I haven’t posted in a while, and in that time I have reflected on where Palace are currently at and how and why they got there.

I see it as a Collective Failure.

The Board

Starting at The Top.

There appears to be no unification at this level. Harris and Blitzer seem to be passive and have empowered Parish to be responsible for the day to day running of the club. The other shareholder, John Textor, is reported to be at odds with Parish over the way he was using his Palace shareholding into his purchase of Lyon. It was also reported that Textor was unhappy that his most recent injection of funds wasn’t fully utilised in the January transfer window.

It has also been reported that the Board were split in the decision to sack Vieira. The fact that Josh Harris was at the Brighton game suggests that he may have been in favour of Vieira going.
Whatever, the ‘ tone at the top ‘ has not been good.

If it is true that the Board were considering Vieira’s position as long ago as February 2022, then it’s hardly surprising that he received minimal backing in the transfer market. But that doesn’t make it right. It’s setting up to fail.

Conclusion ; The ownership structure of the club is dysfunctional and it’s having an impact in a number of ways. The stadium re-development , investment in playing squad and management of contracts within the existing squad ( I’ll refer to that again shortly ). It needs resolving.

Director of Football

This title can mean different things at different clubs. I don’t know where Dougie’s responsibilities begin and end.

If it includes recommending potential signings to Parish and the Manager then he’s had some notable successes - Guita, Olise, Eze, Andersen and Guehi. Given that the club seem to spend money in cycles rather than regularly during transfer windows, I think he’s had a quiet time save for signing of the younger players that go into the Academy system.

If he also influences the retention of players and their contracts, then he has been less successful.
Once again this summer we have a number of players out of contract. It’s all about opinions of course, but quite why Luka hasn’t been moved on, why we have no competition at left back, why we have had to rely on right backs past their prime etc etc. To that I’ll add the decision to sign Mateta permanently and have no call back included in the Butland loan deal. He must also have known we would be left light in midfield last summer.

Conclusion ; I don’t know if Freedman is value for money or not. Parish’s preference for surrounding himself with former players doesn’t mean that they are necessarily the best people for the job.

Patrick Vieira

I started to have my doubts about him after we lost to Chelsea in the Cup Semi Final last season.
However, I fully supported him this season, albeit he looked defeated after the Brentford away game. Most pundits agree that he was not well supported in the transfer market. Perhaps we now know the reason why. To quote the cliche, ‘’ it’s a results business ‘’. And given the way 2023 has been I think it was the right call to sack him. Much as I didn’t want to see that happen. Ultimately I don’t think he selected the right support staff that could have helped him find the solutions he needed. And given his lack of experience in managing at this level, a better right hand man would have been beneficial.

Conclusion ; Had the right intentions and did a good job last season. Losing the heart of last season’s midfield was a problem he failed to solve. The quality of play and general approach this season was of a manager and team that had lost their way and couldn’t find their way back. Results dictated that he had to go and it was hard to see him turning things around even with a run of supposed easier fixtures.

The Players

This season’s Player of the Year will be a tough one. Guehi or Andersen for me. As for the rest, they have been disappointing as a group. They did look as though they had lost their collective faith in the process, and understandably confidence has nose dived as the winless run has continued. It’s now up to them. Hodgson will be looking at them through a different lens to Vieira, and the hope is that they respond and start delivering.

Conclusion ; Now is the time for them to step up and take responsibility. The question is how quickly they will adapt to Roy’s style. Time is not on their side.

Old, Ungifted and White

I think the problem we have at the moment is I am not convinced that our DoF and current manager see eye to eye. There were a number of signings that Freedman made when Roy was our manager that he clearly didn't rate or see how they going to fit into his system. Max Meyer was clearly a signing that Roy didn't really buy into. Batshuayi was another one we paid vast amounts of loan fees for but didn't really get much game time. He also took an age to replace Hennessey with Guita.

More recently we ended up moulding a team around a player we didn't own, hoping we were going to re-sign him. When that didn't happen we've resorted in trying to plug a gap with players not quite up to the level that Gallagher was at. His energy levels were infectious, where team mates would see him chasing people down and join the press that he created.

