Rant incoming - let me preface that I’m under no illusions that the UK is never gonna allow the same Ultra scene that exists in Europe

But fuck me, Lyon don’t half show what is possible.

I have no idea what has gone on behind the scenes between the Marinakis lawsuit, the FA fine, Sharon Lacey, HF head honchos, Parish etc. but to just call it a day like they have is just manifesting the very demise that they say they’re opposed to.

They say the game has gone, the EPL is being Americanised with light shows, adverts, fireworks, pregame playlists with no relevance.

Whilst football and life in general is more expensive than ever, without opposition to the naff policies being opposed, they will keep happening and the working class that the HF is supposed to represent will continue getting shafted.

The Lower Holmesdale and Selhurst has been an absolute library this season, save for the odd moment where the casuals have something to sing for. There are pockets of fans trying to get something going, but without the same organisation that Lyon showed tonight, it will only ever remain in pockets.

I hope that the guys involved with the HF see what is happening to our support and put whatever differences aside that exist with the club management. The players need it.

Hopefully not much longer till we can get on a bus back to the expo, then get an Uber at surge pricing back into town.

Up the Palace

N.b. I played drums in school and I can hold a beat sign me up

Came across some interesting data; Khalaili has made 22 tackles in his first season in the league, the most of anyone. Truffert at Bournemouth is second on 21.

It's not just volume either. Per 90 he's top too, 4.2 a game, ahead of Sangaré and Hume.

Mitchell's fifth on 18, so Palace have got two of the top five. Does that perhaps say more about Palace's start to the season or do you think he's a gem?

(Data source: The Prism, a football scouting and analytics tool I'm currently building. Looking for testers, so feel free to sign up to the waitlist if you are interested in this type of data!)

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Defense is obviously our weakest link and it needs to be addressed come January

Thought I would do a quick search to see how Uche was doing back at Getafe. Pre season friendly he tore his anterior cruciate ligament and lateral collateral ligament, meniscus damage along with fractures around the knee following a heavy tackle. Sidelined for around 12 months.

What a rough year for the bloke.

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So, now I've been to buy the home shirt and I could see for myself how small the badge is. I wasn't going to buy it but decided to with the intention of putting on one of the old badges I have.

When I dug out my old badges, which I cut off old shirts back in the 1980s after they became too small for me (I was a kid and I do regret it now) I saw the current badge is a hybrid of the two badges. It's basically the Adidas badge with the Admiral red border.

For context, the shirt badge is 5 3/4 cm across. The old Admiral sash badge (red border) is 7 1/4 cm across and the Adidas sash badge (white border) is 7 cm across. I've been reliably informed, by my girlfriend, that an extra 1-2 cm can make all the difference. I've no idea what she is talking about... :-)

So, I'm not sure which one to go with. The old Admiral badge or the Adidas badge. Both are better than the miniature badge on the shirt.

Any thoughts? I am veering towards the Adidas.

This is one reason for me, and also potentially why Forest created so many good chances on Sunday, but couldn't convert them.

Many reviews of the game on Sunday focused on the amount of big chances Forest missed, and concluded from that that they are unlucky to lose. That rung a bell with many of us from our two seasons with Glasner.

Often (and especially against weaker teams/low blocks) we would have plenty of the ball, create chances, but fail to take them and not get the result we felt we deserved.

Things are different now, and we seem to be free scoring. What is the difference?

One big difference is that Sage seems to have given the players instructions to get forward more and especially, get into the box. You can see from the screen shots of our first and thirds goals.

In the first we have 5 players in the box and two more right on the edge. After a ricochet or two, the ball falls to Diachi who dinks home.

For the third goal we have 5 players in the box again, with another right on the edge. There is a scramble in the box, the ball comes off the keeper and Pino slots home.

For both goals, having more bodies in the box directly led to us scoring as there were more players to be "in the right place at the right time".

I've also attached a couple of Forest chances, taken (kind of) randomly. The number of players committed forward is completely different.

Glasner was often criticised for being overly defensive and focused on containment. Sage seems to be the opposite where he wants players in advanced areas in numbers, and the box flooded. This made a big difference in chance conversion on Sunday, and ultimately gave Sage the win.

We rank joint 2nd

Seeing Daichi Kamada grab his first Premier League goal and drive our transition play against Forest showed what happens when he gets proper freedom on the ball. Earlier in the season, he looked isolated, but playing alongside Yeremy Pino behind the forward line makes our attack completely unpredictable. Is Kamada an automatic starter for you now?

Crystal Palace have embarked on a key fortnight in their season.

They have been scheduled to play nine games in 28 days, starting with the timely win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday, but the next three matches come with a particular level of difficulty attached. Emotionally, too, there is plenty to focus minds.

New manager Pierre Sage has said the only pressure he feels is to deliver the best training sessions he can for his players. The Frenchman is grateful and happy to be managing in the Premier League. But this run of fixtures will test whether he will feel the strain.

Lots of discussion about kit sizing to be found, but does anyone have any experience with sizing from the online shop for sweatshirts, tees, etc? Ordering from the US and firmly a Men's Medium over here, but needing an exchange if something was too small/big would be cost prohibitive with shipping/tariffs.

Generally, it does look like leisure sizing lines up with US sizes - I'm 5'10" and 165-170lb. Thanks for any and all help.

Edit: fwiw medium in the jersey is a perfect fit, dont think it's the body fit version though.

We have got a guy new to the Prem, taking over from our greatest ever Manager following on from our greatest ever period, all whilst having to bring in 11 new players to patch up a wafer thin squad going into the 2nd biggest European tournament.

1 loss in 6 games, last 16 in the league cup, 2nd in Europa league with squad depth going into a busy October.

Yes there’s question marks about our defence but that’s also the same defence that’s only lost 1 game in 6. A defence that has also lost Lacroix and Munoz in the summer.

I think Sage is doing a much better job than he is given credit for. Each game you can see the team gel that bit more. And that’s with our best player Sarr playing about 10 minutes this season and Wharton no way near the player we know.

I can understand the nervousness at the start of the season but I think there’s enough evidence to fully back Sage and be excited for what’s to come.

Plus sending Glasner back to Marinakis empty handed makes it all that sweeter.

Somewhat understandable that their Marinakis and Glasner songs dried up at 2-1, but at least stick around to give your team a clap off the pitch after a decent performance. Entitled? Plastic? Yes.

He also doesn't check his emails to avoid a paper trail.

If we can bring in one centre back in January that brings composure and authority to our back line, it'll be a game changer for our season and progresses this team immensely. Don't know who that player would be and whether they'd be attainable mid-season but a Wharton or Munoz type impactful January arrival for the centre back position transforms us

I thought we looked really dangerous at every set piece and the Lerma goal was apparently something we had explicitly prepared this week.

Damien Della Santa is our set piece coach. I don't know of we have ever had a set piece coach before that I can remember but if we keep looking this good, he is definitely earning his money.

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