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Selhurst Park

Crystal Palace forward Darren Ambrose probably ought to give Sheffield a wide berth given the damage he has inflicted upon its football teams.

Last season, sent Sheffield Wednesday tumbling into League One and ensured Crystal Palace's Championship survival.

On Saturday, his stunning 25-yard volley illuminated the gloom at Selhurst Park and gave . It was Ambrose's first goal in 10 games and it was worthy of winning any encounter, let alone a tense and error-strewn contest between two struggling teams.

"You cannot legislate for a wonder goal like that," said Blades boss Micky Adams as he picked the bones out of yet another defeat.

The significance of the victory cannot be under-estimated. but they now have a five-point advantage over the Blades, who remain 22nd.

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Something unique happened to Stockport County manager Peter Ward last Saturday afternoon - he watched his team win.

Later in the evening, towards the end of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Football League Show, Ward watched the brief highlights of his team defeating local rivals Bury 2-1 at Edgeley Park with great satisfaction.

I spoke to Ward, who took over as temporary boss on 5 January, in the days before Saturday's match. It is difficult to exactly gauge the mood of someone you have never met before but I sensed the 46-year-old was in something of a dark place. He told me he was driven on by fear and was desperate to taste victory; to end the losing habit, to restore confidence, to give some self-belief, both to himself and his struggling team.

It is easy to understand his anxiety. The Hatters are in a desperate battle against relegation from the Football League. The Cheshire club have been and were after managing only five wins.

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The , immediately sparking fears within the Football League that their 72 clubs could be badly damaged.

The aim of the Elite Player Performance Plan is to produce more top-quality homegrown players. The Premier League claims, quite rightly, that this would benefit not only the clubs that produce them but also the England team. Coming in the wake of England's disastrous performance at last year's World Cup that would be a welcome boost.

However, the Football League has expressed concern that 30 to 40 of its clubs could abandon their youth development schemes if the new proposals are not altered to protect the interest of lower-tier clubs.

"We want to be seen as part of the solution and not the problem," said Football League chairman Greg Clarke on Monday. "We want to support the [new plans] but not in a way that puts tens of facilities out of business."

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Kevin Kilbane has been , boasts and spent virtually all of the last decade playing Premier League football.

But the only silverware he has to show for his endeavours across a 15-year career is an old Division Three championship medal won at his hometown club Preston North End in 1996.

Back then Kilbane was an out-and-out left winger, sent out every week by manager Gary Peters with instructions to send in as many crosses as possible.

These days Kilbane is normally found on the left-hand side of Huddersfield's trio of central midfield players, one of the wise old heads in a Terriers team packed with young talent.

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Alan Irvine is a decent, dignified and well-respected man. He is also a realist.

Speaking after , the Owls boss admitted that his position was precarious.

A sequence of five League One fixtures without victory had left him on a slippery slope. pushed him over the edge.

Chairman Milan Mandaric called emergency talks on Wednesday and it emerged on Thursday that , in the process becoming the ninth Football League manager to lose his job this year.

"It is unfortunate, but this had to take place," said Mandaric, who went through six managers in less than four years as chairman on former club Leicester City.

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Matt Holland wasted no time in sending a good luck text to Chris Powell when his former Charlton team-mate was .

He had to wait a few days for a reply but an apologetic Powell eventually got in touch and explained that he had been deluged by hundreds of voice mails and texts wishing him well.

It is a small anecdote that says a lot about Powell's standing in the game. A , he appears to be as popular with supporters as he does among his peers.

and he was also named supporters player of the year at Derby County. Powell had three spells as a Charlton player and it was obvious from the reception that he received ahead of that he is held in incredibly high regard by the London club's supporters.

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