From defensive rock to Shakin' Stevens in a matter of months. What has happened to the Paddy McCarthy we all knew and loved last season? Sam Priddy has a think.
When Palace first signed Paddy McCarthy in the summer of 2008 it didn’t exactly set many hearts aflutter. Having watched Mark Hudson turn into a relatively decent player in his time at Selhurst Park it was incredibly disappointing to see him decide to move across town to hang out with our good friends at Charlton Athletic. In his place we got a Charlton hand-me-down; a little sympathetic gesture to soften the bitter blow of seeing one of our most consistent performers picking our fierce rivals over the club that had nurtured him out of his Fulham nappies. An Irish centre-back called Paddy no less. I for one can’t say I knew a whole lot about McCarthy, but the whole thing stank of mediocrity.
But alas, similar to the Clinton Morrison-Andy Johnson trade a few years earlier, it soon appeared that we had got the better end of the bargain as Paddy proved to be a much-needed rock in the heart of defence. His Clarence Seedorf impression against Derby that won the goal of the season award certainly didn’t do him any harm in the eyes of the Palace faithful either. Last season his heroics in keeping us up saw him named club captain following Sean Derry’s departure and everything seemed to be going swimmingly.
This season has been a different story however. In a shaky defence that has shipped in 59 goals already, McCarthy has at times looked the shakiest of the lot. The composure that endeared him to the fans seems to have disappeared, and instead we are treated to an almost weekly display of inconsistency and miscommunication with the rest of the defence.
There could be several reasons for this. It’s true that stability isn’t a word you would necessarily associate with our defence this season. Until fairly recently McCarthy had struggled to find a consistent partner, with Davis, Bennett, Gardner and even Alex Marrow shuffled round in the hope of finding the right combination. Regardless of the reasons for this – injuries, suspensions (oh hello Claude) – all too often McCarthy has had to shackle a new look defence when we needed it to be at its strongest. I’ve heard some people question his focus. Could it be that the added responsibilities of being captain are putting too much pressure on McCarthy?
That’s not to say it has all been bad however. The recent performances at home when playing with Anthony Gardener have shown there is certainly potential in their partnership. But still the cracks from earlier in the season won’t fully conceal themselves. Rash challenges on Shane Long in the 3-3 draw with Reading, and most recently against QPR, have shown McCarthy is still somewhat off the pace. Whether the red card was warranted or not, a suspension is not a welcome delight at this stage of the season. Nor was it nice to see a great performance against the stand out team in the league rendered useless.
But, having said that, I don’t think we should write off Paddy just yet, even though it is clear that he needs to have a reappraisal of his game. The little decisions, the positioning, the 50-50s that have been going against him have been costing us. He’s got an undesired break to mull it over.
Originally posted on Five Year Plan, the Crystal Palace fanzine, 28 March 2011
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