Crystal Palace v Wolverhampton Wanderers Sunday 22nd September 2019 // 2pm
22.09.2019
INSIDE THE PROGRAMME CRYSTAL PALACE v WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS SUNDAY 22ND SEPTEMBER 2019 | 2PM K.O.
Directors Steve Parish, Chairman David Blitzer, Joshua Harris Chief Executive Phil Alexander Chief Financial Officer Sean O’Loughlin Sporting Director Dougie Freedman Club Secretary
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Christine Dowdeswell Head of Sport Science, Strength & Conditioning
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Scott Guyett Head of Medical Dr. Zaf Iqbal Academy Director Gary Issott Director of U23 Development Mark Bright Head Groundsman Bruce Elliott Commercial Director Barry Webber Operations Director Sharon Lacey Head of Consumer Sales Mike Pink Head of Ticketing Paul McGowan Head of Legal David Nichol Head of Content & Production James Woodroof Head of CRM & Campaigns Tom McGuiness Head of Safeguarding Marcus Puddephatt
70 Programme Editor Dan Blazer Graphic Design Billy Cooke, Luke Thomas Contributors Ben Mountain, Ian King, Dom Fifield, Chris Waters, Grace Cullen, Tash Stephens Photography Neil Everitt, Sebastian Frej, Reuters, Pinnacle, Rex Features, David Vallade Printer Bishops Printers
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Copers Cope
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Chris Grierson
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Junior Eagles
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Amateur Analysis
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A Corner of South London
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Dom Fifield
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Cuppa in the Canteen
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Palace XI in Time
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Freya Holdaway
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STEVE PARISH
Three weeks ago we secured a hugely important win over a very strong Aston Villa side, with an excellent finish from Jordan separating the teams. I was extremely pleased that supporters voted him as our ManBetX Player of the Month – it was richly deserved, not just for his two crucial goals in the month, but for his tireless efforts in each of the games he’s played. Whilst the result against Spurs was hugely disappointing, it’s important not to get too carried away with good results like the win away at United, or too desperate about the bad ones. Last week, the two-year anniversary of Roy joining the club was marked. Roy’s results during that time speak for themselves, and I must say that he has been an absolute joy to work with since his first day with us. I feel extremely privileged to have him at our club, and I was pleased to see several
items of media coverage praising his work here and reflecting so warmly on an unparalleled career in football management. Roy and several other staff members attended a Palace for Life Foundation celebration evening recently. On the night, more than 100 guests heard from several figures from the charity as well as heart-warming stories from those who are helped by their good work. Like a young man called Shamel who was supported by Foundation staff whilst being held in custody, who we are now helping to complete his coaching badges. And a young girl, Mackenzie, who attended a Healthy Eagles programme, and whose selfconfidence has markedly improved. And several members of the Down’s Syndrome team who absolutely love their football. It just shows the breadth of work that the Foundation are doing; long may it continue.
Elsewhere in the club, I am delighted to welcome Shaun Derry back to Palace, who has joined our Academy coaching set-up. Shaun was a colossal player here, and everyone at the Academy will benefit from his return. The role will see him work alongside older agegroup players aiming to ease player progression from Development to senior football. Finally, a word on today’s opposition. Whilst it hasn’t been the start that they would have hoped for, Wolves had a remarkable season last campaign finishing seventh at the first time of asking since promotion from the Championship. I am absolutely sure that today’s match will be another tightly contested affair, so as always, throw your full support behind Roy’s team as loudly as possible. Up the Palace!
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May I extend the warmest of welcomes to Selhurst Park to the supporters, staff, players and directors of Wolverhampton Wanderers, as well as to each and every Palace supporter here to get behind Roy’s team today.
