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What is the ambition of the club’s owners? After Roy decided to save our most creative player for a game we’ll almost certainly get nothing from instead of giving everything for a cup run, it seems he must have been told that the Premier League is the only thing worth worrying about. Yet another season in the prem might be good for the balance books, but what about us fans? Cup runs are ace. I read somewhere that over the last 5 years, no club has spent less in the transfer market than Crystal Palace. I’m all for financial prudence, but where has that left us? We’ve been unlucky with injuries but that simply shows up the lack of squad depth. After 11 years in the Premier League, we seem to have little more ambition than we had in the first season – to stay up. The question is where is the money going? It’s surely either: • Saving up for the new stand It’s probably a mixture of these, but what about the main stand? Do we have 35k (or whatever) demand for tickets? Why would we with the dross we put out every week? And isn’t it all a bit of a Field of Dreams vanity exercise? Let’s say we can fill the new stand. What difference does that make to the fans other than saying ‘ooh, that’s nice and shiny’? We’ll have more income I’m sure the owners will claim, yeah, but are you going to strengthen the squad enough? History suggests not. It also smacks of the cart leading the horse. In any company, infrastructure is only bought once the demand is such that you simply have to do it. If the club was playing exciting football with top players, then yes it makes sense, of course you should increase capacity. But as we are, it seems a stretch. And yet, two years ago it all seemed so promising. We smashed the player recruitment and, credit to the owners they took a gamble on a manager who had wisely cut his teeth in less demanding leagues and gave him his shot. And it was brilliant. For one season, until Vieira lost confidence and became ultra-cautious. Do the owners whisper in every manager’s ear that they must stay up? The great shame is that when will we have a team with the likes of Johnstone, Guehi, Andersen, Olise, Eze and Doucoure at the same time again? How many of them will still be here next season? And why should they stay? I wouldn’t. And I think Roy is being hamstrung. With proper investment I think he actually could produce an exciting team – he did at the end of last season, but his time is short because of his age. And there are better managers out there. We need more from our owners right now. They’ve shown the balls before, but that needs to be how we are all the time. If you stand still, you lose. More ambition and more investment in the squad is needed. The new stand can surely wait until we have a better team.
You'll be forever in my family's memories and it was an honor and privilege to play and lead in the red and blue |
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Fair summary. The only problem with the stand is that it’s quickly becoming obsolete and probably doesn’t meet current fire regulations along with numerous other issues such that it must be replaced. Maybe not the bells and whistles design as proposed but definitely something. I would have preferred a much slimmed down proposal and renewed the Arthur as part of the same scheme which is already almost as bad as the main stand.
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Originally posted by FinchleyEagle
What is the ambition of the club’s owners? After Roy decided to save our most creative player for a game we’ll almost certainly get nothing from instead of giving everything for a cup run, it seems he must have been told that the Premier League is the only thing worth worrying about. Yet another season in the prem might be good for the balance books, but what about us fans? Cup runs are ace. I read somewhere that over the last 5 years, no club has spent less in the transfer market than Crystal Palace. I’m all for financial prudence, but where has that left us? We’ve been unlucky with injuries but that simply shows up the lack of squad depth. After 11 years in the Premier League, we seem to have little more ambition than we had in the first season – to stay up. The question is where is the money going? It’s surely either: • Saving up for the new stand It’s probably a mixture of these, but what about the main stand? Do we have 35k (or whatever) demand for tickets? Why would we with the dross we put out every week? And isn’t it all a bit of a Field of Dreams vanity exercise? Let’s say we can fill the new stand. What difference does that make to the fans other than saying ‘ooh, that’s nice and shiny’? We’ll have more income I’m sure the owners will claim, yeah, but are you going to strengthen the squad enough? History suggests not. It also smacks of the cart leading the horse. In any company, infrastructure is only bought once the demand is such that you simply have to do it. If the club was playing exciting football with top players, then yes it makes sense, of course you should increase capacity. But as we are, it seems a stretch. And yet, two years ago it all seemed so promising. We smashed the player recruitment and, credit to the owners they took a gamble on a manager who had wisely cut his teeth in less demanding leagues and gave him his shot. And it was brilliant. For one season, until Vieira lost confidence and became ultra-cautious. Do the owners whisper in every manager’s ear that they must stay up? The great shame is that when will we have a team with the likes of Johnstone, Guehi, Andersen, Olise, Eze and Doucoure at the same time again? How many of them will still be here next season? And why should they stay? I wouldn’t. And I think Roy is being hamstrung. With proper investment I think he actually could produce an exciting team – he did at the end of last season, but his time is short because of his age. And there are better managers out there. We need more from our owners right now. They’ve shown the balls before, but that needs to be how we are all the time. If you stand still, you lose. More ambition and more investment in the squad is needed. The new stand can surely wait until we have a better team. As its been stated quite a few times... our wage bill has been sky high and we bring in very little profit as we sell hardly any players in previous years. Of what we have managed to sell, it has been spent on paying back loans for players bought. Palace has a tin shed stadium that needs a lot of improvement, the max capacity is one thing, the improvement for business and commercial boxes would be an asset thats needed. I know people like to ignore FFP but Palace is a small club, has a shed of a stadium in a horrid area to travel too and from and this stumps advertising, endorsement, sponsorships etc. The players stated above are a prime example of a good squad that needs to sell 2 of those higher assets to buy in players. Palace don't have the luxury of keeping the decent ones if they want to buy more in. Brighton being a good example of success from selling to buy more in. Royball is what seems to be actual target of most fans frustration and the injuries. Eze, Doucoure and Olise have all had substantial injuries at different times. The 3 outlets of creativity are missed. Roy doesn't play any of the players brought in for any significant amount of time and instead plays a defender in midfield and the same 11 every match. We can buy in 11 players but if the manager never plays anybody but his favourites then it would be deemed pointless. If Textor wants out and the other 2 spend their money on their American Sports Franchises, that leaves Parish and Dougie to figure out how to buy players on a budget. That's not something I like but I think that's the fact of the matter that fans have to be logical about cpfc buying in new players.
