Crystal Palace’s Tom Soares secretly annoyed after play-offs force changes to summer plans

CRYSTAL PALACE midfielder Tom Soares has privately admitted his annoyance with his side’s surprise appearance in the play-offs, and the impact it will have on a number of longstanding plans he had made for May, including a much anticipated trip to Pizza Hut.

Soares had promised to treat himself and teammates Ben Watson, Victor Moses and Julian Speroni to a £5.99 buffet lunch with salad and bottomless soft drinks at Pizza Hut’s Beckenham branch this bank holiday Monday, as an end-of-season celebration. But those plans will be put on hold as Eagles manager Neil Warnock has imposed a strict Ice-Cream Factory ban on his squad until their season is over.

“He was really looking forward to breaking Vicmo’s record of nine slices of Hawaiian,” a Palace dressing room insider said. “But now he’s going to have to wait until June and he’s worried that the summer heat could affect his appetite.”

Soares’ mind seemed to be elsewhere during Palace’s 5-0 win against Burnley this Sunday, when he looked close to tears of frustration as he tapped into an empty net against his will for the third goal, and the midfielder is especially aggrieved about his extended season ruining several of his birthday presents from teammates.

He has had no time to even remove the cellophane from his copy of Grand Theft Auto IV and is also worried that Warnock will kybosh Danny Butterfield’s present of two tickets to the League One play-off final.

“Tom’s been talking excitedly for weeks in the dressing room about checking out the sightlines at the new Wembley, but if he’s playing there the next day himself, he probably won’t be able to go,” said Soares’ friend.

The young midfielder will also miss a day out at London’s Trocadero, several games of football down the park, and a planned short break to Paphos with teammates and several members of the Palace Crystals cheerleading team.
While in Cyprus, he had hoped to solidify a fledgling relationship with cheerleader Donna, 19, who he snogged on the coach back from an away trip to Stoke. Soares is privately worried that Donna could betray him for a less busy player at a club such as Sheffield United or Wolves.

Published June 22, 2008

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