table.
Brighton bounced straight back through the play-offs into Division One in 2003-04, only to find Palace had already left the Division by the gentleman's exit, promoted into the Premiership via the play-offs.
Palace got themselves relegated from the Premiership straight away, whilst Brighton managed to take it right to the last day of the season before narrowly ensuring their survival in 2004-05.
Brighton gained revenge in 2005 with a 1–0 win at Selhurst Park, however, a month later at the Withdean, Palace twice came from behind, with Dougie Freedman scoring his 100th and 101st goals for Palace and Jobi McAnuff scoring in the very last minute to win the game 3–2.
Brighton lose to Crystal Palace in a thriller on the 20/11/2005
Despite Brighton and Palace sharing the spoils in the 2005-06 season, Brighton were relegated, finishing bottom of the table, winning just 7 of their 46 league games. Palace finished 6th but lost in the play-offs to Watford. Brighton then spent the next five seasons in League One, before finally winning promotion back to The Championship.
However both Clubs and both sets of fans are in a much better place now than they were several years ago. A lot has happened and a lot has changed for the good.
Brighton were promoted as League One champions in 2010-11 and have former Chelsea, Spurs and Uruguay international Gus Poyet as boss. On 31st May 2011 they moved from their temporary home at the Withdean Stadium, (which was not predominantly a football ground, having been used for athletics throughout most of its history, and previously as a zoo), to a shiny new 27,000 all-seater stadium, sponsored by AMEX, situated just outside Brighton in Falmer. They finished last season in a respectable 10th place in their first season back in the second of English football, and they currently lie just outside a play-off spot this season.
Meanwhile Crystal Palace survived administration in 2010 and two successive relegation battles in 2009-10 and 2010-11 before steadying the ship last season, as they comfortably maintained their place in The Championship and also reached the League Cup semi-final. With the current owners in place, and Ian Holloway at the helm, the club are finally on sound financial footing, and in Holloway, they have one of the most passionate, charismatic and determined managers in the league. They have exceeded expectations on the field so far this season and currently lie 4th in the table, three points off a top two place, and have a support base, particularly on the road, that is the envy of many fellow Championship clubs.
So the 27th September 2011 saw the two rival teams meet for the first time since November 2005. Brighton newly promoted had started the season well, Palace steady if unspectacular!
Palace beat Brighton 3-1 at the Amex Stadium on 27th September 2011
It was to be a memorable game as Brighton took an early lead. Things remained that way until the final ten minutes of the match as Palace roared back with three goals to inflict on Brighton their first ever league defeat at their new home! Not only were Palace the first team to win at the AMEX in a league game, one of the Palace goalscorers that night was Glenn Murray, a former Brighton player who Palace had picked up on a free transfer from their rivals in May 2011. This sent many Brighton fans into meltdown and coined the phrase 'FFS Murray' (For F*cks Sake Murray), a comment heard to be made by a frustrated Brighton fan in the crowd following the strikers goal on that infamous night.
The reverse fixture at Selhurst Park on 31st January 2012 was less spectacular although still somewhat fiesty. The game ended 1-1, both goals coming from penalties and five players were booked!
On the 1st December 2012 Brighton visited South London and that man Glenn Murray scored twice against his former employers, as Crystal Palace recorded a comfortable 3-0 victory and went top of the league. More controversy surrounded this derby match as Brighton had Lewis Dunk sent-off after just eight minutes and Palace were awarded two penalties in the game.
No wonder there is a rivalry between the two clubs, with a history like that....................................
Now this coming Sunday lunchtime the two sides face each other again once more, with Palace lying 4th in the league table and Brighton currently 7th. With only nine games left of the season this match is crucial to both sides, with a place in the lucrative English Premier league next season a distinct possibility, if both Clubs can finish the season strongly. Brighton go into the game short of strikers while Murray is currently the second highest goalscorer in Europe, taking in the top 2 divisions in each of the 5 leading European leagues, with a total of 30 goals. Murray is second only to Lionel Messi of Barcelona in the goalscoring charts!
For a player who hand been at the South Coast club for three and a half seasons and had a goalscoring record of almost one in every other game, it was a strange and seemingly bad error of judgement on Brighton's part to let Murray go for nothing, rather than offer him an improved contract. The Cumbrian born hitman has come back to haunt Brighton twice already since his move to Palace and has gone on to prove himself a leathal marksman at Championship level, so it must be a bitter pill to swallow for his former club.
Will it bite them on the backside once more come the final whistle at 2pm on Sunday.............we shall see!
