Unlikely Superhero – Crystal Palace’s very own Rambo!

When Peter Iain Ramage signed for Crystal Palace on a one-year contract in August 2012, even as a Crystal Palace fan I have to say I was left feeling somewhat uninspired!


I had witnessed the Whitley Bay born defender in action for ‘The Eagles’ during his five month loan spell with us during the 2011/12 season. To be fair to Ramage  during that time (which included 17 league appearances) he tended to be used by the then manager Dougie Freedman as a ‘utility’ player, and he flitted between the full-back and centre-half positions.

Ramage - In the form of his life!

As a result the 29 year-old had little opportunity to put a marker down, and establish himself in an ever changing back-four. In the first-half of the 2011/12 season Palace were in a defensive mess as they juggled numerous players in an attempt to find a settled back-four. By the time Ramage’s loan period had come to an end on the 15th January 2012, he had played with 11 different defensive partners in McCarthy, Davies, Tunchev, McGivern, Gardner, Clyne, Keinan, Eagan, Parsons, Moxey and Parr.

However Freedman had no hesitation in re-signing the Geordie lad for the start of the 2012/13 campaign. The signing of Ramage may have been initially as cover following the loss of Club captain Paddy McCarthy. McCarthy sustained a groin injury in the summer, and as I write is still sidelined and has yet to feature in a first-team game this season.
However it has proved to be an inspired signing as the player affectionately known as ‘Rambo’ has played a pivitol role in a wonderful season so far for the boys from SE25.

Rambo has established a solid, no nonsense central defensive partnership with Irishman Damien Delaney (right) this season, and his passion and desire is written all over his face during the heat of battle! Ramage has started 31 of 33 league games this season, come on as a substitute in another and since our opening day defeat to Watford at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace are unbeaten at home this season, a run of 16 games at ‘Fortress Selhurst.’

It must be said that several of the reasons for the success on the pitch this season can be attributed to confidence, attitude, belief and fitness. But unlike last season stability in defence in terms of personnel has been crucial.

Before Palace signed Delaney from Ipswich on the 31st August, Ramage was paired at the heart of the defence with Aaron Martin a loanee from Southampton, but Palace lost their opening three league games of the season conceding nine goals in the process. Upon his arrival Delaney was immediately paired with Ramage and the two have been inseparable ever since, other than a three game suspension handed to the Irishman for seeing red at Huddersfield just before Christmas.

Despite the upheaval with the departure of the rather flaccid Dougie (the grass is not always greener on the other side) Freedman and the backroom staff to Bolton in late October, and the subsequent arrival of the flamboyant Ian Holloway as his replacement in the managerial hot seat, Rambo has rolled with it all, without flinching or suffering any long term heartbreak! In fact Holloway’s arrival has probably seen Ramage develop as a player due to the Bristolian’s style of play, which allows players to express themselves a lot more by playing a fluid passing game with the emphasis on getting forward more often, rather than strangling the life out of a 1-0 lead!

    Ramage (wearing 28) shows what it means to him after scoring against Watford this month!

Ramage has even contributed with some rare but vital goals this season. He has in fact scored twice as many goals for Crystal Palace this season than he has over his entire professional career, having made his first-team debut for Newcastle United as a substitute in a UEFA Cup tie on the 16th March 2005.

His first goal in the red and blue of Palace came at The Walkers Stadium in October, as the Londoner's turned over the then league leaders Leicester City 2-1. Ramage then bagged a consolation goal in a 2-1 defeat at Leeds in November, before netting a vital goal at Watford this month, followed by a second goal in consecutive games as Palace thrashed Middlesbrough at Selhurst Park last week. His smart turn and shot against Boro’ was a goal that any striker would have been proud of, and it was also his first goal for the club at Selhurst Park.

On the pitch Rambo is the consummate professional, whilst off the pitch he comes across as a great lad, a family man who will always takes time out to chat to the fans and someone who loves a bit of banter with his team-mates. I imagine he is an inspirational, yet calming figure in the dressing room and someone that all the lads, particularly the youngster’s look up to!

