Mystify Crystal Palace News

Even more remarkable is the fact that Linighan has played the entire 25 years of his professional career with only one club. This level of loyalty has helped make him hugly popular with the fans.

Adding fuel to the fire of speculation that his manager would rather he hung up the boots, Linighan's Crystal Palace boss, Tim Neame said "To be honest with you, I thought he would retire at the end of last season. Last season was his testimonial year, and he played in both our last home game of the year, and our very last game of the year, so there were some great opprtunities to farewell him. Maybe its the fact that we missed out on promotion last season. Maybe he feels responsible for that. Who can tell? We're pleased that Andy will be continuing his association with the club. Everyone loves him here. But he'll only play if he can prove he's still got what it takes."

For the rest of the first half and the whole of the second half the game degenreated into a dull slog, with neither side able to create genuine scoring opportunities. The Crystal Palace defense starved the Barnet attackers of opportunity, but seemed to lack any real urgency in playing the ball forwards, and in the second half the ball seemed to spend as much time in the stands as it did on the pitch.

A 29th minute strike by Palace veteran Bruce Dyer was the only shot to find the back of the net, despite some quality attacking moves from both teams during the course of the match. Dyer troubled the Wimbledon defense throughout the first half, showing pace and vigour that belied his age. In fact, with Palace favourite Andy Linighan once again relegated to the subsitutes bench, Dyer was the oldest Palace player on the pitch.

Nevertheless, Crystal Palace can be proud of the manner in which they took the game up to one of the top teams in Europe, especially during the first half, when Coventry seemed to be content to fall back and let Palace make the running. However the Palace lacked that final touch of quality required to convert pressure into a score, and a second half goal to Peter Van Houdt proved enough to seal their fate.

Since then it has been Chelsea who have faced turmoil, with their board replacing former manager Andrew Hickman, whose trading details are currently the subject of an on-going FA investigation. Meanwhile, a series of good results in the league, combined with some of their best ever cup results has secured the future of the Crystal Palace manager.

Nevertheless, the Chelsea side which arrived at Selhurst Park today looked much the better side on paper, and it was a case of the form side of the division coming up against a side full of proven stars. Even Chelsea's form has not been poor, just disappointing, given the quality of their squad. The tense struggle that eventuated was not unexpected, but the bookies suggested that a trimuph for form over quality looked unlikely.

After 90 minutes of intriguing football, which saw plenty of opportunities, but only one goal, Palace finally emerged triumphant, and cemented their place at the top of the Division 1 table.

Former Chester City full back Edwin de Kruyf picked up a yellow card for an undisciplined tackle late in the second half, after Aston Villa had more or less given the game away. This is de Kruyf's 5th card of the season, so he will be on rubbed out for the next two weeks. Joining him on the sidelines are club stalwarts Dean Gordon and Attilio Lombardo, leaving Palace bereft of senior leadership as they head into the final third of the season, and this week's League Cup quarter final.

With Gordon injured, and de Kruyf suspended, Palace manager Tim Neame must be rueing his decision to send another of his full backs, Thomas Zampach on a 4 week loan spell to Romania. Wes Brown is the only full back available to Neame for the next two weeks, so it is possible that some chinks will appear in the Palace armour in the weeks to come. Likewise, Lombardo's injury has coincided with midfield tyro David Mehew being sent to Walsall for an extended loan period, leaving Palace's midfield looking the weakest it has been all season. Of course, with Palace 4 points clear at the top of the division, it will require that their rivals seize the opportunities if and when they present themselves.

Meanwhile, the Crystal Palace camp was a much less happy place, post-game. The club is reportedly keen to attempt to expand their supporter base at the same time as challenging for a place in the Premier League. Crystal Palace tonight stepped on to their biggest stage in several seasons, and showed the world their worst side. With the match being broadcast to an estimated audience of approximately 3 million, tonight's game was an ideal opportunity for the club to find potential new members. However, their disappointing form, even more than the final result, would have inspired few.

On the field, it is the midfield which looks to be the area of greatest concern, with the club's star player, Sam Phillips, currently unavailable due to injury, a scenario that is likely to become all the more common if and when his 30 year old body is subject to the rigours of Premiership football. Aging playboy Attilio Lombardo is also currently out with injury, and is now certainly past his peak. Meanwhile, the club's young guns look incapable of filling the gaps. In particular, the latest signing from the youth academy, Chris White is looking more and more like he is not cut out for professional football at any level, let alone in the top flight of English football.

At the back, the fullback positions remain a concern for the club, with recent purchase Steve Brown being sent on a long term loan to Rochdale before he has had the opportunity of playing a game for the club, and Edwin de Kruyf on the transfer list once more, after less than half a season with the club. The failure of de Kruyf to find his feet at the club smacks of a failed recruiting decision.

When I raised these issues with the Crystal Palace manager, he lashed out at the media, "Look, I know that you want to characterise it as a crisis at the club, because that's how you sell newspapers, but its just not. We've been fine tuning at the edges, but there haven't been any wholesale changes at the club this season. Last season we missed out on promotion by goal difference, so its obvious that we weren't far off then. Why would we want to change anything too much?"

While the steay-as-she-goes attitude has brought rewards this season, it is questionable whether it will bring the club the success it is so desparate to achieve in the long term. Despite its critics, the current squad is playing above itself to gain promotion, but the future seems much bleaker for a club where most of its better players are now approaching the end of their careeers.

When challenged about his aging squad, Neame became even more defensive, "Eveybody knows that Andy Linighan is one of the oldest players in the game. He deserves respect for that achievement, not criticism. We sat him down at the start of the season, and had a realistic chat about his chances of playing during the season, and he accepted that he wouldn't be seeing much time on the ground. As for the rest of the squad, sure we have a few lads who are pushing into their early 30s now, but most of them are still producing the goods. Obviously Milan Rapaic looks like he will be finishing up this season, but we've found a great replacement for him in Tony Niro, so there are no problems there."

I spoke to Linighan at training earlier this week. "The manager and myself discussed it at the start of the season, and he made it clear to me that I wouldn't be seeing much game time this year. Lets face it, I'm 41 years old, and playing in the centre of defense doesn't give you anywhere to hide if you're having an off day. I've kept up my registration as a professional footballer, so if I'm needed out on the pitch, I can play, but its not up to me to decide when that will be."

Given his lack of opportunity this season, and his age, surely Linighan is planning on retiring at the end of this season? Apparently not. "I want to give it one more season, just to see if there is anything more I can contribute. I love being around the players, as one of them, and I think they appreciate having me as part of the squad, so I'll be back again next season"

Tim Neame, the Crystal Palace manager was singing a similar song, though in a different key from Linighan. "At the moment Andy is spending most of his time coaching. He has an excellent rapport with the players, and he maintains that by keeping up his fitness. He feels that the players won't listen to some broken down has-been, but if he can mix it with them on the training track, they'll tune in to his message. Since he's keeping himself at that level of fitness, we've agreed to keep him on the playing list, although he has had to take a pay cut. If we need him, he's there for us, and thats why we love him at the club, but he's not part of our regular team structure any more, and he understands that."