Do you think Gerrard or Poch will poke up with our transfer "strategy"

I’ll give you a clue to next weeks game, no bite in midfield, no movement up front, and 2 banks of 4 crabbing side to side across the training pitch for the whole of next week in a concerted effort to sure things up. You can see the players have lost it with him as well.

ready for what he implied I was due..

surely your attempt to fan the flames, saying I was going off topic, when it was he and you who replied with irrelevant comments?

So back on topic..... Roy's post match comments, the performance... the players attitude - everything we witnessed backs up my opinion that a change is needed.

He doesn't ignite the fans, the players... parish is happy to coast as it's the cheapest option... roy doesn't put up a fight... it's all wrong and well, if you can't see that... stick on topic.

This was once a quality forum....

It's not just Roy ... it's all his coaching staff who are clearly below par. I wouldn't know where to start with my 'new broom' but it needs to be a big one.

Denial is not just a river in Egypt

The problem for me is that Palace fans have suddenly adopted a set of very misplaced expectations, on the back of what was a deceptively poor transfer window. We signed a very good young player and brought Bats back, granted. But all of a sudden people were waxing lyrical about how great the squad is - and how we should now push on - as if we were signing world beaters left right & centre or something.

Truthfully, the squad still still had a significant lack of investment for years prior to that & is still inferior to the vast majority of clubs in the Premier League. At no other Premier League club will you find Jeffrey Schlupp starting as centre forward. Even in the very worst teams, there is more potential to build than at Palace. Just look at the squads of the clubs most tipped for relegation and you'll see a small selection of young talent at the very least that just needs nurturing & put together properly.

So where does that leave us in the context of Roy? Well, he frustrates the life out of me at times & I don't have confidence he will nurture young players. And, sure, we can get rid of the guy. But generally, I'd suggest he's actually quite underrated & we should all be careful what we wish for.

The fact of the matter is, in Roy we have a manager who maximises what he has at his disposal. That is evidenced in his entire tenure at the club. Arguably, he had a stronger squad when he first joined (Cabaye, RLC, AWB, Sakho at his best etc etc) than what he has now & contrary to popular sentiment, we actually played some very decent, attacking football under Roy in his first season.

I hate to break it to a few of you lot, but there are very few managers available in English or World Football that would keep the squad of players we have at the moment in the Premier League consistently. And, yet, despite all of the hysteria that follows a couple of bad results, we are absolutely not going down under Roy. That's why he's still at the club despite how frustrating he can be.

Fans are also probably misplaced in directing all of their grievances towards Parish. However you feel personally about the guy, he deeply cares about the club & he has the immense responsibility of ensuring we maintain our status & stability in the Premier League. Going down is not an option for the long term future of Crystal Palace.

I think everyone really has to start asking what they're expecting from the club at this stage. I'd love us to integrate more young & attacking players & push for Europe as much as any Palace fan. But whilst your best centre half is a 34 year old, your most expensive striker scores 1 goal every 2 years & your owners lack the buying power of your competition - progress really isn't as straightforward as some make out online & make no mistake about it, that progress will be stalled drastically if we go down.

Whilst all the above remains true, Roy probably isn't going anywhere. And in fairness, it's probably right that he isn't, too. He's still leagues ahead of the old school British managers we've had in the past & I suspect there are a number of clubs in and around us who'd be far more grateful to have him than some of us are at times.

Roy has brought a certain level of stability & longevity that we were desperately crying out for prior to his arrival. What's more, he's done it on very little. Managers were backed financially to the hilt prior to him - just look at Pardew & Allardyce. He hasn't received that level of support in the transfer market at any point but he's quietly gone about the business of maintaining our status as a Premier League club. Whatever the future holds, I will personally always be grateful to him for that.

As I said earlier in the post, be careful what you wish for.

Edited by Mstrobez (28 Nov 2020 8.58am)

We're the Arthur over ere!

Agree with virtually all of the above. The vast majority of the players we’re fielding are on the way down and the misplaced positivity around the transfer window was staggering.

Consistently fielding a team with an average age over thirty at the top level of elite football can only end one way. Especially when many of them were fairly moderate players even in their prime.

Interesting to see how many have now twisted their logic to describe Benteke as a £30m centre forward. At one point I thought I’d rather see us field ten men than use him.

Edited by Rachid Rachid Rachid (28 Nov 2020 9.04am)