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Originally posted by CpfcWeTrust1
As its been stated quite a few times... our wage bill has been sky high and we bring in very little profit as we sell hardly any players in previous years. Of what we have managed to sell, it has been spent on paying back loans for players bought. Palace has a tin shed stadium that needs a lot of improvement, the max capacity is one thing, the improvement for business and commercial boxes would be an asset thats needed. I know people like to ignore FFP but Palace is a small club, has a shed of a stadium in a horrid area to travel too and from and this stumps advertising, endorsement, sponsorships etc. The players stated above are a prime example of a good squad that needs to sell 2 of those higher assets to buy in players. Palace don't have the luxury of keeping the decent ones if they want to buy more in. Brighton being a good example of success from selling to buy more in. Royball is what seems to be actual target of most fans frustration and the injuries. Eze, Doucoure and Olise have all had substantial injuries at different times. The 3 outlets of creativity are missed. Roy doesn't play any of the players brought in for any significant amount of time and instead plays a defender in midfield and the same 11 every match. We can buy in 11 players but if the manager never plays anybody but his favourites then it would be deemed pointless. If Textor wants out and the other 2 spend their money on their American Sports Franchises, that leaves Parish and Dougie to figure out how to buy players on a budget. That's not something I like but I think that's the fact of the matter that fans have to be logical about cpfc buying in new players. Some good points I hadn't considered, thank you. Alongside a link to a great article someone else posted, it has altered my thinking somewhat. Roy seems a bit of an enigma to me. In his first stint, he did what was needed, and mostly it was a bit dire with some marquee performances from time to time. When he came back I expected the same, but with better players he was suddenly much more attacking. Ok, maybe he simply adjusts to what he has. This season he has been like Vieira in his second season was; What is less compelling are decisions like subbing Eze at Everton which seems baffling - it can surely only be protecting an injury otherwise it seems mad. Also, why spend big bucks on Ahmada and Franca and not play them? Did we overestimate them? They are young, but so are lots of players who do alright. Why pay so much of the little money we have only not to play them? Something seems amiss there. And since he's come back we've been so fragile defensively, this season especially. Sure we've only got one great defender (Andersen is more a quarter back and too easily exposed, Ward much as I love him is, like Clyne, basically a championship-level defender and Mitchell the same, albeit with more potential) but he should be able to coach them better, shouldn't he? All in all, it seems he has an incredibly difficult situation, but it just seems someone more dynamic and modern could do a better job.
You'll be forever in my family's memories and it was an honor and privilege to play and lead in the red and blue |
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Originally posted by FinchleyEagle
What is the ambition of the club’s owners? After Roy decided to save our most creative player for a game we’ll almost certainly get nothing from instead of giving everything for a cup run, it seems he must have been told that the Premier League is the only thing worth worrying about. Yet another season in the prem might be good for the balance books, but what about us fans? Cup runs are ace. I read somewhere that over the last 5 years, no club has spent less in the transfer market than Crystal Palace. I’m all for financial prudence, but where has that left us? We’ve been unlucky with injuries but that simply shows up the lack of squad depth. After 11 years in the Premier League, we seem to have little more ambition than we had in the first season – to stay up. The question is where is the money going? It’s surely either: • Saving up for the new stand It’s probably a mixture of these, but what about the main stand? Do we have 35k (or whatever) demand for tickets? Why would we with the dross we put out every week? And isn’t it all a bit of a Field of Dreams vanity exercise? Let’s say we can fill the new stand. What difference does that make to the fans other than saying ‘ooh, that’s nice and shiny’? We’ll have more income I’m sure the owners will claim, yeah, but are you going to strengthen the squad enough? History suggests not. It also smacks of the cart leading the horse. In any company, infrastructure is only bought once the demand is such that you simply have to do it. If the club was playing exciting football with top players, then yes it makes sense, of course you should increase capacity. But as we are, it seems a stretch. And yet, two years ago it all seemed so promising. We smashed the player recruitment and, credit to the owners they took a gamble on a manager who had wisely cut his teeth in less demanding leagues and gave him his shot. And it was brilliant. For one season, until Vieira lost confidence and became ultra-cautious. Do the owners whisper in every manager’s ear that they must stay up? The great shame is that when will we have a team with the likes of Johnstone, Guehi, Andersen, Olise, Eze and Doucoure at the same time again? How many of them will still be here next season? And why should they stay? I wouldn’t. And I think Roy is being hamstrung. With proper investment I think he actually could produce an exciting team – he did at the end of last season, but his time is short because of his age. And there are better managers out there. We need more from our owners right now. They’ve shown the balls before, but that needs to be how we are all the time. If you stand still, you lose. More ambition and more investment in the squad is needed. The new stand can surely wait until we have a better team. Fair comment... trouble is, parish himself has no money, yet he's running the club... it's a dumb format and isn't working.. there are plenty of businessmen out there who have the capital, have the desire to see us succeed... I don't know why parish thinks he's the only man who can run this club...
