In a game with so many sub-plots, the most likely scenario was former Blues striker Andy Johnson scoring the winner - and that's exactly what happened. As for Blues, it was a clueless, pathetic performance which leaves many, many questions to be answered.
Steve Bruce made changes to the team that lost fo Fulham in the Carling Cup. Stan Lazaridis returned at left-back for Jamie Clapham, whilst Darren Anderton and Stephen Clemence made way for Robbie Savage and Damien Johnson in the middle of the park. Palace included two former Blues players in Johnson and Michael Hughes - the two receiving very different ovations from the home crowd before kick-off.
Blues dominated from the off, with Lazaridis and Jesper Gronkjaer both looking particularly dangerous. As has been the case for quite some time though, Blues lacked ideas. They had plenty of possession, but were unable to come up with anything to break Palace down.
Gronkjaer - who was enjoying another good performance - cut inside and unleashed a good left-foot drive which was saved by Gabor Kiraly, who looked like a 16 year old Scally who'd been hanging around the Morrisons car park and somehow wandered onto the pitch in his tracksuit bottoms.
Blues continued to press but with little effect. Crosses were being flung in, but Dwight Yorke and Emile Heskey didn't really seem interested at all. Yorke had one header deflected wide, but that was about the sum total of his inept performance.
Four minutes before half-time Palace took the lead, and given the way the game had gone, it was only going to be on the counter-attack. The ball broke to Damien Johnson from a Blues corner, and as he tried to be clever, Hughes nicked the ball from him and Wayne Routledge and Andy Johnson broke. Routledge delivered a fine ball in front of Johnson, who was never going to be caught by Matthew Upson and Kenny Cunningham, and the diminutive striker clipped the ball home past Maik Taylor.
Andy Johnson had been marshalled superbly by Cunningham and Upson until this point, but one stupid mistake by his namesake, Damien, and Blues were punished. It's a pity Blues are unable to punish anybody whatsoever at the other end. 'AJ', after his controversial goal celebration at Villa Park recently, earned applause from the Blues crowd for not celebrating out of respect for his former fans.
The second half followed much the same pattern, though if possible, Blues were perhaps even more clueless. Palace looked fairly dangerous on the break again, through Hughes, Johnson, Routledge and Ben Watson. Blues were still absolutely woeful, and were eventually booed off at the final whistle.
I haven't really gone into detail on the second half, as Blues could only muster various half-chances that were wasted by the likes of Heskey and Mario Melchiot, along with a few scrambles at corners - when Kiraly wasn't claiming them. The Palace 'keeper was plucking looping corner after looping corner out of the air with ease all afternoon, so what did Blues keep doing? You guessed it... kept taking looping corner after looping corner. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that a different approach should be tried out.
Blues' strikers were totally useless - Heskey because, I suspect, it was just one of those days, and Yorke because he put in no effort whatsoever. So what did Blues have on the bench to throw on in need of a goal? Darren Anderton, Jamie Clapham and Stephen Clemence. Would it really be such a huge gamble to include Andrew Barrowman - who is, after all, a striker - as a substitute? When other Premiership teams are chasing games, they have options on the bench - Blues had nothing. A young Southampton striker scored a hat-trick in midweek - sometimes these things pay off. Surely having a recognised striker (at least one) on the bench is a necessity? Anyone would think that Blues were a side not in the need of goals or something.
Robbie Savage was also useless. It's all very well raising your game for the likes of Manchester United, but you have to perform in these games too - especially when you have a mouth as big as Savage's. He's the one Blues player who builds everything up, builds himself up, builds games up, and then so often recently underperforms. For all Damien Johnson's faults as a footballer (see error leading to goal today) at least you can guarantee he'll be giving as much against Crystal Palace or Southampton as against Manchester United or Newcastle.
And finally, as for Jesper Gronkjaer, who is still subject to various criticism from Blues fans. Well, again today Gronkjaer could not really be faulted. Some of his crossing is appalling, but today he put in at least six or eight quality balls, either in the air or along the ground. You can't ask much more of him than that. He may have cocked up another ten crosses, but he still delivered a sufficient amount of times to warrant at least someone producing something from it.
Blues are in real trouble, and it's down to the simple fact that there are no tactics whatsoever. The side have absolutely no idea how to beat sides, how to create chances, how to utilise players assets, etc, etc, etc, etc. Heskey, for example, is more than useful on the floor, yet all he ever gets is high ball after high ball at his head. Things really have to be sorted out, and fast, as January could be too late at this rate. Steve Bruce this summer built a team around one player, which is always a dangerous ploy. The fact that that player was Mikael Forssell shows just how great the risk was, as the club are now in real trouble, and it's time for Bruce to come up with answers.
