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• Palace beat Manchester United to reach semi-finals
• Steve Parish hails spectacular goal by Darren Ambrose

The Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish is dreaming of a “fairytale” Carling Cup final against Liverpool after his side’s shock quarter-final win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The victory means Palace face a two-legged semi-final against Championship rivals Cardiff, and the possibility of a final appearance at Wembley against Liverpool or Manchester City.

Palace were beaten by Liverpool in the semi-finals of the competition in 1995 and 2001, but famously overcame Kenny Dalglish’s side 4-3 to claim a place in the 1990 FA Cup final. Parish said another meeting would be great reward for the club after their battles with administration and relegation in recent years.

Parish told Talksport: “I am sure Cardiff were hoping for us [in the draw]. They’ll feel they have got a chance, and we were hoping for them. We could probably make more money out of Manchester City or Liverpool but we have only been in one Wembley final in our history. It would be absolutely amazing for us to get there.

“No disrespect to City but I have got a soft spot for Liverpool. Kenny was manager when we beat them 4-3. You never know, this would be a dream, a fairytale after everything we have been through, to get there. But we have got a tough couple of league games in front of us and Cardiff will feel they can do the same.”

A consortium headed by Parish and Martin Long bought Palace out of administration in the summer of 2010. The club had also narrowly avoided relegation the previous season and were again close to the drop last term.

But Parish feels they have now turned the corner under the manager Dougie Freedman, who has made the team hard to beat and shown faith in youngsters such as the impressive Wilfried Zaha, Nathaniel Clyne and Sean Scannell.

Parish said: “Dougie is doing a great job. He is giving the youngsters a chance and he is coaching them well, schooling them and making them better. We have made some buys but we want to rely on some of our youth. We want a blend of experience and youth to see what we can achieve and push on.”

Glenn Murray headed Palace’s winner in the 98th minute at Old Trafford after a Federico Macheda penalty had cancelled out a wonderful goal from Darren Ambrose to force extra time. Ambrose’s sensational 35-yard effort just after the hour ended a 550-minute goal drought for the London club.

Parish said: “It defied the laws of physics that shot, it was very good. Gary Neville was saying it was the best goal he has seen from an away side, which is a massive compliment.”

Palace make a quick return to action as they host Derby in the Championship on Friday, but the club are not complaining.

Parish said: “To be fair to the league and everybody, that was already organised as a TV game. We benefited from the TV revenue so we are not going to complain. We wouldn’t have complained if we’d lost, we were party to that decision.

“Dougie and the guys knew what they were going to have to do. We are not going to use it as an excuse. Let’s just hope we can carry the form into the league game on Friday.”

The Manchester United defender Jonny Evans, meanwhile, said their squad had to move on quickly from the shock defeat.

“We’re very disappointed not to be in the semi-finals,” he told MUTV. “I thought we would go on after we scored, and going into the first period of extra time, playing towards the Stretford End, I thought we’d have a chance of getting a goal and seal it from there.

“But they went down the other end and scored against the run of play really. We had a lot of possession but we couldn’t break them down.

“A lot of our play was in front of them and I think the only way we were going to get in was down the side, but we didn’t manage to do that as well as Manchester United can. We didn’t get a lot of crosses into the box. The games are coming thick and fast and the manager will need his squad. So we need to pick ourselves up and hopefully win on Saturday.”

Crystal PalaceLiverpoolManchester UnitedCarling Cup 2011-12Carling Cupguardian.co.uk

Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham and Celtic are involved in a new U19 tournament aimed at developing talent

Aspiring professional footballers usually miss out on the globe-trotting gap years enjoyed by many of their ‘civilian’ peers but compensation has finally arrived in the form of a glamorous European Under-19 competition. Very much a junior Champions League, the NextGen Series, which kicks off across the continent on Wednesday, features 16 clubs including Barcelona, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Celtic.

Between now and November they will compete in four groups, hoping to progress to the knockout stages in the new year. At this juncture, things deviate from the senior Champions League format as NextGen morphs into a mini, sudden-death tournament likely to be staged in the Middle East – Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha are possibilities – in January.

Liverpool begin against Sporting Lisbon at Anfield on Wednesday night when it is hoped ticket prices of £5 for adults and £2 for children will attract a sizeable crowd. Frank McParland, the head of Liverpool’s academy and reserves, trusts such occasions will enhance the chances of more of his proteges following in the footsteps of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. “There’s no doubt the boys are going to be stretched, which maybe can’t always be said when it comes to more regular reserve football,” McParland says.He hopes NextGen will capture the imagination of Liverpool fans facing up to a rare season bereft of first-team European competition.

With not only Barcelona but Internazionale, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Fenerbahce and Marseille among those involved, the technical bar is bound to be raised as Mark Warburton sees his brainchild finally spring into life. Warburton dreamed up NextGen during a previous incarnation as Watford’s academy director. “I realised 18- and 19-year-olds needed a different challenge to help them make the transition to the first team,” he says.

At the time McParland was scouting for Watford. “Three or four years ago Mark and I often discussed how we could improve and advance youth football,” he says. “We used to throw ideas around and say how fantastic it would be to put kids from the biggest clubs in England against the giants of Europe. Now Mark’s got NextGen off the ground and it’s become a reality, it will only benefit our young players.”

Defying widespread economic gloom, Warburton has found investors willing to finance the competing clubs’ hotel and flight costs in the belief that payback will eventually come in the form of television and sponsorship deals. With broadcasters already in talks with the company, the plan is to expand the competition to 24 teams next season when Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are expected to join.

In time NextGen could not only widen the gulf between the Premier League’s elite teams and the rest but potentially prove a more attractive broadcast proposition than the Championship. For the moment though, it is primarily about rectifying the growing disconnect between the demands of reserve and first XI football.