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These business people with capital where are they ? We are obviously not that attractive proposition.
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Originally posted by AERO
These business people with capital where are they ? We are obviously not that attractive proposition. Exactly. We're a crap brand, small ground, in an unfashionable location and just an unglamorous image. I think it's why winning the Cup should be a priority. It'd raise the Palace profile.
I have now sufficient funds to last me the rest of my life. Provided I don't buy anything. |
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When Harris and Blitzer became investors I wrote a post about how this would not end well, based on their N.American track record of ownership and mediocrity. Adding in Textor has compounded the issues of investors seeking a return on their investment from high coupon loans to the club. I think SP has done a more than decent job of managing the finances with the constraints the club has with its investor base. Some of the more recent player acquisitions of Olise and Eze have looked good, but we would be in the hole regarding Henderson and Franca. Amahada, Richards etc. Anyway, you have to monetize investments to get a return, which we have been unable to accomplish. I am struggling to understand how we are going climb out of the hole; sounds like a strapped, dysfunctional board, management that can't coach or get game tactics right in the modern game and a squad that is weak and shallow in depth. Now the fans are turning sour and we are in the crosshairs of the media for the poor way the team is playing week in week out. Even if Notts Forest get dinged for FFP, it will not solve our systemic issues, which is a small club, constrained finances and increasingly marginalized by teams with bigger pockets. Ten years in the Prem is quite the accomplishment, but going forward it is hard to see where the upside is unless we get a brilliant coaching team that can turn academy players into first team players. I subscribe to the Parish strategy of creating a pipeline of talent from a top class academy in South London - but recruitment still remains unpredictable and with a lack of investment capital we will struggle to remain a Premier league team. If we were "giving it a go" on the pitch, fans might be more understanding, but now, Roys tactics, set up and overall management style, just adds to the doom and gloom. It is not a very optimistic scenario; and it will be hard to get a decent manager on board with such a lean squad and no money. Where to from here?
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Originally posted by FinchleyEagle
Some good points I hadn't considered, thank you. Alongside a link to a great article someone else posted, it has altered my thinking somewhat. Roy seems a bit of an enigma to me. In his first stint, he did what was needed, and mostly it was a bit dire with some marquee performances from time to time. When he came back I expected the same, but with better players he was suddenly much more attacking. Ok, maybe he simply adjusts to what he has. This season he has been like Vieira in his second season was; What is less compelling are decisions like subbing Eze at Everton which seems baffling - it can surely only be protecting an injury otherwise it seems mad. Also, why spend big bucks on Ahmada and Franca and not play them? Did we overestimate them? They are young, but so are lots of players who do alright. Why pay so much of the little money we have only not to play them? Something seems amiss there. And since he's come back we've been so fragile defensively, this season especially. Sure we've only got one great defender (Andersen is more a quarter back and too easily exposed, Ward much as I love him is, like Clyne, basically a championship-level defender and Mitchell the same, albeit with more potential) but he should be able to coach them better, shouldn't he? All in all, it seems he has an incredibly difficult situation, but it just seems someone more dynamic and modern could do a better job. I agree. I don't think there is a good answer. I think the club struggles to find investment because the stadium is a pain in the backside, I think Parish isn't given a greenlight with spending loads and he battles with prudence over buying anybody, Roy last year did well.... when we had no injuries but as soon as there are some, he's lost without playing his 11 favourites. I think the club needs an injection of enthusiasm and I'm not sure Roy brings that anymore. Blaming youngsters is not the way to go.
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The problem is the Premier League itself. If the only true financial reward is getting into the Champions League and it's only a couple of mil per place further up the table then why are the owners going to put money at risk when they think Roy Hodgson can maintain their investment for fvck all ?
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We have over a week before the Sheffield game and it will be interesting to see if Steve Parish and the board take any action between now and then. If they don’t, you can only assume that they think we can still stay up with Roy at the helm and they will let it run its course. Or they sack him and let someone else take the reigns and make some funds available. One thing is for sure that the Sheffield game is most probably the most important 3 points we are fighting for, for a very long time!
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The best thing to happen is for supporters to stop supporting. As long as Prish sees supporters supporting he’ll continue with the same agenda.
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