Brighton & Hove Albion v Crystal Palace - Sunday 17th March 2013, kick-off Noon
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Looking to take up a new hobby or sport, well I may have found you the perfect activity, a combination of physical prowess and mental agility – Chessboxing!
A curious combination of brain and brawn, the sport of chessboxing has seen an explosion in popularity in recent years. Inspired by a science fiction graphic novel, the sport combines the physical action of the squared ring with the mental agility of the chequered board classic. The matches see competitors alternate between three-minute boxing exchanges with four-minute rounds of speed chess, with a one minute break between rounds. The winner is then determined by knockout, checkmate or referee’s decision.
A knockout or checkmate can lead to an early win, and the fight can also be cut short if a player exceeds the chess time limit (12 minutes per contest) or the referee decides the fight has to be aborted. If the game of chess ends with a tie, it is settled with the points earned in the boxing rounds. If the boxing fight ends with a tie, the player who had black on the chessboard wins.
The same people box and play chess, a common misconception is that there is a handover between a chessplayer and a separate boxer.
The game in it's current format originated from the mind of Serbian cartoonist Enki Bilal, who penned a graphic novel 'Froid Équateur' (literally ‘Cold Equator’) featuring the game in 1992, in which the themes of a healthy spirit in a healthy body and aggression management played a role.
However purists argue that the game was originally conceived in the 1991 Finnish film 'Uuno Turhapuro, herra Helsingin herra,' in which a man makes chess moves over a hands-free telephone headset while simultaneously beating seven bells out of another man. This makes me wonder why they don't do actual chess boxing that way, but who am I to tell them how to do their jobs!
The World Chess Boxing Organisation (WCBO) is the governing body of the sport chess boxing. The WCBO was founded in 2003 and has its headquarters in Berlin, Germany. Its current president is Iepe Rubingh, founder of the sport.
The WCBO's motto is: "Fighting is done in the ring and wars are waged on the board".
Chessboxing events have taken place in London, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Calcutta. The contestants boast names such as: Anti-Terror, the Beast, the Slice and the Priest.
The first official chess boxing fight ever to be held was the Middleweight World Championship between 'Iepe the Joker' and 'Luis the Lawyer' on the 14th November 2003 at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. 'Iepe the Joker' won the match after a dramatic fight in the 11th and last round when 'Luis the Lawyer' exceeded his chess playing time limit.
Chessboxing is the ultimate challenge for both the body and the mind. More and more contemporary athletic disciplines are characterised by multifaceted challenges. It’s comparable to a biathlon, as one example. Extreme physical stress is combined with a huge mental challenge. Chessboxing is a bit more radical than a biathlon, but through targeted training, the body can be prepared for matches just as well as it can for a biathlon. The alteration between boxing and playing chess represents the biggest challenge.
Naturally you might assume that a professional boxer would automatically have an advantage and could potentially win the world champion title in the second round of the fight?
However Championship fights require fulfilment of the following:
You must be younger than 35, be in an exceptionally good state of physical fitness, have experience in a minimum number of 20 boxing matches and your chess ELO rating must not be lower than 1800. If you don’t have an ELO rating yet or any comparable ranking from a national chess organisation in your country, our chess trainer will test your skills online. Someone like Vitali Klitschko would need years of training to achieve the chess rating required.
As its popularity grows, there are hopes that one day the sport will be recognised by the Olympics.
The next Chessboxing event takes place later this month, on the 23rd March 2013 at the Scarla London, 275 Pentonville Road, London N1 9NL, from 7pm until late. Tickets are £20 in advance or £25 on the night - the perfect 'Mother's Day' gift!
You can follow the London Chessboxing scene including forthcoming events and videos on Twitter
Sarah Brandner was born on 12th December 1988 in Munich, Germany. Sarah is not by any means the first WAG who has worked as a model. She became a model like many when she was discovered on the streets by an agent who spotted her and asked her if she would be interested in modelling. At first she wasn't so sure, especially because she was only fifteen years old at the time.
At 5'11" tall and with a perfect figure (84-60-90) Sarah eventually decided to venture into modelling and was soon on the books of Place Models in Hamburg, Germany.
She is perhaps best known for featuring in the 2010 Sports Illustrated Body Painting Issue, along with Abbey Clancy, Bethany Dempsey, and Melissa Satta. She has also done notable work for German magazine Bild, and GQ Germany.
It was during her time at school where at a social event she first met footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger, but it wasn't until they met again in Ibiza in 2007 that they started dating, and the couple now live together in Munich.
