Pyro Pete

I always felt Svensson was a stop-gap signing after Crouch and Huck''s loan spells ended. His plea to Worthy last Christmas not to buy Ashton because he could score the goals to keep us in the Premiership instead, only showed how desperate he had become. Glad to see the back of him.

Can''t say for sure until I know who will be playing in the team. Even so, the play-offs are the least we should expect next season.

"Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy is eyeing Norwich City defender Gary Doherty...However, Charlton Athletic and Fulham are also interested in the versatile Doherty ahead of the summer market." Oh please, please, please let this be true. If they buy him we should throw in Matthias Jonson for free as well in our "Buy one donkey, get one free!" exclusive summer sale offer.

Francis is not a disgrace. Without him we would have been relegated long before the game at Craven Cottage. Remember as a midfielder he has finished as our top goal scorer with Mckenzie. Many of his goals were crucial, the winner against WBA, the equalizer against Man City and so on. I don''t know what happened to our Damo in the last few games. Maybe he has an agreement with another club (Charlton?) which has made him stop caring about his performances for us. Maybe inexperience took it''s toll. I still think Francis is ten times the player Holt is, even when Damo is playing lethargically. In the first half of the season, along with Hucks, he looked like the only outfield player from our championship winning side who didn''t look out of his depth in the Premiership. We all thought that didn''t we? Waghorn is just angry that the player who did so well in the first half of the season hasn''t been able to maintain it. Many of the players failed yesterday. To blame just Francis is simply lazy sports journalism.

I recall from last year that some of the players were due wage increases if we gained promotion. Now that we have been relegated will the players have their wages cut?

You lot are having a laugh. Most of those will stay whether we like it or not. It''s the good players who will leave. Green, Ashton, Francis, Helveg, Jonson (hopefully), and Bentley (obviously) will all be heading for the exit for a start. That''s half our first team gone. Who does that leave in terms of quality? Shackell, Safri, Hucks and Leon. But I wouldn''t be surprised if a few bids came in for one or two of them as well. Let''s worry about finding quality replacements for the good players who will be leaving first.

I think seeing Francis let Brian McBride stroll unattended into our penalty area and shoot straight through Green''s legs set the tone. We defended without conviction all afternoon. But for me, seeing Safri go off injured and Holt arrive signalled the end of all hope. The irony of course is that Holt will do alright in the fizzy pop league next year, but I hate him in the Premiership and can''t forgive his crapness. The ref''s decisions were influential and there''s no point denying it. Ashton''s goal should have stood. Huckerby should of had a penalty. Boa Morte was not fouled. But Worthington''s tactical decisions were even more influential. It was the lack of discipline and focus in the team that disappointed me the most. Green was left hopelessly exposed time and time again by naive gung-ho attacking play, and pitiful defending. So much for playing with our heads not our hearts. To not even score a goal makes it look like complete surrender. But it wasn''t. Fleming missed a free header, as did Shackell. And just how many corners did we have? Yet even with all those strikers on the pitch and all those crosses into their penalty area it was Fulham who kept scoring.

On MOTD last Saturday Lawro said Southampton would stay up. So he had to give those score predictions in Southampton''s favour. But he is always wrong.

I accept your point about a few fans getting overconfident. But not if you are applying it to the players as well. If you were at Carrow Road yesterday you would have been crying out for the players and management to show more confidence and self-belief. Yesterday Norwich allowed a ten man side to control a game they could have won comfortably if they had shown faith in their own ability as a team. Maybe the defeat at Southampton drained them of some of the belief that they had built up from beating Newcastle and Charlton. What I do know is that yesterday was a true test of their mettle and they held firm, even if it wasn''t pretty. While down at Selhurst Park Palace crumbled. Come next Sunday I hope the team show courage and coolness, and go out with the self-belief that when they play as we all know they can they will win. Self-belief is the key.

Heart says: "Up". Head says: "I need a stiff drink"

Just seen the Southampton fans jumping around in celebration on tv. Gutted. Having not seen the game I can''t comment on the in''s and out''s of the match. But I do know that we always had to beat the teams around us to stand any chance of staying up, and we haven''t done that. To not win a single game away from home as well tells it''s own story. We can only hope Palace and Southampton draw, WBA falter, and we win our next two. It''s no longer in our own hands.

I keeping the faith. These are testing times. Hold on tight! jon tassa, how do we get to see the game online?

I just want Jonson to play like he cares. Simple as that.Cares about the team winning I mean, not winning the petty arguments he gets involved in during matches. I want him to care that his job as a left winger is to work hard to provide goal scoring opportunities for the strikers, not taking the easy option by cutting back on his right foot all the time and hitting hopeful crosses. I want him to care about stopping the opposition scoring by busting a gut to help Drury out, not just standing in no man''s land marking nobody.Helveg has shown where commitment added to a bit of quality can lead. It''s time for Jonson to show he''s here for the team, not the money.

I''ve been trying to keep pretty laid back, relaxed and generally philosophical about it all. But I have to say the butterflies are starting to surface.

Get well soon 1st Wiz.

Damien Francis. OR Whoever scores the goal that keeps us in the Premiership.

Nice one. That cheered me up immensely.

I have to say I cringed too when I saw Ashton''s ridiculous cut back to Bentley having ignored McKenzie for a tap in. But that''s inexperience for you. He probably thought we had the points in the bag at 3-1 up and could showboat a bit. He also probably forgot that we have Fleming in our defence, so any team can score at any time. But judging by how seriously pi***d off Ashton looked and sounded in his BBC interview an hour later I think he''s learnt a valuable lesson.

They did it to us on the opening day of the season, and they''ve just done it to us again. If only we knew how to defend a lead we''d have four more points than we do now.

3-3. Johnson penalty. How predictable.

Palace get a goal back. 2-3. Here we go again...

McKenzie scores and it''s 3-1!

Ashton scores again, city 2-1 ahead!

Hurrah! Comeback kings, Ashton scores. 1-1!

Fingers crossed for a comeback!