Steve Bruce made changes to the team that lost fo Fulham in the Carling Cup. Stan Lazaridis returned at left-back for Jamie Clapham, whilst Darren Anderton and Stephen Clemence made way for Robbie Savage and Damien Johnson in the middle of the park. Palace included two former Blues players in Johnson and Michael Hughes - the two receiving very different ovations from the home crowd before kick-off.
Blues dominated from the off, with Lazaridis and Jesper Gronkjaer both looking particularly dangerous. As has been the case for quite some time though, Blues lacked ideas. They had plenty of possession, but were unable to come up with anything to break Palace down.
Gronkjaer - who was enjoying another good performance - cut inside and unleashed a good left-foot drive which was saved by Gabor Kiraly, who looked like a 16 year old Scally who'd been hanging around the Morrisons car park and somehow wandered onto the pitch in his tracksuit bottoms.
Blues continued to press but with little effect. Crosses were being flung in, but Dwight Yorke and Emile Heskey didn't really seem interested at all. Yorke had one header deflected wide, but that was about the sum total of his inept performance.
Four minutes before half-time Palace took the lead, and given the way the game had gone, it was only going to be on the counter-attack. The ball broke to Damien Johnson from a Blues corner, and as he tried to be clever, Hughes nicked the ball from him and Wayne Routledge and Andy Johnson broke. Routledge delivered a fine ball in front of Johnson, who was never going to be caught by Matthew Upson and Kenny Cunningham, and the diminutive striker clipped the ball home past Maik Taylor.
Andy Johnson had been marshalled superbly by Cunningham and Upson until this point, but one stupid mistake by his namesake, Damien, and Blues were punished. It's a pity Blues are unable to punish anybody whatsoever at the other end. 'AJ', after his controversial goal celebration at Villa Park recently, earned applause from the Blues crowd for not celebrating out of respect for his former fans.
The second half followed much the same pattern, though if possible, Blues were perhaps even more clueless. Palace looked fairly dangerous on the break again, through Hughes, Johnson, Routledge and Ben Watson. Blues were still absolutely woeful, and were eventually booed off at the final whistle.
I haven't really gone into detail on the second half, as Blues could only muster various half-chances that were wasted by the likes of Heskey and Mario Melchiot, along with a few scrambles at corners - when Kiraly wasn't claiming them. The Palace 'keeper was plucking looping corner after looping corner out of the air with ease all afternoon, so what did Blues keep doing? You guessed it... kept taking looping corner after looping corner. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that a different approach should be tried out.
Blues' strikers were totally useless - Heskey because, I suspect, it was just one of those days, and Yorke because he put in no effort whatsoever. So what did Blues have on the bench to throw on in need of a goal? Darren Anderton, Jamie Clapham and Stephen Clemence. Would it really be such a huge gamble to include Andrew Barrowman - who is, after all, a striker - as a substitute? When other Premiership teams are chasing games, they have options on the bench - Blues had nothing. A young Southampton striker scored a hat-trick in midweek - sometimes these things pay off. Surely having a recognised striker (at least one) on the bench is a necessity? Anyone would think that Blues were a side not in the need of goals or something.
Robbie Savage was also useless. It's all very well raising your game for the likes of Manchester United, but you have to perform in these games too - especially when you have a mouth as big as Savage's. He's the one Blues player who builds everything up, builds himself up, builds games up, and then so often recently underperforms. For all Damien Johnson's faults as a footballer (see error leading to goal today) at least you can guarantee he'll be giving as much against Crystal Palace or Southampton as against Manchester United or Newcastle.
And finally, as for Jesper Gronkjaer, who is still subject to various criticism from Blues fans. Well, again today Gronkjaer could not really be faulted. Some of his crossing is appalling, but today he put in at least six or eight quality balls, either in the air or along the ground. You can't ask much more of him than that. He may have cocked up another ten crosses, but he still delivered a sufficient amount of times to warrant at least someone producing something from it.
Blues are in real trouble, and it's down to the simple fact that there are no tactics whatsoever. The side have absolutely no idea how to beat sides, how to create chances, how to utilise players assets, etc, etc, etc, etc. Heskey, for example, is more than useful on the floor, yet all he ever gets is high ball after high ball at his head. Things really have to be sorted out, and fast, as January could be too late at this rate. Steve Bruce this summer built a team around one player, which is always a dangerous ploy. The fact that that player was Mikael Forssell shows just how great the risk was, as the club are now in real trouble, and it's time for Bruce to come up with answers.