Match Thread: Crystal Palace v Wolves 3.9.23 KO 2pm

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:09:24:15:37:54 by Ivybridge Wolf.

Not an easy fixture although l am sure we will go toe to toe and battle for a point, or maybe three.
A gulf in experience between the two managers so a good test for GON up against someone who must be one of the most respected managers in the game today.

Thanks for the front page Ivy and I would agree with your sentiments regarding Nunes and the Doc.
I am indeed having a break having arrived at our favourite hotel in Turkey y’day afternoon. I have already asked my friendly local pub owner to screen the game for me which I’m sure he will do. Sadly there is also the Liverpool game on with high demand and F1 for him to screen, which tends to lower the quality of the Wi-Fi and may limit my posting ability. Still at least it is on Sky which should give most of our number a good chance to watch it.

I’m also hoping for a good performance and for one of our strikers to stake a claim for a regular starting position. I think we are also very fortunate that Michael Olise is unfit to play for Palace, but we will have to keep close tabs on Eze as he is their real danger man now Zaha has gone.

One change to our starting Xl with Serabia replacing the injured Hwang

RAN shown a yellow card after tangling with Ayew who will always spoil for trouble. Free kick to Wolves 5yds outside their area eventually skyed by Fabio

Good build up but shot from Semedo goes wide as it usually does!!

Palace take the lead after their first attack of the second half. Good ball in from the left by Mitchell put away by Edouarde - no chance for Sa
Palace 1 Wolves 0

Hwang replaces Serabia

Hee Cham levels with a good header from a Neto free kick
Palace 1 Wolves 1

Good save by Jose Sa from Ayew.
Traore replaces Fabio

Eze scores despite three defenders around him
Palace 2 Wolves 1

And it's 3-1

And it's 3-2. Cunha. FT.

Passive performance, the palace goals we have given away were really poor, we just stood off them and never put a tackle in.
Time to play Doherty in place of semedo for me, the guy can't defend and offers nothing in attack, another waste of money.
Midfield looked really lightweight gave the forwards nothing, only one I'd give credit to is neto who tried to make things happen.
Sad to see how far this club has fallen in the space of 4 seasons, long season ahead I think, can't really see nothing more than a relegation scrap ahead again.
We better pray some of the new signings are decent.
Are we going to rue not bringing in a striker yet again!

Glad to have missed that one. In London for my birthday weekend.
Liverpool, Man City coming up. Dear me

Playing devil's advocate, does it really matter if we get relegated? It's going to happen eventually, whether it's this season or the next..if we stay up, it will just be more of the same next season of trying to keep the score down against bigger clubs rattling around with nothing to play for year after year other than survival. At least the championship is competitive, which is more than can be said for the premiership.

I'm hopefully the sky bubble will burst in the near future meaning all the FFP nonsense becomes redundant and we have a proper league instead of this rubbish. What kind of sport allows billionaire clubs to spend yet refuses to allow smaller clubs the same luxury dressing it up as " financial fair play". Utter garbage and when you throw in the VAR, biased refs etc, it makes me glad I don't watch much of it any more.

If can sympathise with your point of view Angry and perhaps there would be more excitement in the Championship but surely the point of supporting any club is about aspiration and if we were to be relegated wouldn't we then cheer the team on every week ŵith the hope that we could secure promotion?
The Prem is unfairly biased but it is what it is and we will have to live with it along with the other 12 or 13 teams who have little or no hope of achieving much other than lower or midtable survival and the small chance of a cup run.
Wishful thinking keeps me going and I remember the dismal years very well so struggling in the Prem almost feels like a blessing.

Quote:

Lupy
If can sympathise with your point of view Angry and perhaps there would be more excitement in the Championship but surely the point of supporting any club is about aspiration and if we were to be relegated wouldn't we then cheer the team on every week ŵith the hope that we could secure promotion?
.

Logically that's correct, I'm not saying I want us to go down but I won't be spending much energy continually praying year after year we stay in a league that we have no chance of realistically competing in towards the top end. There is no aspiration, that's my point as a combination of factors means the club is happy just to potter along doing the bare minimum to survive year after year. If the club has aspiration, it would invest in the stadium, it would invest in better recruitment etc etc..it's going nowhere bar at best mind numbing repetition ad infinitum. It's fcking boring. The whole point of a sport is escapism from the monotony of the daily grind finding some enjoyment in watching a team..there is nothing enjoyable about this year after year.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:09:04:20:39:14 by An angry wolf.

Certainly one of the best seasons, from a fan perspective, was the Nuno promotion year 2017/18, it was absolutely thrilling. The first two seasons following that were pretty good annawl!!!

