Crystal Palace

Perhaps it was natural to fear the worst heading into this fixture? Like Newcastle, this one had banana skin written all over it. Palace are not dissimilar to us or the Magpies in that they’re bloody difficult to break down. Fortunately, we needn’t have worried. Though not quite a masterclass in game management – Palace […]

Newcastle and Crystal Palace are the two sides I’d say are closest in style to Wolves. Both play with a low defensive block, preferring to absorb pressure and break rather than committing bodies forward. Last weekend the onus was on Wolves to attack and I thought they did that well, albeit not quite able to […]

If this had the feeling of a cup final beforehand, it all felt fairly routine by the finish. Though we were frustratingly slow out of the gate yet again, we got the job done. Our habit of starting games slowly is likely to remain the endearing mystery of this season, as was our inability to […]

I’ve never been one for conspiracy theories in football but if there isn’t something sinister going on the standard and consistency of refereeing in the Premier League is simply appalling. Having swallowed that decision against Matt Doherty that effectively killed off our top-four aspirations, we switch over to see an identical situation where (surprise, surprise) […]

Well, you can’t fault the spirit. Luck, on the other hand, was in short supply up until Joel Ward slipped under the ball to give Jota a precious tap-in. Did we deserve the point? Hard to say. We should have been ahead at half time with Doherty and Jota both failing to convert clear openings. […]

We did a number on Palace in this fixture last season. Limiting Zaha and co to relatively little and striking the decisive blow when the moment presented itself. It was one of two narrow away wins early in the season (the other being West Ham) that gave us much needed early impetus. We need a […]