March 30 2008

Action

Palace lacked the guile to grab three home points and get back into play-off contention, writes Jamesey.

A disappointing tally of 16,000 turned up for Palace's 0-0 draw against Blackpool (March 29), despite all the cheap ticket offers and special family deals which were cascading into my email box.

Mind you, I am always suspicious of our gate figures. I think it is fairly common knowledge now, that season ticket seats are counted in whether the owner is there or not.

At our weekday evening game against Cardiff City (March 4), the official attendance was given as 13,446. A senior steward who enjoys a good gossip told me that the true figure was 9,000. That is a big difference and it is hard to see what good inflating match gates does for anybody.

Anyhow, three points from the Seasiders game, as the CCC table currently stands, would have put us back in the play-off positions, a nice springboard for the end-of-season run-in.

As one would have expected, our new loanee Scott Sinclair made an impressive debut, as did Nathan Ashton, but the goals just wouldn't come.

If we can't take three points at home from an average mid-table side, it is hard to see us getting much out of Stoke City away on April 7. But you never know - some of our battling away performances this season have outshone our efforts at home.

I have a lot of time for our match programme. It wins awards and is accurate and bang up-to-date most of the time.

One feature it runs, "On the Spot" I always read with some amusement, especially with the proliferation of teenagers into the squad.

The feature asks 10 questions and in the Blackpool programme two 17-year-olds, Victor Moses and Kieron Cadogan, give their favourite musical artist, album, film, city, etc.

No offence or disrespect to our up-and-coming kids but the answers usually reflect the obvious lack of life experience in boys so young, so what's the point?

At my age, I would hardly expect to have ever heard of their favourite musical artists, and their cinematic choices are the usual Hollywood multiplex fodder. Victor, bless him, gives his favourite city as the Algarve although he does admit that it's not really a city.

After all that, it was refreshing to read the column by Matt Lawrence who appears to be that ultimate fish out of water, a literate footballer. Words like "necrophilia", "psyche" and "equilibrium" are scattered throughout Matt's highly amusing and interesting thoughts. A most articulate man - what on earth was he doing at Millwall?.

To return briefly to 17-year-olds, Lee Hills was sitting a few seats in front of me in the Main Stand and he looks even younger, about 12-years-old, close up. He appeared to be with a bloke with unusual facial fungus and a gorgeous blonde lady. Couldn't have been his parents could it? I suppose it could.

Email Jamesey with your comments to Jevans3704@aol.com

In Depth Jamesey's Veteran View Index