Holloway's Productive Palace to see off McCarthy's Iffy Ipswich

Ahhh, a lovely lot of football fixtures in midweek & we've got two selections for you coming from the Championship & League One plus a little rant about a certain recent managerial appointment.....

Crystal Palace vs Ipswich Town

This fixture is an interesting one as both teams have new managers with this being Ian Holloway's first in charge at Palace after joining from Blackpool, his side are in a much healthier position, sitting 3rd in the table, than rivals Ipswich who are still bottom after winning at Birmingham on Saturday.

(Glenn Murray's goalscoring exploits have been a revelation at Palace this season)

We have repeatedly opposed Ipswich for the past season or so believing that they had a poor manager & a poor squad of players........ & we don't think a lot has changed with the appointment of Mick McCarthy as manager. McCarthy admittedly has done a decent job with teams in the Championship but seems to lack any appreciation of the quality it takes to compete at a higher level & has twice been sacked when steering teams to humiliating points totals in the Premier League (Sunderland in 05-06 & Wolves last year). For people to say it was a mistake to sack Mick last season seems awfully misguided - yes they were dreadful after he went but they also were beforehand & he was responsible for the assembling of the team including paying actual money for Jamie O'Hara. Mick's got some task on his hands here & although he managed a win in his first game back it should be noted that Birmingham can be just about the worst team in pro football on their day & had a stinker on Saturday, yet Ipswich were poor too & just edged the 1-0 win. Ipswich just don't have the players needed to get them goals with on-loan striker DJ Campbell their top scorer with 3 & they've bagged a meagre 11 goals in 14 league games so far.

Palace have been relatively free-scoring & with Holloway certain to impose his attacking philosophy on the side we could see things light up at Selhurst Park for the rest of the year especially with the young attacking talent that is Wilfried Zaha at the club. Palace are unbeaten in 11 after losing their first 4 games (one in League Cup) of the season & posted an impressive pressing display against Blackburn on Saturday as they came up with a 2-0 win against Blackburn. Top scorer Glenn Murray scored both goals against Rovers to take his total to 10 from 11 appearances & if he's on form here he'll be hard to stop. Odds of Evens for Palace to win, who are at home, sit 3rd & are playing bottom placed Ipswich look too big to resist so get on!

Bournemouth vs Shrewsbury Town

Down in League One, Bournemouth entertain Shrewsbury Town at Dean Court. Both sides have struggled so far this season & sit in lowly positions of 16th & 20th respectively.

(Smiles all round at Bournemouth after the impressive young manager's return)

Bournemouth sacked manager Paul Groves early in October & brought back Eddie Howe, he left the Cherries nearly two years ago to take up the reins at Championship Burnley & has cited personal reasons for his return. He has made an immediate impact with Bournemouth picking up three wins & a draw in his four matches in charge, to illustrate how impressive this is this they had previously lost 4 in a row & had only won once in the league all season. The most impressive victory was over current league leaders (injury hit) Tranmere Rovers (3-1) & they are scoring goals for fun with 12 in these matches. Goals are coming all over the pitch with midfielder Marc Pugh scoring three & Irishman Harry Arter & striker Lewis Grabban grabbing a couple each.

Shrewsbury have failed to win on the road this season & have a record of three draws & four defeats in their seven away league matches. They have lost their last two in a row against Doncaster Rovers & Portsmouth & have conceded on average 1.57 goals per game. They are currently on a run of only one victory in their last nine, a fortunate 1-0 win over a Walsall side who dominated them & with one point in their last three so confidence is short in the Shrews' ranks. Bournemouth are on a crest of a wave since the popular Eddie Howe returned to the dugout & they should be too strong for a poor Shrewsbury side at a price of 4/6.

Selections:
Crystal Palace to beat Ipswich Town at Evens (Various)
Bournemouth to beat Shrewsbury Town at 4/6 (General)