Dreadfully Late Player Ratings

Marshall 8 One brilliant save at 1-0 to keep us in the match. No blame for the goal and with nothing much else to do after the twentieth minute he clattered a Palace forward. Why not?

McNaughton 8 When was the last time you enjoyed a winger/fullback battle when your guy was the fullback? McNaughton took on Zaha then Bolasie then Zaha again and it was the attacking players that resorted to Warnock style kick your opponent off the pitch tactics. Yes he offered nothing going forward but today was about neutralising Palace's main threat and that's what he did. If Connolly does stay ahead of Super Kev for the remainder of the season, I am really pleased that at least the Silver Fox had this opportunity to remind us all why he can shag our wives.

Hudson 7 A little unlucky to be booked early then a little lucky not to collect a second yellow, although this was in keeping with the woefully inconsistent refereeing performance. A solid game but not a vintage performance.

Turner 8 The first time in a long time Big Ben has out performed Hudson. Palace sent in crosses from wide, diagonal balls and route one hoofs. They ran at us and sent players charging forward from midfield but it all stopped at Turner.

Taylor 8 When Taylor is at his worse he sticks too close his centre half and affords plenty of space outside. Against Palace he left Turner to his own devices and chased his man wide making several big tackles. Offered a little more than McNaughton going forward but wasn't up against Zaha as much.

Conway 5 Anonymous. It could be said that Conway sacrificed his own game to help shackle the Palace wide men, it wouldn't be true, but it could be said, perhaps by Mrs Conway or maybe on what would be the best footballer Twitter account ever @ConwayTwitty.

Whittingham 6 Religious people may wish to stop reading for I am about to Blaspheme. Whittingham wasn't very good today and I don't mean by Whittingham's standards he wasn't very good, I mean he just wasn't very good. Maybe he needs a break or stability in the selection of his central partner. Perhaps not being the main man at set pieces (Bellamy does like his own say) has thrown his game off a little. Needs a goal.

Mutch 4 Gordon Mitch couldn't have played any worse and extensive Googling reveals he doesn't exist (yes America you have a lot of people called Mitch Gordon-there's no need to brag). Mutch couldn't win the ball, hold it in the challenge or pass to anybody. He did get close enough to try a shot but we all wished he hadn't, except for Danny Gabbidon whose second half embarrassment at least wasn't worse shot of the day.

Noone 7 Another goal from his willingness to attack the box when play develops on the other wing but was otherwise inconsistent. He took a battering and stood up to it well but whenever challenged if the defender got a foot to the ball they won it. Compare with Zaha who, if the dive isn't on, fights to ride the tackle and often draws two or more to the tackle.

Helguson 5 Watching Bellamy and Helguson play up front together is like watching an old man take his dog to the park. Bellamy chased and harassed from left back to right back and Helguson stood in the middle of the pitch thinking “He'll sleep well later”. At times it felt like Bellamy was up front alone and this wasn't because Helguson was helping in midfield because he wasn't. Rudy deserves a chance if only because Helguson has played himself out of contention.

Bellamy 9 Awesome performance. Our only threat when Palace were on top, his unyielding effort dragged the rest of the team into the game and eventually to dominion. Two assists, countless tackles and when we were in front, the main counter attacking threat.

Gunnarson 8 Our best midfield player today and must surely start against Millwall. In possession he kept it simple and looked to get forward. Without the ball he battled to win it. Palace's midfield came to impose themselves physically and only Gunnarson stood up to it.

Gestede 6 I think he should start against Millwall. Won some late headers and showed that he can run with the ball. Gestede is much bigger all round threat than Helguson..

Mason 6 Seems a natural partner for Gestede and twice latched onto Rudy flick-ons for a free run at goal. Shame he was offside both times and earned himself a daft booking.

Booooooo! for being late

Yaaaaaay! for doing them though

What's this I hear about Whittingham? Where's my pitchfork...?

Bit harsh on Conway who I thought worked his socks off (as always) and made several vital tackles on the edge of our box.

McNaughton was my man of the match, all credit to him after his disaster last game. He did exactly what was needed to beat Zaha and Bolasie - beat seven shades of excrement out of them. He was responsible for both their yellows, Zaha reacting typically childishly to McNaughton making him look silly (good work with the testicle grab if you're reading this), and he was also involved when him and Noone frustrated Bolasie into petulantly lashing out at them. Admittedly he was hitting hard all day long, but there's nothing wrong with that, especially when the referee was being as generous as he was.

I genuinely couldn't give a damn if he can't pass a ball forward to save his life, if he can guarantee any player coming his way will get flattened like they did yesterday.

Love your player ratings as usual, I would rate a few a bit differently.

Conway 6 - he made a few vital tackles and seems to offer Taylor much better cover than other players. As a result, Taylor has been playing a lot better himself since Conway got back into the squad.

Mitch 5 - Didn't have a great game but was able to add a bit of crunch to the midfield tackle. Not as skillful though as before his injury.

Gestede 7 - His potential was there for all to see. His support play is simply top class. He not only seems to win every header for fun, but he can direct them in anyway he wants and is very intelligent with it too. Imagine if Bellamy was on the end of his flick ons instead of Mason? Could have easily been another two goals.