Her modelling career has taken Sarah to change her residence address several times from Milan to New York and from New York to Munich, where she is currently living with her famous beau.
When Peter Iain Ramage signed for Crystal Palace on a one-year contract in August 2012, even as a Crystal Palace fan I have to say I was left feeling somewhat uninspired!
I had witnessed the Whitley Bay born defender in action for ‘The Eagles’ during his five month loan spell with us during the 2011/12 season. To be fair to Ramage during that time (which included 17 league appearances) he tended to be used by the then manager Dougie Freedman as a ‘utility’ player, and he flitted between the full-back and centre-half positions.
Ramage - In the form of his life!
As a result the 29 year-old had little opportunity to put a marker down, and establish himself in an ever changing back-four. In the first-half of the 2011/12 season Palace were in a defensive mess as they juggled numerous players in an attempt to find a settled back-four. By the time Ramage’s loan period had come to an end on the 15th January 2012, he had played with 11 different defensive partners in McCarthy, Davies, Tunchev, McGivern, Gardner, Clyne, Keinan, Eagan, Parsons, Moxey and Parr.
However Freedman had no hesitation in re-signing the Geordie lad for the start of the 2012/13 campaign. The signing of Ramage may have been initially as cover following the loss of Club captain Paddy McCarthy. McCarthy sustained a groin injury in the summer, and as I write is still sidelined and has yet to feature in a first-team game this season.
However it has proved to be an inspired signing as the player affectionately known as ‘Rambo’ has played a pivitol role in a wonderful season so far for the boys from SE25.
Rambo has established a solid, no nonsense central defensive partnership with Irishman Damien Delaney (right) this season, and his passion and desire is written all over his face during the heat of battle! Ramage has started 31 of 33 league games this season, come on as a substitute in another and since our opening day defeat to Watford at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace are unbeaten at home this season, a run of 16 games at ‘Fortress Selhurst.’
It must be said that several of the reasons for the success on the pitch this season can be attributed to confidence, attitude, belief and fitness. But unlike last season stability in defence in terms of personnel has been crucial.
Before Palace signed Delaney from Ipswich on the 31st August, Ramage was paired at the heart of the defence with Aaron Martin a loanee from Southampton, but Palace lost their opening three league games of the season conceding nine goals in the process. Upon his arrival Delaney was immediately paired with Ramage and the two have been inseparable ever since, other than a three game suspension handed to the Irishman for seeing red at Huddersfield just before Christmas.
Despite the upheaval with the departure of the rather flaccid Dougie (the grass is not always greener on the other side) Freedman and the backroom staff to Bolton in late October, and the subsequent arrival of the flamboyant Ian Holloway as his replacement in the managerial hot seat, Rambo has rolled with it all, without flinching or suffering any long term heartbreak! In fact Holloway’s arrival has probably seen Ramage develop as a player due to the Bristolian’s style of play, which allows players to express themselves a lot more by playing a fluid passing game with the emphasis on getting forward more often, rather than strangling the life out of a 1-0 lead!
Ramage (wearing 28) shows what it means to him after scoring against Watford this month!
Ramage has even contributed with some rare but vital goals this season. He has in fact scored twice as many goals for Crystal Palace this season than he has over his entire professional career, having made his first-team debut for Newcastle United as a substitute in a UEFA Cup tie on the 16th March 2005.
His first goal in the red and blue of Palace came at The Walkers Stadium in October, as the Londoner's turned over the then league leaders Leicester City 2-1. Ramage then bagged a consolation goal in a 2-1 defeat at Leeds in November, before netting a vital goal at Watford this month, followed by a second goal in consecutive games as Palace thrashed Middlesbrough at Selhurst Park last week. His smart turn and shot against Boro’ was a goal that any striker would have been proud of, and it was also his first goal for the club at Selhurst Park.
On the pitch Rambo is the consummate professional, whilst off the pitch he comes across as a great lad, a family man who will always takes time out to chat to the fans and someone who loves a bit of banter with his team-mates. I imagine he is an inspirational, yet calming figure in the dressing room and someone that all the lads, particularly the youngster’s look up to!
He is also becoming somewhat of an unlikely favourite among the fans. You cannot as a football fan fail to revere a man who gives everything, a player who wears his heart on his sleeve and plays for the badge on his chest.......and who always goes to, and applauds the fans at the end of every match!
Rambo you are a credit to yourself and Crystal Palace Football Club and you won’t be far off winning this season’s Palace ‘Player of the Year’ award as voted for by us, the fans!
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