I think we have reached the Ceiling as a club, unless some billionaire comes along, if we had a 40.000 seat stadium, we wouldn't fill it every week, sustainability is what it is all about, mid table and a cup one day (hopefully) should be our ambitions, trying to play like Man City without the players is ridiculous and will end up with relegation, as for the academy it questionable if it is worth the money is debatable, if you provide one premier league standard a year then yes, if not go down the Brentford route and not have one.

For all that has been achieved since 2010…
Survival in the most demanding league in professional football globally, impresses.
An Academy and infrastructure of note, too, which is recognised.
And even if the stadium improvement occurs, well, when?
Why am I still waiting for more?
Why do I sense inertia is set, and we are moribund?
Why do I not feel the ambition exists, which, I have for our team?
Why do I not feel we play with the excitement and freedom I see from the Bees and the Seagulls, who we now trail.
What’s missing?
What am I missing?

I don’t think you’re alone with that.

My perception is that the likes of Brentford and Brighton have less ownership issues. Although Parish runs the day to day club business, he’s reliant on the buy-in of the other three owners/investors when it comes to the big decisions. And of course that includes funding. Tony Bloom has brought in top administrative talent eg Barber, Ashworth etc., but he’s ultimately the owner and decision maker, albeit guided by the aforementioned ( although of course Ashworth is now at Newcastle ). That gives them a huge advantage over our set up.

So I think that at least two of our owners, Harris and Blitzer , are unwilling to do anything more than see Palace remain a mid table club. Without the ability to regularly, as opposed to in two/ three year cycles, compete in the transfer market we need to develop our own talent. Hence the investment in the Academy. That in itself provides no guarantees that it will be successful, but to have a competitive edge it is needed.

As for the playing side, I think that Vieira did a very good job last season. That should have laid the foundations for an incremental improvement this season. But that has taken a step backwards largely because the squad wasn’t invested in and outgoing players not replaced. Although points wise it’s much the same, this season hasn’t had the feel good factor of last year.

As for the stadium development, I’m pretty ambivalent about it. I understand the pro’s of getting it done but it’s dragged on for so long now that I’ve lost interest. It will inevitably mean that financial resources will be pointed in that direction. The danger is that we have a lovely new stand in which to watch Championship football.

Blimey, I need cheering up…..apologies for length of post

Its great to have ambition and want for more. The difficulty we are in is having to temper that ambition. As even the teams in and around us spend significantly more than we do.

But even with investment, its no guarantee of stability or progress. Look at Wolves, Everton, West Ham, all in trouble and big spenders/

Every so often teams will have a purple season and punch way above their weight, but in almost all occasions its a 1 off, and they soon sink back down the table to a more reasonable position.

Whilst in the context of the footballing pyramid we are doing really well, its really hard to be happy with middle table every season.

But that is realistically the best we can hope for. Now as an established prem team, my expectations/hopes are

Relatively comfortable midtable finish every season
A couple of big domestic scalps a season
A couple of dominant performances where we bang some goals in
An academy player coming through every couple of years
A domestic cup run every 5 years
And dare I say a European spot in the next 10

I'd be very happy with comfortably mid table every season, and certainly Statistically that's where we are. It's the manner of how we are achieving it that's worrying. Always looking over our shoulders. Consistency of performance being a mythical beast that no one has seen for eons. Consistency gives a platform to build on.

Last season was the first that gave real hope for the future for a long time, but it was clear to everyone that it was just a start, and more was needed, but it wasn't built on and now we feel somewhat like we are back where we were when RH left - in need of Another overhaul.