Argentina and South London's greatest goalkeeper

It is kind of fitting that with Argentina about to play in the World Cup final that Julian Speroni is celebrating 10 years as Palace's goalkeeper. Actually that is not quite accurate. It is 10 years since Speroni signed for Crystal Palace, a career book ended by very different experiences in the top flight.

In 2003/4 Palace under Dowie had been promoted via the playoffs. For reasons that now escape me Palace were without a first choice keeper and used a number of loan signings, with Nico Vassen doing the job in the play off final. Vassen had made enough of an impression on the supporters to even have his own song. Not complex it was his name sung to the tune of 'Lip up Fatty.' Agsin for  reasons that escape me Vassen didn't want to stick around and we signed the Argentinian from Dundee who wore a pony tail a la David Seaman. 

Speroni's start was pretty shocking where behind a newly promoted defence he made a series of blunders, most famously at home to an Everton side who were themselves struggling up to that point. For a keeper Speroni is small, and in a league where commanding you box matters lots he seemed a bit lightweight.Dowie lost confidence in him and the big charismatic and decidedly odd Gabor Kiraly was brought in. At this point JS disappears from view. I guess I expected him to slip away like so many of the other unimpressive post promotion signings. For two seasons after he hung around playing second fiddle to the increasingly annoying Kiraly and then Scott Flinders. 2007/8 everything changes. Starting the season as no 12 he makes 40odd first team appearances of growing assurance to go with the undoubted reflexes to become player of the year. When Palace went into one of their periods of administration he stayed loyal to further enhance his status as not only a great keeper but good human being. The ultimate reward, a return to the Premiership could have been a double edged sword. Like much of the team he struggled early on, and even when the saviour Pulis arrived the vultures were circling. A contract running out and the Christmas signing of Wayne Hennessey suggested that the future would not be his. But this time he didn't choke on the big stage, instead turned in some of his finest performance to keep Palace in games, and keep Hennessey on the bench. 

He has earned a new contract though in my heart of hearts it won't take much for Pulis to ease him to one side. It has been a wonderful but strange path he has trodden at Selhurst. How many 'big foreign signings' languish in thr reserves foe three years only to emerge to become an ever present talisman for the team for the next seven.

Bostock and Zaha - sliding doors in Football elevator

I read in the paper that the young midfielder John Bostock is being released by Spurs having not managed a first team appearance last season in the Premiership. A teenage prodigy at Palace he left for Spurs a few years back with much bitterness from Simon Jordan, the then Palace Chairman. It is a shock that he is still not much older than Wilfred Zaha, another Palace prodigy but one seemingly on the reverse trajectory, preparing to join Man U having already tasted a Wembley victory. 

Palace - Our moment came.

It was a tough job getting up Monday morning. We needed to get away from Podimore by 7 to drive back to London. Our legs were heavy from the 116miles (more for some) cycling the day before, and the 107 the day before that.

I was sad to be leaving without riding the final day. I had entered the ToW in the knowledge that it would clash with the playoff finals at Wembley. At the time the prospect of Palace getting there seemed rather remote. We had just taken a massive pasting at Brighton. Oh such little faith. How fortunes can change.

So I had a choice, Palace at Wembley or the final day of the ToW? In the end it was a no brainer, if I want to ride 112 miles next weekend I can, Palace’s next visit to Wembley, hmm well.  It was a bit of a gamble. To have been standing with aching legs for two hours outside Wembley Central waiting for a train with a defeat in my guts would have been a very different experience.

I have experienced victory and defeat in the playoffs, and on every occasion it has been in a knife edge. But yesterday I was bizarrely confident. I felt that it was our moment. It was that the Palace support and the Palace players who seemed to have the belief. Even when we were cheerfully squandering our chances I was filled was a largely baseless confidence. That Kevin Phillips should have been on the pitch in stoppage time when the penalty was awarded is the kind of thing that tells you the planets are aligned. There is nobody else in our whole squad, even (Sir) Glen Murray who I would have trusted with this gift. It was also a fitting way to win. Though defences got wiser as time went on, our early season drive was fuelled by Zaha won penalties.

I have enjoyed playoff finals in Cardiff and the old Wembley. The new model is of course in so many ways better. The food, the view, the space was all much improved. But some things are lost. Cardiff had the feel of an away game, with a slightly more hard core intense atmosphere, maybe I had just drunk more that day. In the old Wembley with less corporate bombast the fans were able to make it more their own.

One thing that was unchanged is what a tedious pain it is to get away from Wembley. But at least the queue for the train provided an audience for the drunk (or possibly mentally ill) man in the block of flats near Wembley Central. He was able to enjoy an hour preaching (!) and remonstrating from his balcony with our slow procession. But with 220 odd cycling miles in my legs it was 2 hours of standing around I could have done without. Fortunately the anaesthetic glow of victory washed away the aches and pains.

Now we have the Premier to look forward to. Yes