Poyet disGUSted at the manner of his dismissal!

As a Crystal Palace fan I have to admit a wry smile lit up my face following the news that our fierce rivals Brighton and Hove Albion had sacked their manager yesterday.

It is not just simply that Gus Poyet was sacked, managers come and go at an astonishing rate in the modern game. It would appear however that the freefall that the south coast club are currently experiencing right now was initially triggered following the 'Eagles' defeat of the the 'Seagulls' in the Championship semi-final play-off second leg at The Amex Stadium last month. That defeat subsequently brought about a serious of inexplicable and shambolic events, and the subsequent in-house fighting has left the Club in disarray!

Gus Poyet who took over at Brighton in 2009 and won promotion from League One in 2011, was left bewildered after learning he had been sacked as Brighton manager live on BBC television last night.

Gus Poyet learns of his sacking live on BBC television last night!

Following the play-off defeat and some choice words from the Uruguayan, Poyet's tenure at the Amex Stadium had become uncertain after it was revealed that himself, assistant manager Mauricio Taricco and coach Charlie Oatway were told to stay away from the club. Although Brighton have remained tight-lipped over the reasons for taking the action, yesterday's decision comes after Poyet failed to attend a disciplinary hearing last week. The precise reason for the hearing has not been explained by Brighton but it is clear the manager had angered club directors in some way.

Brighton's defeat to Crystal Palace was overshadowed by a bizarre incident in which excrement was found in the visitors' dressing room prior to the teams meeting at the Amex Stadium. Poyet was furious at the affair and sent an angry email to club staff, in which he also criticised the issuing to home fans of 'paper clappers' at the match, believed to have been done in the hope that it might help their fans generate an atmosphere in their own stadium.

Poyet, who was appearing as a pundit on BBC3's coverage of Spain v Nigeria in the Confederations Cup last night, was only told of his dismissal when BBC production staff gave him a club statement off air following the internal disciplinary procedure. The story then became public news during the half-time break when presenter Mark Chapman questioned Poyet regarding the matter, and read out live on air the statement in question from Brighton regarding his sacking.

The statement read as follows: "Gus Poyet has been informed today by Brighton and Hove Albion football club's internal disciplinary panel that his employment has been terminated with immediate effect. This followed his suspension, an investigation, and a subsequent formal disciplinary process. In line with the club's own procedures, and UK employment law, Mr Poyet now has a right of appeal..............."

Brighton say they released the statement on their website at 19:14 BST on Sunday. Poyet said he received an email from the club at 21:03 BST.

Today the club's first-team players were due to report back for pre-season fitness testing, with the squad's first technical sessions commencing on Thursday 27th June. The team then play Whitehawk in a pre-season friendly on Saturday 6th July and leave for their summer training camp in Spain on 14th July. It is believed an interim manager will oversee the initial weeks of pre-season preparation alongside the club’s existing staff.

From the Twitter account @WeAreBrighton........and look, here's the new interim manager! 

Here are what a few Brighton fans have had to say following the shambolic way 'Gusgate' was handled:

From: NorthStandChat.com

"For all the good work he's done for us I don't think sacking him in this way is the best way to go about it. Makes us look like unprofessional employers, decent replacements may think twice and what player would want to come and play for what will be a circus this summer?"

"This was cold blooded. A statement released on a Sunday evening and whilst he is live on national TV, why? I think it's a disgraceful way to act."

"For those Albion supporters who think it OK to sack Gus that way, just think of how you would react if the Sarf Lundin Scum (Crystal Palace) did their business that way!"

"Whatever way you dress it up tonight has been a PR DISASTER for the club. To release a club statement just before Gus Poyet has an audience of a million or so on the BBC is to be fair a 'schoolboy' error.........."

"Utter, utter shambles. Even if it had become inevitable over the last week, it is still very badly portrayed by the club, as Poyet now has become the victim."

"Well either Poyet genuinely didn't know of the outcome of his disciplinary hearing until the BBC's Floor Manager printed off the statement from the club's website, or he is an early candidate for next year's Academy Awards. Personally, I got the distinct impression he had no inkling."

"This whole process has been total f**k up from start to finish, anybody who thinks the club hasn't made an utter mess of things is living in cloud cuckoo land!"

From: The twitter account @WeAreBrighton

"I thought #bhafc had more class than that. They certainly used to. Perhaps not any more. This club is changing and not all for the better."

"Just when you think we couldn't become any more of a laughing stock, we manage it #bhafc"



Former Maccabi Tel Aviv boss Oscar Garcia is in the running to take over at the Amex with Tottenham Hotspur Technical co-ordinator Tim Sherwood another option.

The Championship Play-Off Final - Big Willie Style!

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!

Dindane Dong – Could Aruna hold the key to the Palace!

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?”

The Championship Play-Off Lottery!

The gloves are off!

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 final: 8 goals – Charlton Athletic 4–4 Sunderland (1998)

Highest scoring play-off match: 8 goals – Charlton Athletic 4–4 Sunderland (Final, 1998); Ipswich Town 5–3 Bolton Wanderers (Semi-final, 2000)

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.

Attached is a link to The Guardian's article on the subject right here!