He is also becoming somewhat of an unlikely favourite among the fans. You cannot as a football fan fail to revere a man who gives everything, a player who wears his heart on his sleeve and plays for the badge on his chest.......and who always goes to, and applauds the fans at the end of every match!


Rambo you are a credit to yourself and Crystal Palace Football Club and you won’t be far off winning this season’s Palace ‘Player of the Year’ award as voted for by us, the fans!

You can follow Peter Ramage on twitter or find him after training at most good coffee outlets, with Damien Delaney and Andre Moritz!


Pictures courtesy of: FiveYearPlanFanzine.co.uk and RednBlueArmy.co.uk

You can’t buy experience! - Why ‘Super Kev’ can shoot Crystal Palace to the promise land!

Kevin Mark Phillips, may be diminutive in height but he has a presence and aura that is both dynamic and effective, and Ian Holloway’s capture of ‘Super Kev’ on a transfer deadline day loan to Crystal Palace may be pivotal in ‘The Eagles’ attempt to successfully secure promotion to the Premier League this season.

Kevin Phillips comes off the bench to equalize for Crystal Palace at Watford last week

As numerous names and potential Palace targets such as George Boyd, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Albert Adomah and DJ Campbell were banded about during the hectic January transfer window, many Palace fans were bemoaning the fact that Kevin Phillips was even in the frame!
There were still a lot of furrowed brows when he signed for the South London Club on loan until the end of the current season. Phillips was seen by many as a footballing veteran at 39 years young, with over 450 senior starts spread over a career spanning nearly 20 years. Numerous fans questioned the signing of Phillips and the ambition of the club, in what many saw as a gamble on a player who was surely over the hill!

On his move to Palace Phillips was the ‘ultimate pro’ saying exactly what the Club and fans alike wanted to hear: "Every time I pull on a Palace shirt or a training kit I will give 100 per cent and I thoroughly look forward to it. Palace are an exciting team, I enjoyed working under Ian Holloway at Blackpool and I really look forward to working with him from now until the end of the season."

Since joining Palace, Phillips had made two substitute appearances and on both occasions he has been instrumental in a change in fortune on the pitch. Less than two weeks ago the Crystal Palace team trudged off the Selhurst Park pitch at half-time looking crestfallen, after a woeful first-half performance against London rivals Charlton. The visitors had dominated the first 45 minutes and deservedly led at the break. Palace were lacklustre and void of ideas. Holloway took immediate action and the former England striker was handed his debut as a half-time substitute.

Murray and Phillips (right) celebrate!

This change in personnel clearly had the desired affect as Phillips helped spark a dramatic turnaround. Two goals from the Championship’s top scorer Glenn Murray secured a dramatic 2-1 victory for Palace, with Phillip’s orchestrating a calm, creative and significant influence on the game.

The Palace manager was naturally delighted by Phillip’s debut and the social message boards were awash with praise for the Hitchin born striker. Sentences containing adjectives such as classy, sublime, nippy, polished and impressive were used to describe the impact Phillips had on the match. As a result many fans were forced to eat at least a little piece of humble pie.

A week later and he was at it again, as Palace rescued a point at high flying Watford, despite going into the break two goals down.

Phillips’ introduction at Vicarage Road 10 minutes after half-time culminated in a non-stop second-half onslaught by a rejuvenated Palace team with Phillips and teenage sensation Jonny Williams playing a father and son age defining double act, culminating in Palace coming away with a well deserved point. Phillips firstly providing a good foil for fellow striker Murray, and secondly getting the all important equalizing goal, as he made a wonderfully timed run into the penalty box to expertly dispatch Jazz Richards’ low cross at the far post - his 243rd career league goal!

