Lacroix

[Lanzo-Ad]

Desailly not a fan of Lacroix!
"Is he what Chelsea really needs? I actually think they need a centre-back with more experience, a player that is already established and can come in and lead the defence," Desailly told Football London. "We need a real experienced leader at the heart of the defence."

Desailly stressed that Chelsea should be targeting players accustomed to the highest levels of the game. He added: "It’s a good move for Lacroix, but I really want to see them target a player who has played at an elite level for a similar-sized club as Chelsea, with similar pressures, not a player from a smaller club than Chelsea."

 

[Teddy Eagle]

For me, the thing that's so frustrating about sales like this is that they are inevitable despite the fact that Palace can't get a lot bigger, better, or more successful.

Every club in the land has to accept that a bigger fish will regularly come along and take your best players. However, if you are a mid table league one club losing that player to a modest championship club, you can at least take comfort in the knowledge that if you run your club well then you might get to the championship. Perhaps that bigger fish you've just lost out to may pass you on the way down. The order of things can change, and that's part of why you must sell well and have a plan.

In our case, we've done all that but even at our best of times, the glass ceiling cannot be broken. Nobody above us will pass us on the way down. They are embedded. It doesn't matter how poorly a club like Chelsea runs itself or how well we run ourselves. That's the difference between us bemoaning the sale of our best players to Chelsea, City, Arsenal etc, and QPR, Millwall, or whoever, bemoaning the sale of their best players to us. They can legitimately aim to overtake us. We can't aim to overtake the big boys.

Modern football. It's f***ing s***.

Not just s*** but unsustainable s***.

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/49301192/premier-league-club-finances-pre-tax-losses-deloitte-football-finance

 

[Linford]

Bayern Munich
City
Arsenal
Chelsea

Where our last four best players sold have gone to. What hope have we got of keeping anyone who stands out

Looking at it in a positive light, you don't get Bayern, City, Arsenal, and Chelsea hovering around unless you've done something right...

Well, maybe Chelsea.

 

[ASCPFC]

Desailly not a fan of Lacroix!
"Is he what Chelsea really needs? I actually think they need a centre-back with more experience, a player that is already established and can come in and lead the defence," Desailly told Football London. "We need a real experienced leader at the heart of the defence."

Desailly stressed that Chelsea should be targeting players accustomed to the highest levels of the game. He added: "It’s a good move for Lacroix, but I really want to see them target a player who has played at an elite level for a similar-sized club as Chelsea, with similar pressures, not a player from a smaller club than Chelsea."

He always hated us. I don't know that, but I just thought I'd say it.

 

[Foxy82]

He always hated us. I don't know that, but I just thought I'd say it.

I wonder what Big Ron's opinion is of him now?

 

[ASCPFC]

I wonder what Big Ron's opinion is of him now?

Can't imagine him being a huge fan of him. Or us really.

 

[Linford]

For me, the thing that's so frustrating about sales like this is that they are inevitable despite the fact that Palace can't get a lot bigger, better, or more successful.

Every club in the land has to accept that a bigger fish will regularly come along and take your best players. However, if you are a mid table league one club losing that player to a modest championship club, you can at least take comfort in the knowledge that if you run your club well then you might get to the championship. Perhaps that bigger fish you've just lost out to may pass you on the way down. The order of things can change, and that's part of why you must sell well and have a plan.

In our case, we've done all that but even at our best of times, the glass ceiling cannot be broken. Nobody above us will pass us on the way down. They are embedded. It doesn't matter how poorly a club like Chelsea runs itself or how well we run ourselves. That's the difference between us bemoaning the sale of our best players to Chelsea, City, Arsenal etc, and QPR, Millwall, or whoever, bemoaning the sale of their best players to us. They can legitimately aim to overtake us. We can't aim to overtake the big boys.

Modern football. It's f***ing s***.

Man United and Spurs have flirted with the drop fairly recently. Spurs two years running. If either of them had succumbed to such a fate, they would have undergone that unwanted transformation that you describe.

