Old Brush Sweeps Up Three Points At Crystal Palace

It was 'out with the new and in with the old' at Selhurst Park yesterday afternoon as Matthias Jaissle's bold decision to bring back Schar, Burn, Jo and Osula and keep Jacob Murphy in the starting line up paid off.

Of the summer signing's only Hornicek, Gonzalez and Dedic started and all three played a big part in the win with Hornicek making crucial saves, Gonzalez having a very good game and Dedic providing yet another assist.

Add in that Burn and Schar undoubtedly strengthened the defence with not an obvious mistake between them, that Jo began to rampage and bully in his usual style in the second half especially, and that Murphy's superb cross was turned in expertly by the returning Osula - and Trigg's brush from Only Fools & Horses had a second coming.

Fans of Only Fools & Horses will remember the classic comment from Trigg on getting his award for 25 years sweeping the roads for the Council - that he had used the same brush throughout his lengthy service...

"It's only had twelve new shanks and fifteen new heads" :) :) :)

Well, the old shanks and old heads swept Newcastle to the desperately needed win that Jaissle, the squad, and us fans were praying we'd get on a blustery afternoon in South London.

The bluster was left on the training pitch and in the dressing room as Palace were blown away in thirteen second half minutes after a first half performance that was as flat as the proverbial pancake.

Keep Doing The Same Things...

And you keep getting the same results.

Many fans, me included, were shaking their heads when the team was announced.

It looked like an Eddie Howe side Mark2 but without the quality of Isak, Bruno, Tonali, Gordon and Trippier.

£250M spent in the summer and this was the best team we could put out?

Well, forget formations for a minute, it's the players occupying the positions that gets results, and the fact is the previous starting 11's weren't performing and the same weaknesses were evident in game after game.

The biggest weakness was not being able to keep a clean sheet and, if you can't do that, you are on the backfoot before a ball is even kicked into play from the first whistle.

OK, we concded plenty of shots again yesterday but the mistakes that Thiaw and Botman have been making didn't repeat with Schar and Burn as the CB's and Dedic and Hall were more than able sidekicks in the FB positions.

And then there was Hornicek; some fans have doubted him and others have said he looks nervous or lacking in confidence - I see exactly the opposite.

This lad brims with confidence and he appears almost nerveless especially when he has the ball at his feet.

He is clearly under instruction to fire it long if he thinks there is a break on so we cannot expect every ball to find a Toon player, but when he plays it short we aren't left on the edge of a heart attack as we were with Pope.

Hornicek also has a good instinct in knowing when to stay on his line or come out to catch or punch away crosses.

Goalkeepers are like fine wine; they get better with age and we might just be fermenting a vintage one in this young lad.

7th... Who Would Have Believed It?

Football is a funny old game?

You'd better believe it as the last week has shown.

From talk of Jaissle getting the jackboot, failing formations, dicky defending and rampant relegation talk... to an away win, three points and 7th place in the Prem.

Churchill famously said after Montgomery won the Second Battle of El Alamein in 1942 "This is not the beginning of the end... but it is the end of the beginning".

Could steadying the nose diving Toon by bringing back the old pilots be Jaissle's 'end of the beginning' moment?

Can we stay on a level course and win more battles than we lose?

We'll find out in the next three or four games.

Starting at Everton on Thursday in the 4th round of the EFL Cup.

Last Post: Crystal Palace 0-2 Newcastle: A Vital Three Points

All Posts