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“People say to me it’s easier for you to play centre-back because you aren’t running around so much but I like to be like that, running and working hard; I prefer to be in the midfield but I am happy wherever to help my teammates and where the manager wants me to play.” Attention turns to being teammates with his now-Palace club captain at Anderlecht: “I remember playing at the back with Anderlecht and Luka in the midfield ahead of me and he has progressed
Anderlecht the Serbian wasn’t just the one-inch shorter than Kouyaté that he is now. Throughout the whole interview Kouyaté is endearing, from talking about being close to tears post-Africa Cup of Nations to a brotherly love for ‘Man like Serbia’ and that doesn’t stop when the conversation moves on to a place he now refers to as his “second home”: south London. Through laughter, of course, Kouyaté laments the rush hour
“PLAYERS LOOK TOWARDS HIM NOW; HE IS A LEADER, HE IS OUR CAPTAIN. HE IS A VERY, VERY POSITIVE GUY AND I LOVE HIM”
a lot now. At Palace the player I see has taken on more responsibility, he is a leader who is constantly talking on the field but at Anderlecht he was a good, quiet boy. “Players look towards him now; he is a leader, he is our captain. He is a very, very positive guy and I love him!” Overhearing the comments from Kouyaté – no doubt the intention of our cheerful midfielder – Milivojevic jokes about the size difference of them back in Belgium, referencing the fact that back in
hustle and bustle of the capital. Did he miss it while away? “Not the traffic! London is so, so busy! But I love London, it is so, so easy for my lifestyle and for my wife. She loves it as it’s so easy for us to visit places or to get our children to school or to visit our friends. “You know what African people are like: get everyone together for big meals and celebrations and London allows us to do that; I love the community it creates.”
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And just then, as if planned, on the training ground canteen’s screens up pops an interview with Schlupp on Sky Sports News. Kouyaté explodes: “Oh, Jeff! Look, it’s Jeff!” The childlike exuberance from Kouyaté at seeing his teammate, a man who is in the same room as him at the time, is truly laughter-inducing. In fact, there’s laughter most loudly radiating from the Eagles captain, Luka Milivojevic, who, unaware to us both, is sitting behind us during the interview and begins to laugh at the excitement and reaction of his midfield colleague. Kouyaté is now on one, with Milivojevic’s reaction sparking an equally passionate shout of: “Man like Serbia!” which echoes around the canteen followed by the Senegalese’s infectious laugh. Milivojevic and Kouyaté know each other well having played together 56 times for Anderlecht. During his time in Belgium, Kouyaté played mainly as a centre-back, a position he feels more than comfortable playing in, having done so for the Senegal national team and throughout his career at club level: “I know this position [centreback]. I played it for Anderlecht in some games, including in the Champions League. At West Ham I also played some games under Sam Allardyce and Slaven Bilic in that position so it is not new for me.
COPERS Sebastian Frej
A behind the scenes look at first-team training, with Roy Hodgson and his coaching staff putting the squad through their paces ahead of today’s clash against Wolves.
JORDAN AYEW
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WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS WOLVES
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Wolves have failed to win their last six top-flight matches - Nuno Espírito Santo has never gone seven league games without a win.
FROM THE DUGOUT
“[CHELSEA] WAS A BAD PERFORMANCE. WE KNOW THAT, THE BEST WAY IS TO ANALYSE, KNOWING IT CANNOT HAPPEN AGAIN. WE HAVE TO START FROM THE DEFENSIVE ORGANISATION.”
If Palace are to win today, then history suggests they will need a minimum of two goals, with Wolves having scored at least once in each of their last 14 away league games against the Eagles (W6 D4 L4) – the Wanderers last failed to net in south London in a 0-0 draw back in March 1985. Furthermore, this fixture tends to favour the visiting side with the away team having won six of the last eight league meetings between Crystal Palace and Wolves, with three wins each for both sides. This fixture has come at a good time for Palace, though, with Roy Hodgson’s side unbeaten in their last four Premier League games at Selhurst Park (W2 D2 L0), the
longest such run since December 2017 (six games). Wolves will up the fight today, though, as they look to banish any relegation chatter around their potential ‘secondseason syndrome’. This is the sixth occasion that Wolves have failed to win any of their first five games in a top-flight season, with the club relegated in each of those previous five campaigns (2003-04, 1983-84, 1975-76, 1964-65, 1905-06). If Palace are pushing for a late goal, then Hodgson will be looking to his bench to end a record that has seen none of the Eagles’ last 29 league goals be scored by a substitute - only Newcastle United (38) and Norwich City (35) are on longer current such streaks.
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Wolves’ 1-0 win over Sunderland in November 1969 was the first English game ever shown live on TV in Sweden.
DID YOU KNOW?
MOST WINS
MOST GOALS
Matthew Jarvis
Steven Fletcher
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Stephen Ward
Kevin Doyle
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Matthew Jarvis
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20 Kevin Doyle
Raúl Jiménez
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Otto Costa Jiménez Cavaleiro
SUBS 17 Gibbs-White 8 Neves 37 Traoré
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RETRO
Patrício Bennett Coady Boly Doherty Moutinho Saïss
AWAY
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LAST TIME OUT
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HOME
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Christophe Berra
WOLVES' FORM GUIDE
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CRYSTAL PALACE v WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
THE ORCHESTRATOR
22.09.2019
AMATEUR ANALYSIS
He’s no expert. However, each week Crystal Palace’s Club Journalist will attempt to turn the ‘pub chat’ into something more conclusive with an ‘out of their depth’ look down the rabbit hole of football data.
