In the midst of managerial uncertainty, the Crystal Palace faithful arrived at Selhurst Park in defiant mood, determined to be the 12th man, all intent on helping their side grab those three precious points. As one of the most raucous groups in football, The Palace ultras certainly know how to inspire an atmosphere that is as unique as it is exhilarating. Banging on their drums and reciting some rather unflattering, Sam Allardyce inspired chants, one would think that Palace fans didn’t have a worry in the world. It didn’t seem to matter that the tight knit club finds itself inadvertently involved in the whole Malky Mackay scandal. For 90 minutes, no matter what, they were going to try and forget the entire anarchy, one that involves their technical director, Iain Moody, resigning and a replacement for Tony Pulis looking increasingly difficult to locate. On a vocal level, Palace had the 12th man, but this did not translate where it mattered; on the field of play.
By the time Mark Clattenburg brought an end to the game at 4:50pm, Keith Millen, Palace’s caretaker manager, was left looking thoroughly dejected, while Big Sam was displaying a grin as big as his waistline. When Millen was jeered for substituting Barry Bannan in the second half, the buoyant mood evident at kick off had well and truly disappeared. Although Palace have only played two EPL games, they are without a manager, without a single point and without any hope unless Steve Parish can make a once very appealing job still look appealing (the old glitter on dog crap expression springs to mind)
Crystal Palace Off-field antics influence on-field performance
Sensing Palace’s vulnerability, West Ham picked off their opponents with relative ease. , Although Palace almost took the lead after five minutes, the visitors were inspired by the Argentine artistry of Mauro Zárate,
After an early spell of crisp passing and promising offensive play, Palace faded away and West Ham were able to capitalize on a rather limp display. Securing victory at a ground where they had not won in close to a quarter of a century, Allardyce needed his men to perform, especially after the disappointment of last week’s opening day defeat to Spurs.
With their talisman Kevin Nolan missing through injury, many felt that West ham would lack any real cutting edge in the final third. However, Zárate, taking the place of Nolan, was simply inspirational playing in the hole behind the often sub-standard Carlton Cole.
Demanding the ball with such tenacity, Zárate looks like a player capable of transforming the Londoners season. Possessing the dynamism and of Paolo DiCanio and Carlos Tevez, two West Ham wizards from yesteryears, Zárate also possesses a nasty streak and can count himself lucky not to have received his marching orders for a dreadful tackle on Stuart O’Keefe. Standing in for Joe Ledley (the midfielder tweaked his groin just before kickoff), O’Keefe was lucky not to be joining the Welshman on the treatment table.
After wasting numerous chances, Allardyce could be forgiven for thinking that he would leave Selhurst Park empty handed. For Big Sam, thankfully, when West Ham’s first goal arrived, it was something of pure beauty. After Mark Noble’s speculative effort was blocked and looped into the air, Zárate latched onto it and displayed exceptional technique to arrow a 25 yard volley past the despairing Julian Speroni.
The Hammers soon doubled their lead when Stewart Downing cut in from the right and curled an exceptional shot into the far corner from 20 yards out. A vital goal for the winger, this was Downing’s first goal from open play for West Ham.
With the influential Jason Puncheon ruled out through suspension, it is no surprise that Steve Parish looked disillusioned as he sat in the director’s box. With Scott Dann also missing, Palace certainly lacked their usual defensive durability, and they should have found themselves three goals down, but James Tomkins inexplicably managed to head against the bar when it looked far easier to score. Although Chamakh, who scored the winning goal in the same fixture last season, netted himself a fine goal, Carlto Cole soon restored West Ham’s two-goal cushion. Losing 3-1 should concern Millen, obviously, but the manner in which Palace surrendered was the most alarming aspect.
After a week that saw Palace dragged into the ‘Textgate’ scandal, it is no surprise that all this negativity seeped into the players’ performances. Exposing a truly archaic mindset, the exchanges between Mackay and Moody seem to be symbolic of the powerful organisations within English football, all innately opposed to the idea of change.
The messages of a homophobic, racist, anti-Semitic and sexist nature shine an intense light on the unrelenting scourge of discrimination in football. Swept under the carpet for far too long, without doubt, the recent scandal has once again shown how this cancer has poisoned the game we all love.
Malky Mackay, the former Cardiff City boss who was litigiously sacked by Chairman Vincent Tan last season, may have sent some distasteful messages, but isn’t society guilty of this casual discrimination, whether it occurs on Wall Street or behind the counter at KFC?
A string of discreditable text messages and emails exchanged between Mackay and Iain Moody, the former Director of Crystal Palace, were indeed juvenile, but they were hardly as shocking as the media would have you believe. Yes, the subject matter of each text message was anything but mature, liberal-minded rhetoric, but the so called ‘banter’ highlights the problem in today’s society, not just in the world of football.
If people were to meticulously examine thousands of your text messages and emails, including all the ‘informal’ ones, what embarrassing evidence would they find?
In the sphere of football, where men are ‘real’ men, the Mackay-Moody texts seem to fall into the realm of surreptitious political inappropriateness. While I know little about Moody, Mackay has been a stellar ambassador for English football, a man who received nothing but praise before this Jerry Springer type affair was exposed. It is vital to remember that there is a distinct difference between evil statements and evil people, and Mackay is certainly not an evil person. He is a man who has made a big mistake. Show me a man who never once sinned and I’ll show you a liar.
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