Mystify Crystal Palace News

Crystal Palace dominated the first half, and took a well-deserved 2-0 lead into half-time. Sheffield Wednesday manager Nate Lee clearly had a few words to say regarding his team's lacklustre performance, as the midlands team started the second half much the stronger. Despite valiant efforts by the Palace defense, Sheffield midfielder Thortsen Gorke put them back into the match within 10 minutes of the half.

This goal seemed to spark Palace back into life, however, and over the next 15 minutes Crystal Palace put together one of those periods of football that their fans know them to be capable of, but which they seldom get to see. In quick succession goals came to Keith Russell, a second for Danny Jorns, and then club stalwart Dean Gordon, in a rare sortie forward for the veteran, calmly found the back of the net. Crystal Palace were 5-1 up, and even the most nervous of home fans must have been quietly confident that a win was in the bag. Indeed, the cheers from the terraces suggested that many of the Palace faithful were not so quiet in their confidence.

But now it was Sheffield Wednesday's turn to respond. Less than a minute after Gordon's goal, the Palace celebrations were quietened by a stunning strike from Wednesday's star forward Damir Cakar. When the visitors added two more goals in the 84th minute, the Palace defense was looking tired and decidedly shaky, and the noise from the stands had quietened to a breathless anticipation. Despite herculean efforts from the Sheffield strikers, the Palace defense held firm for the remaining few minutes, and the home fans were finally able to celebrate a league victory with their team.

Paula joined Crystal Palace as an 18 year old, and has been a regular fixture in the first team over the past five seasons. However the development of Lee Harrison during this season, together with Crystal Palace's traditional depth in the defensive roles has seen Paula struggling for game time this season. Although the player refused interviews, it is believed that the decision to part company was mutually agreeable.

For a moment, it appeared that Paula would enjoy a fairytale finish to his time in London, as he scored in the 48th minute, to bring his team level against Arsenal. However it wasn't to be, as the Gunners blew their opponents out of the water with three unanswered goals before full time.

Grenoble will be faimilar to Eagles fans as the destination for Mark Walton a season or two ago. The French club have been extremely active in the transfer market in that time, so it unclear whether Miller and walton ever lined up again, but it is clear that the young man had received good reports about Crystal Palace as he grinned his way throughout a press conference called to announce the deal.

Palace refused to let the young man answer questions, however, with manager Tim Neame fielding media queries on his behalf. "You have to bear in mind that Funky is a young lad, and we are still getting to know him. When we have had a chance to figure out how he handles himself, we'll let you lads in the press have a chat with him," Neame said.

Ryan is believed to have already departed for France, and it is believed that the split with Palace was seen as mutually beneficial. Speaking at the Miller welcoming conference, Neame said of Ryan, "Look, its unfair to say that Keithy was unhappy. But we were reaching the point where he felt that he couldn't develop much further here, so we let him go to a club where he stood a better chance of becoing the number one keeper. Of course, the cash we received inreturn will help us out here, but thats not the reason we let him go."

Stocchi was replaced for the remainder of the game by Javier Yubero, who has been sadly out of form this season, and who has seen virually no game time. Yubero was clearly out of his depth against Oxford, and in the end the 3-0 scoreline in the game flattered the home team.

In the longer term, promising young keeper Steve Jones arrives at the club this week, and will be free to play in next week's clash against Wolves. Jones' arrival was a part of the deal with German club Unterhaching that saw Davide Onorato depart the club, and had been arranged prior to the injury to Stocchi. The club's manager warned fans not to assume that Jones would be the solution to all their problems though. "Look, Stevie is a good young kid, and he shows a lot of promise, but I have a concern about relying on him as our number one keeper for too long. Its got the potential to hold back his development, and I don't want to see that happen. It could go either way. We'll give him a game next week, and see how he responds. I hope that he'll really seize the opportunity to show us what he's made of, but I don't want too put too much pressure on him, so we'll be looking to bring in another player as well in the not too distant future."