I will be heading down there for the weekend and stopping over at one of my sons at his Uni. I have a ticket in the home section, sitting with my cousin who lives down there, which could be fun and games..My son and his mate are in with the Sunderland fans..
Alan Pardew: Crystal Palace boss invites Eddie Jones to training please log in to view this image Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew invited Eddie Jones to watch training Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has enlisted the help of England rugby union coach Eddie Jones to give his side a "little bit of a lift". The Eagles have booked a first FA Cup final appearance for 26 years and face Manchester United at Wembley on 21 May. Yet they have won one of the last 18 Premier League games and are not mathematically safe, prompting Pardew to invite Jones to training. "A lot of the views he has run parallel with my own," said Pardew. Earlier this year, Australian Jones, 56, coached England to a first Six Nations Grand Slam since 2003. Although Palace have a Wembley date to look forward to, they have taken just 10 points from a possible 54 since beating Stoke City away 2-1 on 19 December. Former Australia and Japan coach Jones was present at Palace training on Thursday. "We share a couple of professional friends," added Pardew, who takes his side to former club Newcastle in the league on Saturday. "One of the reasons I invited him was to give us a little bit of a lift. We had a few words with the team about complacency and what good teams do. "He is the coach of England rugby and has been involved in World Cups with other nations. He's has a multicultural personality and he is someone who is engaging. "If the players can't take on board his comments then we are in trouble." Palace are 16th in the table, eight points above the relegation zone with three games remaining. Sunderland and Norwich City, 17th and 18th respectively, both have one game in hand on Palace. "We're still not mathematically safe and that's the task at hand," said Pardew. 'I'm desperate for Newcastle to stay up. (fancy him saying that, what a ****er) Pardew 'desperate' for Newcastle to stay up Pardew, 54, spent four years in charge of Newcastle before leaving to take over Palace in January 2015. Despite a turbulent reign, he left the Magpies sitting 10th in the Premier League. Newcastle are now 19th, one point from safety with three games remaining, and locked in a scramble with Sunderland and Norwich to avoid joining relegated Aston Villa in the Championship next season. "I'm desperate they stay up," added Pardew, even though Newcastle can still mathematically catch Palace and finish on 39 points. "Having said that, my job is to get the three points for Crystal Palace. "That's a big bear we've got to fight in that pit."
Stoke v Sunderland After being thrashed by Manchester City last week, Stoke have now conceded four goals in each of their past three games. It looks like the Potters are on their holidays already, which I would not expect from a team managed by Mark Hughes. Sunderland's season is definitely not over, though. They are just trying to inch away from the relegation zone, but they are still in trouble because their performances have been better than their results. please log in to view this image The Black Cats have made themselves hard to beat, and have only lost one of their past seven games. But they have only won one of their past seven too, and I think they might have to settle for another draw here. Their manager Sam Allardyce would probably be happy with that too. Lawro's prediction: 1-1 Caton's prediction: I have a sneaky feeling Sunderland will get something. 1-1
just been on to the Stoke forum and its dead. Just thought i would pop on and see how they think they will do tomorrow?
created a thread on their site asking how they think we will do against them tomorrow, had 8 people peeking but no comments. i really hope that their football team are as interested as their supporters.
My worry is we are out of the bottom 3, will the players say we are o k now, and look what has happened before. We have to win tomorrow, we have a great chance and we may have to have all 3 strikers on late in the game but we have to go for it, and stop hoofing the ball down the pitch. Larsson should start with Watmore as well.
I hope we have an unchanged team again - continuity in the team bodes well as the team partnerships develope - only need ruthless clinical goalscoring now oooohhh no Rodwell on the bench as far too much baggage at the moment
Aye I wouldn't change the lineup and I doubt Sam will either. We're not hitting any great heights results wise but we've got a bit of consistency and that's invaluable in our situation.
Stoke are a horrible team to be playing now. They have lost key players to injury and are on a terrible run, BUT they have an attacking threat which could just click and score 3 or 4 goals against absolutely any team. I have a feeling that this one won't be a draw. Squeaky bum time hoping that we are on the right end of a few goals this time.
I believe the injury list is pretty long and consists mainly of their more influential players which may be a help to our more patient style of game. I feel pretty goo0d about getting a win.
Same team as last week for me, if we can play to a similar level that we have been keeping solid at the back then we should get something out of the game and I wouldn't be surprised if we beat them if they are playing in flip flops like the have been for the last few weeks. Having said that Stoke have some good players and if they decide to show up today it'll be a tough game.
