Nikegate

Back in the day, Palace’s former manager Steve Coppell referred to his boss and club chairman Ron Noades as an ‘enlightened despot’. One could easily say the same about the current chairman and owner, Simon Jordan.

The former mobile phone salesman and entrepreneur rescued the club from oblivion at the beginning of the decade when Palace were on the brink of liquidation. He has pumped millions of pounds into the club over the years. Few doubt the value of his contribution to Crystal Palace and when he finally sells the club (something he has been trying to do for some time now) he will take his place in history as the Man Who Saved Selhurst and Palace’s Most Orange Chairman (on account of his hideous permatan).

However, he has a tendency to fly off the handle. So when the local newspaper, Croydon Advertiser, ran a story on fans annoyance with the new kit manufacturers Nike designs for next season, he banned the paper from speaking to players and manager at the club.

The current home strip design is white with a red and blue sash. Its an old design and very popular among the Palace faithful (ie their paying supporters). The design is not included among the new submissions from Nike. The Advertiser had received a number of complaints from supporters about the strip’s absence and ran a story reflecting this. That’s when Jordan got all steamed up and imposed the ban.

You suspect that this decision was based on a spontaneous explosion rage on Jordan’s part and he’ll rescind the ban after one or two games once he feels he's proved his point. In the meantime, hopefully the Advertiser will decide to give more coverage to Croydon’s non-league clubs, Croydon FC and Croydon Athletic.

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Plymouth 1 Palace 3

My jaw is still firmly on the floor after Palace’s staggering away win at Plymouth tonight.

I can't say that Plymouth is a club that I have a special affinity with. I seem to recall passing through the place on a National Express coach when I was a kid. They also were the club who employed Peter Shilton as manger in the nineties. Shilton is not a character I have a great deal of time for because of Mexico ’86. Hand of God or no Hand of God, there is no way an international class goalkeeper should be second to a ball against a 5ft nothing striker, Especially when that striker was using his hand.

For me they Plymouth have two redeeming qualities: They play in green like Mexico, St Etienne and Werder Bremen plus Paul Sturrock seems like a decent enough bloke. He may well find himself out of the job after this result.

Our goals were all scored in the first half by Neil Danns, Alan Lee and John Oster. Gary Sawyer notched up Argyle's consolation.

After an appalling January when we hardly played at all due to bed weather or FA Cup ties (and when we did play we lost) its great to be back amongst the goals and moving back up the table again. Hopefully the game highlights will be on the Net soon.

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Crikey It's Nike

To the best of my knowledge, Crystal Palace have never had a Nike strip.I stand to be corrected but I reckon they remain one of the few kit manufacturers yet to give their own interpretation of the 'famous red & blue'. I'm pretty certain that Umbro haven't produced a kit for us either (although I really may be wrong about that).

I must confess I have considerable misgivings about Nike. There have been a number of pretty serious concerns expressed about their reputation as employers. They have been associated with the notorious sweatshop industry that employs child labour at rates of pay that dwarf the average salaries in Western Europe let alone the income of those sportsman who are paid to market their wares.

There is a degree of prestige for the club to be sponsored by such a big name and in that respect Simon Jordan can be pleased that he is securing high profile deals in light of today's current economic climate. His dedication to the club is admiral when you consider that he is trying to sell up.

Anyway, the kit designers have submitted a range of styles for fans to vote on by emailing info@cpfc.co.uk, stating in the subject line of the email their prefered choice. I found the picture below on the Holmesdale Online website:

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Dog Eared Moonlight: The Milk & Honey Band

I loath music reviews. I can't stand the constant need to shoe horn in bullshit metaphors that reak of self-importance and pretension. Therefore this post is more of an observation than a review.

I've known Robert White for so long that any music he produces will be so bound up by my own affection for the man that it would be impossible to be objective about anything he creates. In this instance, I don't really think it matters that much as I believe the latest album from the The Milk And Honey Band to be a work of great eloquence and beauty.

Dog Eared Moonlight is a collection of primarily acoustic melodies ideal for an evening in with good company and a nice bottle of red or if you have the means and the climate, a summer night outdoors with a cold beer.

The lyrics carry sentiment without sentimentality. My favorite tracks are No World At All which has a glorious and wistful country flavour; Disappear because it reminds me of so many other great tracks I've heard by this band (plus I'm a sucker for that mandoline sound) and Maryfaith because its just a fucking gorgeous tune.

The album is out March 9th on Ape Records and it would be really great if people bought it. More information is available on the band's Myspace page.

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Brief Book Review: Roseanna

Roseanna is the first in the Decalog 'The Story Of A Crime' written by left wing husband and wife partners Sjowall & Wahloo featuring the famous Swedish detective Martin Beck. The title character is an American tourist holidaying in Sweden who is raped and murdered on a pleasure cruise.

Martin Beck is the cop who has to find the murderer. The story is partly about sexuality in 1960's Sweden and how society copes, or fails to cope with the cultural changes taking place at that time.

Its also about boredom, and the tedium of work and life and working life. Martin Beck is a character whose sould has become somewhat shrevilled by his obsession about his work with no love for his home and only residual affection for those that live within.

The narrative is engaging and the book is easy to read despite the fact that the characters spend an awful lot of time waiting around. If you enjoy police procedurals then this book is for you.

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