Dan Cooper

Speaking from a Palace perspective, certainly our defense looks rock solid going into the new season - Boyce, Ward, Hall, Granville and Kiraly is very strong at this level. Obviously up front we have AJ who should get a hatful this season (as will Ashton i''m sure), with other decent options including Macken and Freedman, both proven goal scorers at championship level and Sandor Torghelle, a regular starter for Hungary. However, in midfield we certainly lack a degree of creativity - McAnuff looks very sharp, but other options including Hughes, Aki, Kolkka, Watson, Leigertwood etc are all solid but perhaps lack the ability to consistently unlock defences. That was obviously one of Routledge''s strongpoints! We''re apparently after Bentley in an attempt to remedy the situation - do you think he''d do well at this level? And in what position is he most effective? Personally i''m very keen for us to snap him up for a season. Anyway, all the best for the season ahead, it would be great if we could both get back up together. What''s the general feeling re promotion? Confident? I think you should be.    

Cheers guys for the warm welcome. As for swapping AJ - maybe not but could we tempt you with a Speroni for Green deal? No? Oh well. Yeah, I guess that we do now view the game at Carrow Road as two points dropped but at the time I, like many others, was more than happy with a point. But then I hadn''t seen us getting 0 points from Everton and Man City at home - two games that were a big blow for us. I think that so far our huge problem has been simply keeping the ball. You might get away with sloppy possession in Div 1 but here, as we all know, you get punished harshly. Though I couldn''t make it up to Villa, all reports indicate that we managed to keep possesion far better than in previous games and it made a telling difference. As for Routledge, he''s a player over whom there is a lot of debate amonst Palace fans. He''s more than capable of producing a bit of utter magic (eg against you to set up AJ''s goal) but often he does seem to try a little too much. Also, he has an annoying habit of beating 2 or three men with a sublime bit of skill before giving the ball away cheaply or delivering a pants cross. That said, I would certainly not drop him (as some fans have suggested) - his presence does make defenders nervous and we all know what he can produce. I guess he''s only 19 as well so is naturally going to have parts of his game that need development. How have your new signings been? Ours have been up and down. Speroni (despite the earlier joke!) I feel sorry for, his massive blunder vs Everton did disguise the fact that he''s an excellent shot stopper who has already made some great athletic saves. However, once the defence loses confidence in the keeper disaster looms which I think is why he has now been dropped. Fitz hall looks class, Torghelle looked class against you but seems to be steadily going downhill (although I don''t think he''s 100% fit) and Kolkka has shown the odd good bit here and there. Ventola looks a class above from his fleeting appearances but, surprise surprise, is now out for 3 weeks. Lets hope Lakis does well and that the Petit deal comes off. But this league is bloody hard isn''t it. No longer can we look at the fixture list thinking ''Rotheram at home - 3 points in the bag''! I really hope West Brom go but much as I would love it, I guess one of us is also certainly going to get the chop. Already getting nervous about Norwich at Selhurst and its ages away! Feel free to head over to www.cpfc.org at some stage for some reasoned discussion!          

Hi guys, I''ve been having the occasional look at this site since I found it before our opening day game. Seeing as we''re both in the same boat (albeit with you 2 points ahead of us!) I thought I''d ask how you were enjoying the season so far? As i''m sure was the case with you, a lot of our fans were insisting that everyone enjoy the season whatever. I have to admit that before the Villa game (after 5 straight defeats), my enjoyment levels were plummeting fairly quickly! The draw up at Villa was certainly encouraging and it seemed that we had chances to win the game. Add to this our 2-1 thrashing of Hartlepool in the Carling Cup and we''re unbeaten in two. I was starting to forget what that feels like! I guess the problem that teams like us have is that even the supposedly beatable teams have at least a couple of top class players capable of unlocking us (Man City - Anelka, Wright-Phillips, Southampton - Beattie, Everton - Gravesen, Bolton - Okocha). Moreover, we lack Prem experience with only Hughes and Granville (and for a few games) Fitz Hall having really played at this level and I''m beginning to realise how crucial this attribute is. However, we do seem to be making some decent signings (Ventola, Sorondo, Kaviedes, Lakis with Petit rumoured to be thrashing out a deal) and I''m beginning to believe that we will at least be able to make a fight of it (thankfully AJ also seems to be settling at this level). Norwich have so far seemed to have a little bit more defensive resolve than us - I thought that the draws at Newcastle and Spurs were pretty impressive. How has the general reaction been to your start? We''ve had the usual doom mongers floating about but most people seem to be remaining positive. To be honest, even though I always look at your results hoping to see that you''ve lost (as I''m sure you do with us!), I''d love to see both of us stay up. But ultimately I think it will be between us two, WBA, Southampton and maybe one other surprise struggler. Anyway, best of luck and lets hope we can both pull off the unexpected (if only to shut up smug gits like Hansen and Marsh!). All we can do is keep getting behind our teams 100%. Good luck!