I don’t think the first 80 minutes of football played by Phillips in the red and blue shirt should be underestimated, as his introduction on both occasions has been quite simply ‘game changing.’ Most players take a while to settle in at a new club, but not ‘Super Kev.’ He signs for Palace, moves down to the South of England, meets up with his old manager, his new team-mates, has a training session or two, and on match day he puts in a couple of performances that make him look like he has been at the club since the year dot!

Not only is a Phillips a class act on match day, but I am sure his experience and knowledge will rub off on the youth in a Palace squad with some outstanding young talent at its disposal.

Throughout his professional career Kevin Phillips has averaged nearly a goal every other club game and commanded transfer fees with a cumulative total in excess of £5million. Palace are his eighth club since he turned professional in December 1994, and he represented England on eight occasions making his debut against Malta in Ta’Qali in June 2000 under the stewardship of Kevin Keegan, before bowing out of the England set-up, against Holland in the Amsterdam Arena in February 2002 under Sven-Göran Eriksson.

In 1999-2000 Phillips was the Premier League Player of the Season, the Premier League top scorer with 30 goals for Sunderland, a tally which won him both the Premiership Golden Boot and the European Golden Boot. He remains the only Englishman to win the European Golden Boot.

Phillips was a Football League Championship winner and the Football League Championship Player of the Year with West Brom in 2007-08, and a Football League Cup winner with Birmingham City in 2011.

Last season at the tender age of 38, Phillips helped Blackpool reach the Championship play-off final at Wembley, and finished as the club’s leading scorer with 16 Championship goals in 41 appearances.

When speaking on his arrival at Palace, Phillips was visibly grateful to Ian Holloway for bringing him to the club and giving him one final hurrah. He said: "I don't want to let him down (Ian Holloway). He's brought me here and I want to repay the faith he has shown in me".............and believe me, he has already started to repay the belief Holloway showed in him!

Could Mr P be the transfer coup of the season for Crystal Palace? That one individual that brings a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ to the table every day he is at the Club, whether it be on the training ground, in team meetings or on match day?

Time will tell, but for now it looks like a very shrewd bit of business on the part of Ian Holloway and the owners of Crystal Palace Football Club.

You cannot buy experience, so Mr Kevin Phillips welcome aboard the Crystal Palace rollercoaster! It’s never dull, so hold on tight and enjoy the ride!

# Photos courtesy of the BBC and The Sun Newspaper Group.

Wilfried Zaha - 'The Boy Wonder'

Dazet Wilfried Armel Zaha, better known as Wilf Zaha is currently the hottest young star in British football. As a Crystal Palace supporter I am running out of superlatives to describe England's most recently capped international player.

Today the Crystal Palace forward/winger won the ‘Football League Young Player of the Month’ award for October. Zaha scored his first two goals of the season against Wolves on the 2nd October 2012. He then scored a further two goals in his next game, four days later, in a 4–3 win over Burnley. Palace remained unbeaten in October and this included a victory at then table-toppers Leicester who had won all five of their home games before Palace spoiled the party, winning 2-1 at The Walkers Stadium. Palace are in fact unbeaten in the league since 25th August. Zaha’s form has been a major factor in the Club’s successful start to the season, and many opposition managers have complemented the recently turned 20 year-old on some magical displays. 

Crystal Palace boss Ian Holloway presents Wilf Zaha with his award.

His pace, footwork, balance and tricks are breathtaking, but this season he has stepped up his game to another level. His ability to beat players has never been in doubt and he regularly leaves opposition full-backs on their back sides. But this season he has worked on his all-round game and as a result his fitness, work rate, defensive duties, and his ability to pick a pass or take on a player have improved ten-fold. Added to the fact that he is scoring goals as well - this all contributes to making him one of the most exciting player to watch in British football. The way Palace are set-up to play this season, using two wingers to attack at pace, often drawing defenders out of position and creating time and space for team-mates has made Crystal Palace an exciting team to watch this season, something the Selhurst Park faithful have not witnessed for many years!

