Todays Word - Attack!

Staring into the porcelain this morning, it appeared to me that all we could expect from todays game was a grim and hard-fought 0-0 draw. The game starts with a point, try to keep it that way by packing the midfield, denying them space, get everyone working like hell and hope that luck goes our way.

But whats this? According to the guardian, Pards plans "to draw on his experience as a Crystal Palace player to prove that victory is always possible, regardless of the opposition".

"I was brought up as a professional under Steve Coppell," said Pardew, a Palace player from 1987-91. "Steve was always the same - everything is about the next game, three points, let's get them. And that's how we'll approach Chelsea. I can understand why those managers have said that, because obviously [playing the big sides] changes the scenario and their percentage chance of winning is greater, but there is a percentage chance we can win tomorrow.

And to emphasize the point - "We're going to attack the game. I feel the stadium will be very positive for us after the last two results and the performances. We need to capitalise on that. If we stand off Chelsea and let them dictate the game, that isn't going to do much for the crowd. We're going to get as much possession and create as many scoring opportunities as possible without opening up the game, which Chelsea can exploit."

Perhaps we should not be surprised by this approach by Pardew. Whereas Curbs was a creative midfielder stroking the ball round, Pards was always an attacking midfielder in his playing days who scored 27 times for us in 116 games back in the early nineties. Curbs, although he may have been prettier to watch, could only manage 6 in 91 appearances. Pardew it was, in fact, who got Palarse into the 1990 cup final with the winner in a 4-3 win over Liverpool.

So step forward our attacking trio of Lisbie, Marcus and Hasselbaink, this is obviously your hour. An 8-0 win will get us up there with Wigan, go for it!