Kamuza wrote:Marshall 8 One brilliant save at 1-0 to keep us in the match. No blame for the goal and with nothing much else to do after the twentieth minute he clattered a Palace forward. Why not?

McNaughton 8 When was the last time you enjoyed a winger/fullback battle when your guy was the fullback? McNaughton took on Zaha then Bolasie then Zaha again and it was the attacking players that resorted to Warnock style kick your opponent off the pitch tactics. Yes he offered nothing going forward but today was about neutralising Palace's main threat and that's what he did. If Connolly does stay ahead of Super Kev for the remainder of the season, I am really pleased that at least the Silver Fox had this opportunity to remind us all why he can shag our wives.

Hudson 7 A little unlucky to be booked early then a little lucky not to collect a second yellow, although this was in keeping with the woefully inconsistent refereeing performance. A solid game but not a vintage performance.

Turner 8 The first time in a long time Big Ben has out performed Hudson. Palace sent in crosses from wide, diagonal balls and route one hoofs. They ran at us and sent players charging forward from midfield but it all stopped at Turner.

Taylor 8 When Taylor is at his worse he sticks too close his centre half and affords plenty of space outside. Against Palace he left Turner to his own devices and chased his man wide making several big tackles. Offered a little more than McNaughton going forward but wasn't up against Zaha as much.

Conway 5 Anonymous. It could be said that Conway sacrificed his own game to help shackle the Palace wide men, it wouldn't be true, but it could be said, perhaps by Mrs Conway or maybe on what would be the best footballer Twitter account ever @ConwayTwitty.

Whittingham 6 Religious people may wish to stop reading for I am about to Blaspheme. Whittingham wasn't very good today and I don't mean by Whittingham's standards he wasn't very good, I mean he just wasn't very good. Maybe he needs a break or stability in the selection of his central partner. Perhaps not being the main man at set pieces (Bellamy does like his own say) has thrown his game off a little. Needs a goal.

Mutch 4 Gordon Mitch couldn't have played any worse and extensive Googling reveals he doesn't exist (yes America you have a lot of people called Mitch Gordon-there's no need to brag). Mutch couldn't win the ball, hold it in the challenge or pass to anybody. He did get close enough to try a shot but we all wished he hadn't, except for Danny Gabbidon whose second half embarrassment at least wasn't worse shot of the day.

Noone 7 Another goal from his willingness to attack the box when play develops on the other wing but was otherwise inconsistent. He took a battering and stood up to it well but whenever challenged if the defender got a foot to the ball they won it. Compare with Zaha who, if the dive isn't on, fights to ride the tackle and often draws two or more to the tackle.

Helguson 5 Watching Bellamy and Helguson play up front together is like watching an old man take his dog to the park. Bellamy chased and harassed from left back to right back and Helguson stood in the middle of the pitch thinking “He'll sleep well later”. At times it felt like Bellamy was up front alone and this wasn't because Helguson was helping in midfield because he wasn't. Rudy deserves a chance if only because Helguson has played himself out of contention.

Bellamy 9 Awesome performance. Our only threat when Palace were on top, his unyielding effort dragged the rest of the team into the game and eventually to dominion. Two assists, countless tackles and when we were in front, the main counter attacking threat.

Gunnarson 8 Our best midfield player today and must surely start against Millwall. In possession he kept it simple and looked to get forward. Without the ball he battled to win it. Palace's midfield came to impose themselves physically and only Gunnarson stood up to it.

Gestede 6 I think he should start against Millwall. Won some late headers and showed that he can run with the ball. Gestede is much bigger all round threat than Helguson..

Mason 6 Seems a natural partner for Gestede and twice latched onto Rudy flick-ons for a free run at goal. Shame he was offside both times and earned himself a daft booking.

Brilliant, utter genius

Cant argue with any of that apart from your analysis of Conway. I thought he was a 7 or 8. He worked tirelessly and took the pressure off on countless occasions by winning free kicks.
Maybe i would nudge Rudy up to a 7 as well.

I agree with THG above, I thought Conway but in a very gutsy performance and is possibly first choice winger atm imo

Nice round up as always though, good work

It seems I owe Conway an apology but whenever we were being over run in midfield he seemed to go missing. Plus I am irked that he returned to the team on the back of his dummy spitting and now he's had a few games he officially unspat his dummy.

Conway 6 Worked hard when I wasn't looking or I chose not to see it because of my bias against him. Probably the latter. He was involved in the move which yielded our first goal and won the free kick (wrongly but we had just been denied a penalty) that lead to the corner that became the second(if memory serves). I still wish Smith was fit.

Well done Kamuza but I'm afraid I'm in the 'you're harsh on Conway camp'.
I was interested in your comment that Hudson could have had a second yellow because the clown in black had a consistent policy that once a player had a yellow they were safe from any further sanction.
Palarse had (I think) five booked, most of whom continued fouling consistently without any further sanction when a couple of reds could easily have been shown. Players were safe from being shown a card if they already had one!