CRYSTAL PALACE LIVERPOOL SALT OF T HE EARTH
When the chips are down, Clyne proves he can still take away the points for Palace
Selhurst Park: 12.30pm
‘LARGE cod and chips please – oh, and how is Nathaniel these days?’
‘ Vinegar on those sir? He’s doing just fine, he’s just started seven out of the last eight games for Crystal Palace and he will be up against Liverpool today. Curry sauce?’
There is a chip shop in Stockwell, South London, that follows the career of Nathaniel Clyne closely.
Taste More is where he used to get his bag of chips as a kid, and where he and his family often ate. There is a signed shirt of his on the wall. Stockwell is home territory for fullback Clyne, now 29.
The other home is Selhurst Park, where he started his career before Southampton lured him away – and the place where in October he returned as a free agent, attempting to rebuild his career after a cruciate ligament injury. And it is there this lunchtime that the former England defender will face the most significant moment yet, in his fight back to full fitness.
And the chippy? Clyne said: “It was my local growing up in the area. They have been following my progress since I was young.
“They’ve been to a lot of my games. I gave them a signed shirt which they stuck on the wall.
“We used to eat there, friends and family. It’s really big in the area. When you want to enjoy your food you go there.”
When Palace came calling again, there was only one place to go. Back home.
Clyne started out at Palace at the age of eight, going on to make his name as a speedy, tough-tackling full-back. Recognition was quick as he moved on to newly-promoted Southampton in 2012, and then Liverpool stepped in with a £12.5million deal to take him to Anfield three years later.
His Liverpool career started well as he was a League Cup and Europa League runner-up and an England regular – but first a back injury and then the cruciate ligament problem, halted him.
In his last two years at Anfield, Clyne made only seven league appearances before being released. Then Palace stepped in. He said: “When my contract was up, Palace came in to see how my fitness levels were.
“They wanted to see if I was over my injury. I was there to impress the manager and I did that, got a contract, and now I’m playing and getting stronger with every game.
“It’s a thrill being back. It feels like home.
“I was expecting Liverpool not to offer me a new deal. There were a few choices but none of them appealed as much as Palace. “Player-wise it’s only Wilf Zaha who is still here from my time – but there’s loads of the staff.
“Having said that, this place has changed. When I was first here we were a mid-Championship team – now we are an established Premier League side.”
Clyne ( below in action against Spurs last week) made his second Palace debut in the 2-1 win at Fulham in October. It was a good moment. “What kept me going was the fact this is the job I love.
“When I’m told what I have to do to get myself back, that’s what I do.
“I appreciate this opportunity to be back playing.”