They had 3000 Palace fans at previous games without too much drama. Could it just be that the grief that did occur the other night was not actually down the police (or the stewards, or the Albion, or even Crystal Palace), but down to a bunch of Palace arsehats who turned up determined to make a...
Once again: you fail. The date of that game was known months in advance, therefore they don't pay overtime. They just cancel officers' days off, and prevent anybody already due to work from taking any leave. The same will apply to the cup match.
Anything else?
I was sat in my seat at the game. What the hell do you expect me to do?
Policing Pride is an entirely different operation, with much larger numbers than an Albion game, but a significantly reduced likelihood of conflict, and generally speaking, no large groups of dickheads roaming around...