“We want to fill a void,” Warburton says. “Apart from an exceptional few capable of jumping straight into first teams, many promising academy graduates have not been provided with enough consistent high-quality challenges. We think we can avoid wasting talent by helping more young players reach senior level.

“The FA Youth Cup aside, English youngsters don’t have enough really competitive games; in many reserve fixtures the result isn’t all that important. And our competition has educational benefits too; the players will learn a lot from travelling abroad. They’ll be out of their comfort zones.”

The exposure to big-match pressures allied to the debilitating effects of frequently flying home through the night are cheered by Mark Allen, the head of Manchester City’s academy. “Our young players will now be competing against the best in Europe,” he says. “The experience will give them a proper platform on which to prepare for first-team life. We see this as an important chapter in the development of Manchester City.”

NextGen rules permit three under-20s to feature in an otherwise under-19 ensemble, an allowance Allen regards as eminently logical. “The average age of a Premier League debut is becoming older,” he says. “It’s 21 or 22 when it might once have been 17 or 18. We have to bridge the gap and prepare everyone for a better standard of football. And who knows you might see the next Lionel Messi at Hyde [City's reserve home].”

Chris McCart, Celtic’s head of youth development, believes involvement confers the additional bonus of increasing his club’s pulling power. “We’re confident our youngsters’ style of play will improve but NextGen should also be excellent in terms of youth recruitment,” he says. “We can now offer the opportunity of overseas travel and games against the likes of Barcelona.”

Few gap years can compete.

GROUPS AND FIXTURES Group One: Barcelona, Celtic, Manchester City, Marseille

17 Aug Marseille v Celtic

31 Aug Celtic v Barcelona

14 Sept Celtic v Marseille

15 Sept Man City v Barcelona

28 Sept Barcelona v Marseille

5 Oct Marseille v Man City

17 Oct Man City v Celtic

19 Oct Marseille v Barcelona

2 Nov Barcelona v Man City

7 Nov Celtic v Man City

23 Nov Barcelona v Celtic

24 Nov Man City v Marseille

Group Two: Liverpool, Molde, Sporting Lisbon, Wolfsburg

17 Aug Liverpool v Sporting

18 Aug Molde v Wolfsburg

31 Aug Sporting v Wolfsburg

7 Sept Molde v Liverpool

14 Sept Liverpool v Wolfsburg

21 Sept Sporting v Molde; Wolfsburg v Liverpool

29 Sept Liverpool v Molde

5 Oct Molde v Sporting

19 Oct Wolfsburg v Sporting

2 Nov Wolfsburg v Molde

15 Nov Sporting v Liverpool

Group Three: Ajax, Aston Villa, Fenerbahce, Rosenborg

17 Aug Ajax v Aston Villa

7 Sept Ajax v Fenerbahce

28 Sept Aston Villa v Fenerbahce

12 Oct Rosenborg v Fenerbahce

26 Oct Fenerbahce v Aston Villa

2 Nov Aston Villa v Rosenborg

9 Nov Fenerbahce v Ajax; Rosenborg v Aston Villa

16 Nov Fenerbahce v Rosenborg

22 Nov Aston Villa v Ajax

TBC Ajax v Rosenborg; Rosenborg v Ajax

Group Four: FC Basel, Internazionale, PSV Eindhoven, Tottenham Hotspur

17 Aug Basel v Tottenham

31 Aug Basel v PSV; Tottenham v Inter

14 Sept Inter v PSV

28 Sept Inter v Basel; PSV v Tottenham

19 Oct Basel v Inter; Tottenham v PSV

2 Nov Inter v Tottenham; PSV v Basel

23 Nov Tottenham v Basel; PSV v Inter

Aston VillaLiverpoolManchester CityTottenham HotspurCelticLouise Taylorguardian.co.uk

Liverpool manager has spent a lot of money on players but it is necessary to compete with Chelsea and Manchester United

The Kop lives in mortal fear of the mediocre buy, the non‑Liverpool signing: a dread that dates back to Phil Babb, Neil Ruddock, Julian Dicks and Jimmy Carter. These unwitting souls are among those blamed for the dilution of the great Anfield tradition of recruiting only aristocrats capable of maintaining the lustre of the Shankly‑Paisley era.

zThis understandable defensiveness is a problem for modern Liverpool managers because each new acquisition undergoes an especially fierce scrutiny, especially if he is British and therefore known to the Anfield jury. Buying an average player to perform a specific function stirs the anxieties of supporters who can reel off the duds of the past 10 years, from Paul Konchesky to Salif Diao, Fernando Morientes and Andrea Dossena, who still guarantee a rueful shake of the head on Merseyside.

Supporters who have witnessed five European Cup wins are within their rights to demand the highest possible standards, but in the current phase of mass transition there is little prospect of instant elevation to the Premier League’s top spot. Kenny Dalglish is rebuilding not for a title push but a solid top-three place from which a proper challenge can then be mounted.

Unless my eyes fail me, Dalglish is organising a staged recovery. And it could be no other way, given the sheer number of passengers and stowaways who packed the squad over a decade of experimentation under Gérard Houllier and Rafael Benítez. The legacy of that transfer trawling still confronts Dalglish, who has so far managed to cull only Konchesky in his summer dealings.

The Englishman, bought by Roy Hodgson to perform a limited service at left-back, was perhaps the unhappiest of all recent temporary Anfield residents. His mother’s brief declaration on Facebook that Liverpool fans were “scouse scum” was unlikely to endear her to the locals. This miserable relationship ended when the son trudged off to the King Power Stadium and Sven‑Goran Eriksson’s Leicester