Humiliating, and pathetic are the words that spring to mind following last night's Coca Cola Cup exit.
I cannot, ever, remember a time where Palace have been so dominant, yet so inept in front of goal. And I speak with 38 years of Palace-supporting experience under my belt.
This was the sort of performance that all Palace fans have suffered from at least once in their life. The sort of performance that had you sitting on the edge of your seat one minute and then tearing your hair out in complete and utter frustration the next.
I ambled out of the Holmesdale Stand last night still not believing that we had really lost to a team that has probably the worst away record in the whole of the football league. Five defeats, a 1-1 draw and only one goal to show in their previous six away games but Palace could barely muster two goals against them.
It was a first half of woeful ineptitude by the Eagles and any newcomer could be forgiven for mistaking who the Premiership side really was.
For the first 45 minutes, without doubt, it was Hull City.
As early as the 6th minute Hull served notice on Palace with a 'goal' that, fortunately, was ruled off-side. Then followed a catalogue of Palace defensive errors that a better team might have taken advantage of.
But unknown to the assembled faithful, the decisive moment came on 30 minutes when a Hull central defender, with the unlikely name of 'Ian Wright', rose, completely unmarked, at the far post to place a downwards header past Miller.
Not only was this a valuable away goal but it gave the Yorkshire side a belief that a result was well and truly possible and this fashioned their play for the rest of the game giving Palace an onerous 3-goal target for victory.
| Substitution |
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| Photo © Neil Everitt |
There was nobody in the Palace midfield capable of breaking down the Hull defence and Palace, with boos raining down on them, trudged off the park at half time being left in no doubt about their poor showing.
One would think, with the assumed harsh words of Coppell and Lewington ringing in their ears during the break, that they would come out with renewed vigour. Huh , no chance !!! Hull, squandered two early second-half chances to heap more humiliation on Palace.
Palace's best move, so far came on 54 minutes when Carl Veart in a one-on-one situation had a shot blocked and Dean Gordon flashed a shot over the bar from the resulting corner.
But the crucial breakthrough occurred one minute later with Marc Edworthy providing the cross for Veart to plant a firm header past the Hull keeper, Wilson.
The Hull defence came under siege from then on with Freedman making up a 4 man attack at the expense of Itzik Zohar.
| George Ndah |
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| First game this season Photo © Neil Everitt |
But Palace's downfall was their reckless wastefulness in front of goal. Paul Warhurst being the chief offender who was presented with a veritable hatful of opportunities yet squandered everyone. The most notable being a shot from just 3 yards out which was blazed over the bar.
The inevitable 90 minute whistle came and Hull City had somehow weathered a storm of Palace attacking due in large part to Palace's incompetence rather than dogged Hull defence.
The brief break before extra time did not serve Palace kindly and the Eagles were unable to resume their attacking prowess. In fact, it was Palace who were on the back-foot defending against a Hull attack that was still game for the fray. One must not forget the contribution of the Yorkshiremen's keeper, Wilson. Yet again, another keeper had come to Selhurst Park and, uncharacteristically, played a 'blinder'.
Palace, in fits and starts, were, with a 4 man attack, stretching the Tigers' defence to breaking point but not able to get that crucial goal that would take them through to the next round with the Toon army.
Being Palace fans, one tends to sense how the game is inevitably going to end and so it proved.
Hull had secured a victory they barely deserved but, one has to question the Palace tactics and player commitment in both of the home and away legs.
Forty two attempts on goal and 22 corners but only two goals scored tells the real story of Palace's woeful performance. Their finishing was abysmal. And, as for Freedman, despite setting up Ndah's goal, he easily justified Coppell's earlier decision to leave him on the bench.
Reluctantly, I feel compelled, to suggest that now might be the time to unload Freedman because I don't see him making it in the Premiership. His lacksadaisical and sulking approach to playing for Palace does not warrant his inclusion in any future Palace first team. (I know - that's bound to upset the Freedman fan club - but the truth has to be faced !!!)
Linighan is showing signs of his age, a number of almost costly, defensive errors bear testimony to that, and the fact that Palace are looking for a central defender would suggest that his days are numbered.
On the bright side there were fine performances by Edworthy and, at long-last by, Dean Gordon in the wing-back roles. And George Ndah with his electric pace was a constant thorn in the side of the North east side. And, once again, one must not forget Miller's contribution. He made some crucial interventions to keep Palace in the game. He, surely, is not far off becoming a worthy successor to Nigel Martyn.
I have a certain amount of sympathy for those who claim that this is a 'Mickey Mouse' competition and now that we are out we can concentrate on Premiership survival and I have some difficulty in arguing with the logic.
But, on the other hand, I belong to the 'old school' who thinks we should go out to win every game we play - including the Coca Cola Cup games. Those critics of the Coca Cola Cup seems to forget one thing; ducking out of the competition is not an option. Participation is compulsory.
What these people are really suggesting is that we should go out in the very first game and deliberately lose. How are you going to square that with the travelling faithful like Paul Romain (read his article in last night's programme).
Here is a guy who, along with others, spent 10.00 on a ticket, 39.00 on a train fare, 25.00 on a hotel room and add to this meals, drinks and other miscellaneous expenses and he didn't come back from Hull with much change out of 100.00 pounds.
And how did his team repay them ? They lost 1-0 to a team that is currently last, but one, in the *THIRD* division with seven league defeats and a draw from their previous 8 games. And to top it all, the Palace players couldn't even be bothered to wander across the pitch to acknowledge their presence.
I stupidly spent 18.00 pounds on a ticket for the away game at Manchester United on Saturday. Not only that, I am now faced with a 10 hour round trip in the car and I know in my heart-of-hearts we are going to get trounced.
Yes, I'm a Palace fan and insanity is a pre-requisite.
Ray Bateup
Pier's Match Stats | CA Match Report