It has to go extremely poorly, but there is a chance that karma can strike the bigg'ens.

 

[Nathan Towne]

I, for one, am a bit concerned about the team as it currently stands.

 

[Hannes]

I, for one, am a bit concerned about the team as it currently stands.

Sorry, but how on earth do you think you can be a Palace fan without being concerned!?!?!?!?!?! That would be ridiculous.🙂😉

 

[TheBigToePunt]

Man United and Spurs have flirted with the drop fairly recently. Spurs two years running. If either of them had succumbed to such a fate, they would have undergone that unwanted transformation that you describe.

It has to go extremely poorly, but there is a chance that karma can strike the bigg'ens.

Yeah but either being relegated would have been a seismic shock. It's far more common for them to be poorly run, or make bad decisions, or be unlucky but just totally get away with it in a way we couldn't. Spurs have reacted to finishing just above the relegation zone by buying two midfielders for nearly £200m. Tov the extent that there is any real flux involving the big clubs, it's minimal and quickly rectified.

 

[Linford]

Yeah but either being relegated would have been a seismic shock. It's far more common for them to be poorly run, or make bad decisions, or be unlucky but just totally get away with it in a way we couldn't. Spurs have reacted to finishing just above the relegation zone by buying two midfielders for nearly £200m. Tov the extent that there is any real flux involving the big clubs, it's minimal and quickly rectified.

Yep, I don't disagree with any of that summarisation.

Up to a point they can be affected by bad decisions, but certainly not in the same way as a club of our size. Unless there is, as you say, a seismic shock.

In the last decade I would say we have seen the extent of where it usually reaches, without a seismic shock, in the examples of;

1. Early-Boehly Chelsea,
2. Post-Fergie United,
3. 2024 - 2026 Spurs.

In the end, the sheer weight of having the resources and regulations on their sides have won out, but they did exhibit some degree of "suffering" relative to their norm, after each making a series of poor decisions.

 

[TheBigToePunt]

Yep, I don't disagree with any of that summarisation.

Up to a point they can be affected by bad decisions, but certainly not in the same way as a club of our size. Unless there is, as you say, a seismic shock.

In the last decade I would say we have seen the extent of where it usually reaches, without a seismic shock, in the examples of;

1. Early-Boehly Chelsea,
2. Post-Fergie United,
3. 2024 - 2026 Spurs.

In the end, the sheer weight of having the resources and regulations on their sides have won out, but they did exhibit some degree of "suffering" relative to their norm, after each making a series of poor decisions.

Yep. If any club at any other level of football made as many bad/unlucky/foolish decisions as those three example clubs over a comparable period, they'd have found themselves at a lower level and status, and also been replaced by someone beneath them who had made good/lucky/wise decisions.

Not in the premier league, though.

 

[Nathan Towne]

Sorry, but how on earth do you think you can be a Palace fan without being concerned!?!?!?!?!?! That would be ridiculous.🙂😉

As things currently stand, I think that the club faces real danger this upcoming season.

 

[McAhuna]

Yeah but either being relegated would have been a seismic shock. It's far more common for them to be poorly run, or make bad decisions, or be unlucky but just totally get away with it in a way we couldn't. Spurs have reacted to finishing just above the relegation zone by buying two midfielders for nearly £200m. Tov the extent that there is any real flux involving the big clubs, it's minimal and quickly rectified.

Spuds finished one place off relegation two seasons running, so not that quickly rectified

 

[Mark B]

Man United and Spurs have flirted with the drop fairly recently. Spurs two years running. If either of them had succumbed to such a fate, they would have undergone that unwanted transformation that you describe.

It has to go extremely poorly, but there is a chance that karma can strike the bigg'ens.

I wouldn't be surprised to Man City relegated when they are found guilty of their laundry list of 130 different charges (and counting). What I'm not sure of is whether it will be a mandated relegation or if they will be given a 40(+) point reduction that will basically force it to happen but anything but a severe penalty just makes it seem pointless in doing the right thing.

