Monthly Archives: December 2007

Warnock Returns to Bramall Lane, Leaves With Three Points

Neil Warnock, , ,

Funny feeling, having a late lunch on Saturday with a Palace win already secure. Neil Warnock’s hyped return (by the Sky coverage anyway) to Bramall Lane resulted in a 1-0 win thanks to James Scowcroft’s neatly taken goal in the dying stages of the first half.

Warnock was gracious in victory, stating “I had a fantastic welcome and couldn’t have asked for anything more.” He also threw out the first mention of a phrase we didn’t expect to hear this season: play-offs.

Oh, and Lee Hendrie is a nasty thug. Don’t expect Palace fans to forget you leaving your studs in on Julian Speroni in a hurry.

Sheffield United 0-1 Crystal Palace [BBC Sport]

On the Day After Christmas Palace Gave To Me

Neil Warnock, , , ,

… a victory over our ex-boss who’s ugly.

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Second half goals from Clinton Morrison and Paul Ifill did the trick for Palace, along with a great penalty save from Julian Speroni.

Even better, our former manager didn’t sound very happy. “The two goals are a joke… Clinton Morrison shouldn’t be on his own in the box unless he is offside and then we are mugged at the end of the game when we are chasing it.” Shame.

Next up is a trip to Neil Warnock’s former club, Sheffield United. For those us – like me – who enjoyed snippets of coverage today on Sky Sports News will be pleased to learn that Saturday’s game is live on Sky.

Coventry City 0-2 Crystal Palace [BBC Sport]

Argyle Beaten – We’re a Top Ten Team at Christmas!

Neil Warnock, , ,

What a December Palace have given us. Another win – 2-1 at home over Plymouth Argyle yesterday – saw us move up to 10th in the Championship, where we will now be for Christmas Day.

The early season struggles seem like years ago, and for that much of the credit must go to Neil Warnock. I’ll admit to being sceptical about his appointment but in a results-based business he has won me over.

Yesterday’s goalscorers were Clint Hill and James Scowcroft. Next up are Coventry City, who we will face at the Ricoh Arena on Boxing Day.

Crystal Palace 2-1 Plymouth Argyle [BBC Sport]

Scannell’s Late Show Sinks Wednesday

Neil Warnock, , ,

I’m pleased to type familiar sentences with different figures. Another win, another game in the unbeaten streak! Our 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday saw us come from 1-0 down. Our equaliser was scored by Clinton Morrison before 17 year-old Sean Scannell scored his first goal for the club a minute from time for the win.

You can tell what the result meant to Warnock from the quote, “It’s always special against Wednesday, you can tell the feeling is mutual between me and the fans and I hope they think about me on their five-hour trip home.”

Great to see some optimism around the BBS as well.

Crystal Palace 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday [BBC Sport]

Draw at Barnsley: Unbeaten Streak Now Eight Games

Neil Warnock, , , ,

Another game without defeat, this time at Barnsley yesterday. The 0-0 result is our second clean sheet under Warnock, and our eighth successive game without defeat. Our best chances fell to Clinton Morrison, Shaun Derry and Ben Watson, but none of these resulted in a breakthrough and we had to settle for a point.

We’re now 15th in the table with 25 points. If you’re a pessimist (like yours truly) you’ll want to know that our points tally is five more than third-from-bottom Colchester United.

Barnsley 0-0 Crystal Palace [BBC Sport]

Competitive Palace Draw With Albion

Neil Warnock, , ,

What a difference a few weeks make, eh? Even within Warnock’s brief reign we’ve gone from depressing defeats to Stoke and Watford to an unbeaten streak that now includes a well-deserved draw against West Brom. Featured game on The Championship this morning too, can’t be bad!

(Actually, pretend I didn’t say that. I don’t think ITV are doing that good a job, I’m just pleased to see us on the TV at all.)

Clinton Morrison equalised for us after Mark Hudson’s early own goal. We’re now on a run of six games without defeat.

Crystal Palace 1-1 West Bromwich Albion [BBC Sport]