Relegation is never the end for any football side and can result in renewal and bring about fantastic glory, nevertheless it took many seasons of mediocrity (or less) in the championship plus additional relegation for us to get 1 season of exceptional stuff. Ultimately, the place to be is the highest division feasibly possible and despite the flaws, the inequality, unsustainability, VAR, bulls!!t punditry, bordering on biased refereeing decisions and general crass state of football (which as we all know was invented by Rupert Murdoch in 1992) …… then that means we have to be in the Premier League.

Moving to the Palace performance ….. a bit like deja vu. Started well, good possession, powder puff up front, almost completely sterile in the final third, and that sounds odd in a match we scored two goals!! On top of that, our relative mean defence from last season is now offering opportunity and excitement to opposition players and fans alike …… this is not a great recipe. Anyone for 5 at the back again? Credit for Neto for keeping going, likely our best player yesterday.

If Kalajdic is fit, get him in! Fabio isn’t taking his chance. Can’t say I’m surprised and whilst he is putting himself about a bit more (maybe stretching it to say that yesterday),he’s in the side to stick it in the back of the net. Compare him to Ferguson at Brighton aged 18 …. Or Robbie Keane all those years ago at 17. Who’s the £35M player from those three players I wonder?

Also, time for The Doc ….. kamikaze Semedo cannot be trusted in defence and seems to stop and go backwards or sideways when going down the wing with the ball at his feet and the last man to beat …. And he’s got pace to burn, the whole thing as mystifying as it is frustrating - thus give MAtt another go please.

Normally I lament the coming of the international break but this time I’m pleased. Time for O’Neil to gather thoughts and take stock. I remain confident he’s a decent manager, but he has his work cut out, for sure, even though early results suggest we have a collective bunch of no hoper sides in this years division. Don’t rest on laurels, anything can happen, by which I mean we’re playing Luton shortly …… all Wolves fans will completely understand the notion of playing a side who don’t look close to gaining a point at present!!

UTW!!

Quote:

An angry wolf
There is no aspiration, that's my point as a combination of factors means the club is happy just to potter along doing the bare minimum to survive year after year. If the club has aspiration, it would invest in the stadium, it would invest in better recruitment etc etc..it's going nowhere bar at best mind numbing repetition ad infinitum. It's fcking boring. The whole point of a sport is escapism from the monotony of the daily grind finding some enjoyment in watching a team..there is nothing enjoyable about this year after year.

Whilst I do not necessarily agree it’s boring, after all this present situation more closely resembles the mid to late 70s (a period I personally loved albeit traumatic), I can not get over the false promises of Fosun as you’ve described Angry - The ambition, the rebuilding of Molineux, the aspiration of european football (top 4 even!!) etc etc. On these issues and as a ‘legacy fan’ (Fosun’s words, not mine) I feel completely and utterly let down and yes, the aspiration and impetus has seemingly expired …. And if we’re honest it disappeared 2-3 seasons ago. I mean, the now fantasy statements of the rebuild turned into a mere refashioning the front rows of the Steve Bull and even this magnificent project has gone silent. Molineux needs cash spent on it. When you think the North Bank was built in 2011 and under Morgan, it just shows up the current stasis for what it is.

Agreed Ivy, stadium size which by definition would incorporate a perceived fan base ( on matchdays) is one of the most important things in football. If molineux had been expanded to 40/45k , it would change people's perceptions of the club which would be beneficial attracting players for transfers, intimidating opposing players facing a bigger crowd ( hopefully closer to the pitch) and even sponsorship/sky showing more games etc. When molineux was built, it was one of the most impressive grounds in the country, but has now been left behind in modernisation and size. No club with a 31k capacity can possibly be viewed as a big club, which may not matter to fans, but it matters in the earlier mentioned issues. Football is a simple game, every club has a huge difference in results comparing home/away records and creating a more hostile home environment is crucial. The bigger the crowd, the bigger the home advantage is proven in every league in the world bar seasonal anomalies which rectify themselves quickly

Often we are told, the club needs to establish itself in the prem before expanding but what does that phrase even mean? Unless you are a top 6 club, everyone is potentially fighting relegation from one season to the next. I don't see what Fosun's plan is other than just keep raking the sky money in

“Well, I meant it when I said it” should be Fosun’s motto. They were likely imagining an easier ride, when ambitious conglomerates could expand internationally (usually with borrowed money) and the owners were smiled on benevolently by the CCP in Beijing. No longer. China is in deep Doo-Doos, with a collapsing property market, falling population (gotta smile at that) and an economy that is hardly growing. CEO’s on ego trips go missing for long periods, presumably for ‘re-education’.
The proof that our current malaise is planned, rather than accidental, is that Jeff Shi is still in charge. Don’t expect much more than thin gruel till something changes in China’s capital.
The plan changed.

This is exactly the issue Chicago, no English premier league club should be relying on the Chinese economy ( or any foreign country) to improve fortunes or for any plans when it comes to ownership. We are basically an extension of the CCP on a football pitch, all that remains is the ground name and the club logo. ( This applies to all the prem clubs pretty much with their various owners not just us).