Zaha and team-mate Yannick Bolasie are the protagonists in this football feast with all the trimmings now being served up at ‘The Palace.’ Their direct attacking style of play is electric and although outstanding in their own individual ways, it is as a partnership that they seem to have flourished, often swapping wings in a game or both attacking down the same flank, causing chaos as the opposition are left chasing shadows or hauling them to the ground in a foolhardy attempt to stop them!
Wilf’s form during the October also contributed to him becoming the first Championship outfield player to be called up by England since Jay Bothroyd in 2010.

Speaking ten days ago BBC Sport pundit Mark Bright, who played for Palace and now helps out as a coach at the club said of Wilfried Zaha: "He is the biggest talent to emerge from Crystal Palace since Arsenal legend Ian Wright. In my opinion, Wilfried is the most exciting player outside the Premier League," Bright went on: "He played in the League Cup last season at Manchester United. Palace won with a Darren Ambrose screamer and Wilfried gave Rafael such a torrid time that they took him off."

Leon Osman, who made his England debut in the same match as Wilf against Sweden this month said of Zaha: "We have all been hearing about him for a year or so now. He came and trained on Monday morning and looked the real deal. He was direct, skilful and committing people."

His rise has not been an overnight one, but a gradual nurturing of a player with undoubted talent. However many players show talent at an early age but their careers often stagnate or go backwards. Some players are greedy, some are badly advised and as a result they leave at the wrong time or join the wrong club, but Wilf is an classic example of how to nurture talent correctly.

Zaha was born in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast and moved to South London with his family aged four, but has been at Crystal Palace FC since the age of 12.

Zaha was given his professional debut aged 17, making a substitute appearance at home to Cardiff City on 27th March 2010 by then caretaker manager Paul Hart.
Two years later, in March 2012, Zaha was voted 'The Football League's Young Player of the Year.'

Wilf follows in a long line of young players to roll off the CPFC academy production line. There are currently four players plying their trade in the Premier League who graduated through the Palace academy. No doubt Zaha wants to join the likes of Victor Moses at Chelsea, Ben Watson at Wigan, Nathaniel Clyne at Southampton and Wayne Routledge at Swansea in the top flight, but it is more a question of when rather than if, and with whom?

The vultures are circling, but Palace are currently top of the Championship and they find themselves in with a real opportunity of securing top flight football next season. Taking into account the odd dip in form most teams suffer at some stage of a season, along with a bit of luck such as keeping the squad fit and injury free, Palace are in a great position to dictate the future of their ‘wing wizard.’ Keeping hold of Zaha in January is the first step in maintaining a steady platform in the Club’s effort to reach English football’s top tier for the first time since the 2004/05 season.

EPL football would generate the club over £60m, even if they came straight back down, and the sale of Zaha in the region of £15-20m. But Palace, even with £15m burning a hole in their pocket could not buy a replacement for Zaha, as there is no player more gifted in the country to play his role in the team. Take £15m+ in January and risk missing out on a £60m+ windfall, or keep Wilf untill the summer thus improving the chance of that windfall becoming a reality and then sell the ‘boy wonder,’ assuming he chooses to leave.......is simply a no brainer!

Even if Palace do not make it to the Premier League, nobody at the Club or any Palace fan would begrudge the youngster the opportunity to grace the stage of  Europe’s top domestic league. But Wilf is a local lad who has even admitted he misses ‘home’ when on international duty. His home being the structure in place at Palace to advise him, educate him, coach him and help him keep his feet firmly on the ground. By doing this Wilf can focus on achieving his personal and professional goals under the watchful guidance of the owners, management and his team-mates, who all play their part in contributing to his love affair with ‘The Eagles.’

Players of the calibre of Wilfried Zaha don’t come around very often, and it is important that the Club use him as a stepping stone to a brighter future and Wilf does likewise. It is imperative that Wilf continues to learn his trade while at Palace, so that when he does fly ‘The Eagle’s Nest’ he is ready both mentally and physically for what lies ahead.

We are witnessing the development of a player that may one day reach the heights of........well let’s just wait and see, and enjoy the moment!

Wilfried Zaha, remember the name!