George Burley’s men went into the game without an away win all season, with the embarrassing record of scoring no goals and conceding 12.

Palace’s not-so-great record was looking to continue at half-time when the Canaries went into the interval with a 1-0 lead after Grant Holt had scored for the hosts against the run-of-play.

But, after securing Championship survival on the last day of the season with a draw against Sheffield Wednesday that condemned the Owls to League 1, spirit has clearly never been a problem for any Crystal Palace squad and two quick-fire goals from on-loan defenders Antony Gardner and Julian Bennett made sure that Palace fans would go home celebrating a first away win of the season.

Gardner secured win for Palace with second goal

So after my last blog, in which I didn’t show as much enthusiasm, things have finally started to look good if you’re an Eagles fan.

But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves and with a trip to Preston this-coming Saturday, when we face Darren Ferguson’s side who are sitting one place below us in 23rd place, this match is a must win for George Burley’s side.

As stated in my previous blog, it hasn’t been a case of Palace not being able to perform this season, and after having 65% possession in the game against Norwich, it again proved to be the case of Palace outplaying their opponents but not creating enough opportunities.

However, we got the win the majority of Palace fans including myself wanted, so I can have no complaints and I look forward to Saturday’s game, which on paper is a game we should be winning.

I would expect George Burley to keep the same side that defeated Norwich, although Edgar Davids was substituted in the 53^rd minute of that win so he could be dropped after having a very disappointing start to his Eagles career.

Depending on results elsewhere, a win for Palace would get them out of the relegation zone and George Burley’s team must start to pick up results soon if they want to finish near the play-offs.

Patience needed for Ambrose

Palace suffered their seventh loss of the season last Saturday, when South London rivals Millwall ensured that Palace would stay second bottom in the Npower Championship.

After a promising start, Theo Robinson’s 53^rd minute goal was enough to make sure that the blue half of South London went home the happier fans.

When will Palace start to live up to expectations and stop letting the huge fan base they have down?

There was optimism throughout the stadium before kick off, with a huge majority of fans expecting a few goals to celebrate after the names of Coungao, Zaha and Cadogan were confirmed in the line-up.

But once again, this was proved to be wrong and Palace fans had the usual routine of leaving the stadium whilst scratching their heads, wondering how their team didn’t score.

Palace looked to live up to expectations and after promising attacking play, they failed to convert the chances they were creating.

It has been too often this season that if the team fails to convert their chances, there is a high possibility that the defence will switch of and concede sloppy goals.

This was proved to be the case and after the full-time whistle, there was a chorus of boos throughout the stadium.

Aimed at the ref, the Millwall players, the team or Burley, only those fans will know.

Since that emphatic win against Leicester City on the first day of the season, it has so far been a season of constant struggles for Crystal Palace and with a short trip to Norwich this evening, George Burley’s team have the best opportunity to give their fans something positive to talk about.

When Palace’s situation looked to be on the up after a 4-1 win against Portsmouth, with James Vaughan making the best of impressions on his first appearance at Selhurst Park by scoring a hat-trick, those high hopes soon faded when Palace were defeated 5-0 by Derby.

But it’s not all negatives for us fans.

At least they are giving us something to talk about right?

Don’t get me wrong, I would love it if Palace started to win so I had something positive to write about, but it’s not like the squad are scraping through 90 minutes and not creating any chances.

Some of the performances I have seen from Palace have been the best in a while and it’s more frustrating that we are creating chances but failing to convert them.

However, we have a good excuse to rely on with the fact that our ‘leader’ in Ambrose is missing, so fingers crossed when the man himself gets back to full fitness, those goals we want will start coming, along with the wins.

Until then, we have a huge match on our hands tonight, when the squad travels to 3^rd placed Norwich.

After Claude Davis got himself sent off for the second time this season on Saturday, and subsequently earning himself a 4 match ban, I expect Gardner to come in at defence.

I would also expect George Burley to throw Edgar Davids into the mix again, in the place of Andy Dorman, who I have been extremely disappointed with this season.

Although I hadn’t heard much about him, I did expect the man to have a bit of technical ability, but this has yet to be seen and at the moment he would be lucky to get into a League 2 squad.

On the injury note, the hosts have a few defensive issues of their own, with Elliott Ward and Adam Drury out.

As I have been paid to regret showing optimism throughout my articles this season, I have mixed views on whether I should be positive or negative.

So I’ll keep my match predictions to myself and hope that Palace show the creative play they have done so far this season and actually convert those chances.

I hope to write the match report later this week, hoping it’s a win.

If it’s late, expect that we lost. It takes me a few days to get over Palace losing, but lately it has become a tradition.

Lets talk football? It’s been a slow start to George Burley’s career as Palace manager. Am I happy? I’m in two minds whether to answer that. If you were to ask me was I happy with the signings then I would say so. Who can complain with a team full of good youth players, a Premier League striker and a Champions League winner. But then if you were to look at the results then I wouldn’t be happy. I’m not here to criticise Burley’s or the teams efforts because the football we have played has been good, it’s just about seeing these games through to the full time whistle and defending for our lives.

You can’t expect away fans to pay £50 to travel away to the likes of Reading, Scunthorpe and Derby, get thrashed and then come home happy. Bearing in mind, these are teams that the majority of Palace fans would see as an easy 3 points. I was one of those fans who travelled to Reading and after experiencing Sheffield Wednesday away last season, was really upset with the way to team performed in this game.

But lets not dwell on the past. The team has plenty of time to change these results and with our South London neighbours Millwall coming to Selhurst Park this Saturday, what better way is there to change your fortunes around? I’m going into this game with high expectations. I’d like to see the likes of Garvan, Davids and Marrow flying in with the tackles and showing the commitment that Palace fans came to expect last season.

Overall, I am glad to be a Palace fan. To be part of the last 10 years, where it has seen us become a Premiership team (which slowly faded), to only just coming out of administration, I am proud to be Palace . I have to say I absolutely love the Championship, but hate the way it is overlooked by many Premiership fans. The commitment and energy given by the majority of players in the league is second to none, and I just wish that the league got more football recognition then it has.

I hope you enjoy my first blog, I’m new to this so bear with me.

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Chairman Simeon Jordan had this to say: “This summer has been difficult for Palace and therefore for me. We had a poor season and attendances were down. I have stepped in to bankroll the club to the tune of £5million between May 20 and July 31.

‘I don’t have a board of investors pumping money in. Most clubs would have gone into
administration but ours hasn’t because I stood up and made payments to hold the squad together.”