If that happens then we start sending messages to Elon and get him to buy the team and just pay the fine for blowing the rules out.

That the hearing was over 18 months ago and nothing has come out is absolutely crazy though.

 

[Badger11]

I wouldn't be surprised to Man City relegated when they are found guilty of their laundry list of 130 different charges (and counting). What I'm not sure of is whether it will be a mandated relegation or if they will be given a 40(+) point reduction that will basically force it to happen but anything but a severe penalty just makes it seem pointless in doing the right thing.

If that happens then we start sending messages to Elon and get him to buy the team and just pay the fine for blowing the rules out.

That the hearing was over 18 months ago and nothing has come out is absolutely crazy though.

I can say confidentially that you would be on your own with that opinion.

I think the rest of us will be astounded if City are properly punished. Justice would be relegation and all trophies over that period erased from the records.

Most of us assume there will be some dodgy deal with the PL / FA that lets them off the hook with a rap over the knuckles.

I refer you to Swindon Town and their tax affairs (many years ago). They got harshly punished and rightly so.

What was not widely publicised at the time was that in the following year many of the major clubs including Man United made deals with HMRC for the same violation (accounting errors) and were not punished by the football authorities.

Pundits at the time said what Swindon did was common practice in football so why did HMRC and the football authorities go after them and not Moan United err cos they are Swindon Town and not Moan United.

 

[Mark B]

I can say confidentially that you would be on your own with that opinion.

I think the rest of us will be astounded if City are properly punished. Justice would be relegation and all trophies over that period erased from the records.

Most of us assume there will be some dodgy deal with the PL / FA that lets them off the hook with a rap over the knuckles.

I refer you to Swindon Town and their tax affairs (many years ago). They got harshly punished and rightly so.

What was not widely publicised at the time was that in the following year many of the major clubs including Man United made deals with HMRC for the same violation (accounting errors) and were not punished by the football authorities.

Pundits at the time said what Swindon did was common practice in football so why did HMRC and the football authorities go after them and not Moan United err cos they are Swindon Town and not Moan United.

Please don't ruin my delusional fantasy with your reality. Just because they caved at every other opportunity to punish the major clubs doesn't mean they will cave this time. There has to be a .0001% chance they get held accountable and I'm going to live in my happy delusion until proven otherwise.

I think my favorite part is that no matter what comes out when the final decision is issued, the appeals are going to take years and that none of the people involved will still be with the club whenever the appeals are done.

 

[Save Dwindlehurst]

For me, the thing that's so frustrating about sales like this is that they are inevitable despite the fact that Palace can't get a lot bigger, better, or more successful.

Every club in the land has to accept that a bigger fish will regularly come along and take your best players. However, if you are a mid table league one club losing that player to a modest championship club, you can at least take comfort in the knowledge that if you run your club well then you might get to the championship. Perhaps that bigger fish you've just lost out to may pass you on the way down. The order of things can change, and that's part of why you must sell well and have a plan.

In our case, we've done all that but even at our best of times, the glass ceiling cannot be broken. Nobody above us will pass us on the way down. They are embedded. It doesn't matter how poorly a club like Chelsea runs itself or how well we run ourselves. That's the difference between us bemoaning the sale of our best players to Chelsea, City, Arsenal etc, and QPR, Millwall, or whoever, bemoaning the sale of their best players to us. They can legitimately aim to overtake us. We can't aim to overtake the big boys.

Modern football. It's f***ing s***.

You talk about ‘the glass ceiling cannot be broken’ and in respect of us against the biggest clubs that’s true. But how much more joy did we feel after winning our three trophies?

 

[Save Dwindlehurst]

One of my best friends is a lifelong Doncaster Rovers fan. Now he really has got a reason to moan. And on Charlton Life one of their fans bemoaning our success said he would give one of his legs to see them win the FA Cup. Maybe as Glasner said we should be a bit more humble?

 

[Rogers 11]

Really disappointed in losing Lacroix. He said he wanted Champions League football. So why go to Chelsea? They're not in it!