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GAME CHANGER footballfoundation.org.uk 52 AD-105x148-FF-Game Changer.indd 1
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Everything about Crystal Palace’s trip to Anfield in mid-September, 1989, was horrific. The whole experience was the stuff of nightmares, a humiliation Steve Coppell admitted would haunt him forever and a thrashing which would set most teams back on their heels. As it transpired, the most painful of reality checks would ultimately prove the catalyst to the side’s successful push for survival at the higher level. Coppell, who hailed from the Wirral and had friends and family in the stands that Tuesday night, would address his crestfallen players in the away dressing room post-match and tell them they had inadvertently put Palace on the map. The Liverpool manager, Kenny Dalglish, popped his head round the door and told the vanquished they had done well to persevere as the goals rained in. “You could have scored four,” he added before taking his leave. The problem was, the hosts had mustered nine. Eight different players registered for the home team that night, with Steve Nicol starting and completing the rout. Steve McMahon, Ian Rush, Gary Gillespie, Peter Beardsley, Jon Aldridge
– with a penalty converted on his first touch – John Barnes and Glenn Hysén all helped themselves in between. Ian Wright and Mark Bright, forever taking kick-offs, later admitted they had lost count of the goals that had been shipped. Phil Barber, absent through injury, recalled: “coming in and turning on Ceefax and there was a whole page dedicated to the Liverpool scorers.” The ribbing was merciless. Ronnie Whelan asked Geoff Thomas if Palace ever trained with the ball back at Mitcham. Poor Perry Suckling, whose playing career would never quite recover, had no chance with panic setting in all around. “It wasn’t his fault, but it ruined Perry,” said Bright. “Liverpool brought out a video of that game within a week, and somebody bought it for me for Christmas. I watched it once and everyone was trying. That was the frightening thing. Coppell came into the changing room – it was so quiet – and said: ‘That will never happen to you again in your professional careers.’” And yet, as Dalglish acknowledged, Palace had mustered moments of quality amidst the horror. Thomas belted an early free-kick
against the post, and later ballooned a penalty, won by Alan Pardew, over the bar. “And we had two one-on-ones with their keeper,” said Coppell. “But every time they attacked they scored. When we got the penalty, my assistant, Stan Ternent, turned to me and said: ‘Right, when we score, we’re running on that pitch and jumping up and down like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.’ Then Geoff went and hit row F. “After the game I was just numb. Numb and embarrassed. I was ashamed to see my family and friends and I drove home by myself that night. The next day I was due to do an event down at Thornton Heath pond and some bloke on a bus saw me and started effing and blinding at me. I suppose you have to laugh at it now. At least it was the catalyst for us to spend money on some very good signings.” It ended up being all about the reaction. Palace went to Southampton just four days later and, despite falling behind, steeled themselves to secure what felt a critical point courtesy of Jeff Hopkins’ header and Russell Osman’s slice into his own net. “That was a huge result for us,” added Bright. “It felt like we’d won the lottery after Anfield.”
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The 2019/20 season marks 30 years on from the first year ‘back’ in the top-flight under Steve Coppell, and The Athletic’s Dom Fifield looks back at the highs, lows and iconic moments for the Eagles during that campaign.
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WORLD ALZHEIMER’S DAY Crystal Palace is proud to raise awareness for ‘World Alzheimer’s Day’. Dementia is a condition that affects 850,000 people over the age of 65 in the UK, and currently there is no cure, although research into better treatments and ways of preventing dementia is a priority. Over recent years the prospect of preventing dementia has become a reality, and there is now an urgent need to discover and develop new methods and treatments that can prevent or delay the disease.
The CHARIOT Register has been organised by Imperial College London’s School of Public Health. It is a list of healthy volunteers aged 50-85 who are interested in taking part in studies into the prevention of dementia. Its main research aims are to better understand risk and protective factors for dementia and help develop methods for early prediction and prevention. Once a person has agreed to be on the register they will receive information about CHARIOT and studies looking at dementia prevention. You are under no
obligation to take part in any study just because you have agreed to be on the register. More volunteers are still needed to help. To request a signup pack or for more information please call: 020 7594 7371, email: dementia.prevention@imperial. ac.uk or visit the website: www. chariotregister.org
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