Malcolm Dawson writes….Big Sam has set out his stall. It looks like we can expect a defensive mindset for the rest of this campaign. His theory is don’t concede and you can’t lose. Can’t say I’m looking forward to Saturday’s encounter with Stoke but his tactic worked at Selhurst Park and he’s got a villa in Spain so who am I to doubt his approach. He was chuffed enough with the way things went in Sarf East Larndan as his post match e-mail to M Salut shows.
CRYSTAL PALACE 0 SUNDERLAND 1
Dear Colin,
I know our fans might not agree but I think that’s a bigger win than the one over Newcastle United. To come away from Selhurst Park with a win and a clean-sheet after we’ve conceded as many goals as we have in recent weeks is massive for us. Today we showed a huge amount of resilience and I’m hoping to use that as a base to kick on, get more points and results, and climb up the table.
It’s our first away win of the season and it’s a massive result for us. Both of our wins this season have come with clean-sheets and it’s no coincidence. This win is just as satisfying as our derby victory last month.
Jermain Defoe chased something down that looked like a lost cause and then he capitalised on a mistake from the Palace keeper. It was late in the game and we knew we didn’t have too long to defend. In those final 10 minutes we defended superbly and deserved to win the game.
Thanks for your support,
Sam Allardyce
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Not bad at all, in touch with the likes of Newcastle, Norwich, Swansea and, a hunch, Watford. News of imminent and ultimate demise is on hold.
I do not think we should worry about style. Like Allardyce said, confidence comes when you’re achieving success.And confidence will improve performance. He is absolutely correct to focus on results no matter how dour we have to be. Let’s worry about playing like Barcelona when we are in the Champions League. Meanwhile let’s focus on getting wins no matter how ugly.
Alan Fenwick
I don’t want to see us play like Barcelona. I dream of a side that is half Melchester Rovers and half Fulchester United with a barefoot Native American on the left wing, a chisel jawed, string vest wearing centre forward and baby faced blonde haired assassin in midfield.
#smoke tabs, drink beer, build sheds!
General opinion on the train back into London was “points first, performances second”. Once again our fans were superb, enduring one of the worst views in PL with plenty of humour.
Textbook.
We did well to move on Wickham he was terrible last night. We had good players on the bench and although we need to strengthen we are not too badly off a target of 9 points before New Year seems reasonable. We should be reserved but optimistic there is hope lets hzng on to it.
Wickham’s problem as I see it is that he has believed all the hype that surrounded his big money move from Ipswich and his relative success with England U21s. He thinks he can achieve all he wants without putting in maximum effort and with £40 grand a week or whatever he’s on, maybe he has.
But like Nicklas Bendnter he’s not as good as he thinks he is. Getting him off the wage bill was the best bit of business the club did over the summer.
Oh no! Optimism’s starting to creep back in, like an unwanted relative at Chrisrmas. Why do they keep doing this to us? The cruelty of hope!
If it keeps us up, then a defensive mindset is fine by me. Keep the other side out and take your chances up front. Chase the lost causes. I think the Stoke match could be interesting. I think we’re in with a good chance of winning it.
With all due respect Bill, watching it on telly in Canada isn’t quite the same as having to endure it in the flesh. I’ll be more than happy if we win on Saturday, however we play, but I can envisage long periods of deciding what to have for my tea when I get home over the 90 minutes.