Not signing a right back was a huge mistake. The two worst right backs in the Premier League both play for Palace. We sold Wan Bissaka for a decent fee and reverted back to the player he replaced.

I'm not sure Mateta will ever be good enough for this level. Like a lot of team mates he doesn't seem to be anywhere near fit enough. I'd be interested to see how many times he's completed 90 minutes for us. I bet it isn't many. He's the sort of player I can see playing for Charlton or a club similar. A centre half playing against him has a pretty easy ride.

Edited by Skip (28 Mar 2023 1.15pm)

Brighton's mathematicians 'Crunch' the data they receive and filter the results through to the football department.

Mitoma's data was off the scale in his final season at Kawaski Frontale and Brighton signed him for £2.5 Mill before loaning him to Union Saint-Gilloise owned by Tony Bloom.

It is rumoured that we were going for Conor Gallagher but it was Roy that said that he wanted Batshuayi instead

Great OP and thoroughly agree with summary Neillo. Surely has to be a damning and worrying indicator if football fans, judging from other posts, can develop a general consensus on 'what has/is going wrong' across the board. I was particularly impressed with summary of the PV situation too as I completely agree.

Trying no to pile in on what would essentially just amount to criticism, for therapeutic reasons and in an attempt to contribute to discussions, here's some thoughts including what I'd like to see:

The Board: It's quite obvious to say 'put some money into the team please' but it is the matter at hand. I only have very limited insight, as it mostly comes anecdotally from various sources, however I do worry about Parish's seemingly Eagle-like grip on control of things (pun intended). Apparently the Americans wanted to invest more in team but he hampered this and I do worry about what seems to me to be a lot of smoke and mirrors often coming from him and his PR team. I hold a general but I'd say fair scepticism of musing as to what extent a PL team can be run with a contextual pauper at the helm maintaining absolute control over everything including practical footballing matters? TBH I don't have any immediate suggestion for this situation beyond 'spend!'. I can't imagine the level of fury at Palace if we were to be relegated, have the team absolutely fall apart, encounter financial trouble as the Americans back out and no progress is made on stadium whatsoever. Parish would have to leave town swiftly.

DoF: Again we have one bloke leading here, who's in the job for sentimental more so than qualification reasons, and he hits a few but misses many more. It all seems to be part of Parish's yes men appointees, who may have little choice other than loyalty to him, and beyond pulling together a top half PL team using peanuts is always going to be a near impossible task. I'd like to see this function properly resourced, with appropriately capable individuals, beyond just a 'Dougie job'.

Manager: There's been a few failed ventures here and we have run back to Dad with Roy inevitably. Not Roy's fault, nothing to do with him, but any new appointment surely has to align to a holistic picture. I'd also like for our next manager to not be sold a fairytale, as I feel we as fans often are, and given an understanding of things which mirror the reality. I have the impression other managers have been led a merry dance by Parish and co. leading to disillusionment, apathy and resentment which we see play out on the pitch.

Players: We still need to resource the first team appropriately in the very first instance however also need depth in squad. We have gone from a geriatric side to a very young and therefore immature one with a few old codgers hanging on. We remind me of a Sunday league 'vets' team where they've allowed a few teenagers to join in whilst playing against men's teams. Investment in academy great, the new youthful signings too, however the doing things on the cheap approach has led to a 'buy cheap, buy twice' scenario often playing out, a lack of balance on the pitch and a depleted team that never quite looks right.

All in all, and in summary, we need a better recruitment system, some relevant financial backing, money used on the first team before anything else and a manager capable of leading the squad. All these things need to be done in coordination however and without a holistic and synesthetic approach we risk looking further disjointed as a club/team and going down. Very aware all very easily said than done however I'd at least like to see movement towards these things. Despite the decade at the top we still look to be fighting each crocodile individually as it approaches the boat, stumbling from one problem to another. We've managed to stay alive thus far however cannot and will not be sustainable.

Edited by Nicholas91 (28 Mar 2023 7.05pm)

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!

Ya I know. It was a reference to them being willing to break the status quo, with their academy and requitement policy.

Nothing wrong with looking to other teams IMO, to good and bad. Context is always important in life.