I hope that anyone watching the game realised that the stupid banner only represented the views of a tiny minority of fans and the rest of us are happy not to condemn someone without knowing the facts

Neillo, regarding your observations, my thoughts are:

On this point I agree with you entirely. Either a). Textor didn't do a very good job of due diligence, b). he believed that once he came in, he would be able to be more influential than he has been, or c). he was fleeced by Harris, Blitzer, and Parish who saw a chance to part an enthusiastic fool from his money to secure additional investment. Either way, in terms of what he personally wants to gain, Textor has bought a pup.

What I am struggling with is that it appears that Textor and Parish got together this week to discuss transfer targets for this window.

The window is half over! Had there been any serious intention to sign anyone decent then the deal making should have started by now. We should not be looking at what that budget is.

I know they say only the desperate or mad buy in January but I suggest we might be bordering on the desperate!

All of this rings absolutely true. I don't know why so many people have an issue with Textor when it's plain to see that the problem is Harris and Blitzer. Textor is a minority investor with a relatively limited say in how things work. He's plainly more ambitious than both Harris and Blitzer, but he's constrained in what he can do and to what extent he can influence our plans due to his very limited status. I don't blame him for his French ventures; at least he can drive his latest club forward without being hindered by his partners.

As a minority owner, Textor cannot independently just put money into Palace to fund transfers or anything else without permission from the majority owners, who would presumably have to match his appetite for progress by putting in equivalent funds of their own (or by increasing Textor's share of the club) and don't want to. Textor is right that we should be building on the foundation of last year's success. That Harris and Blitzer seemingly have no desire to do that is hardly his fault.

If Parish and Textor had a meeting this week, one would hope the subject was "what are we going to do about Blitzer and Harris?" Although the relationship between Parish and Textor appears to have been adversarial to date, it seems they have a common interest in that both recognise the need to invest in the team, a view not, as I said, shared by the majority owners of the club. If Parish and Textor could put their differences aside and improve their personal relationship, it would serve us all well.

To repeat what I've been saying for some time now, Harris and Blitzer really need to either a). get serious about Palace, and start really supporting the club rather than simply trying to increase the capital value of their asset, or b). sell the club to someone who has genuine ambition to see progress beyond simply the building of new facilities. The HFs anti-Textor position demonstrates a profound lack of understanding about how the club is run from a financial perspective.

(And by the way, would whoever started this thread please learn the f***ing difference between poetry and competition? It's VERSUS. Not verses.)

Edited by sydtheeagle (20 Jan 2023 9.41am)

Textor paid approx £300m for a 77% share in Lyon. That’s aside from his other club interests.

I hope that anyone watching the game realised that the stupid banner only represented the views of a tiny minority of fans and the rest of us are happy not to condemn someone without knowing the facts