Steve Parish interview

[MrRobbo]

In my view (I note you disagree) Anderson is a top player , one of our best players and joint player of the season last season.
So that's Olise and Anderson gone.
Parish has made it clear that Eze and Guehi may well have gone this past window and many on here seem to doubt that they'll be here this time next season.

If, and I know it's an if, that happens we will have sold off the cornerstone of our team with 4 key players sold.

There seens to be acknowledgement and understanding on this thread that this policy of selling and reinvesting is the way forward.

Which brings me back to the central point raised in my earlier post

Can anybody provide evidence of a club that has been successful ( not merely survived) through this policy i.e selling their best players?
There is evidence where it's failed - Southampton, West Ham, Leicester.

I am not claiming to know the answer by the way.
It's just a point of debate.

For me the buying into the policy, is partly due to there not really being other viable options. (e.g. hold players against their will, or until they have very little/no transfer value).

And re another example. There probably aren't any perfect examples out there. Lille sold Pepe to Arsenal for about £80m, and bought Jonathan David, Sanches and Botman and a few others, immediately won their first Ligue 1 title for a decade.

Everton sold Rooney (after finishing 18th) replaced him with 3 strikers, Beattie, Bent and Cahill finished 4th the next season.

Brighton and Brentford are probably the closest proxy's for our new model. But they aren't 'finished' examples, and the progress isn't always completely linear. Brighton for example first 4 seasons in the Pl finished, 15,17,15,16th. Then 9, 6, 11th. So certainly trending upwards. But it would be easy to point towards last season and say that its not working as they have dropped from 6th -11th. But... they go to the last 16 of the Europa league. And they have just spent c.200m in the transfer window. You wouldn't bet against them having a good season this year.

I get your marco point that its not a safe strategy, and of course there is inherent risk. There are lots of examples of clubs wasting the big transfer fees (e.g. Spurs and Bale).

 

[Lanzo-Ad]

The problem is the wages, the cheaper bargains we get start on 35/40k, when they have made a name for themselves, and obviously they want more more, and we cant afford more than 2 or 3 players of 100k or over, Aston Villa have 10, West Ham have 6, Brentfords top salary is 55k, its just the way it is, if you were to write a list of how big a club you thought they were, where would we be among the 92?

 

[MrRobbo]

Can anybody name me a club that became successful by continually selling off their best players?
Mere survival doesn't constitute success in this context.

Whereas in the past I can look at Southampton ( selling Van Dyke, Mane, Llalana, Lambert. Clyne) and West Ham ( selling Defoe, Lampard, Ferdinand, Cole) and seeing their demise in both cases when they looked to be in positions of demonstrating real potential.

I look at Leicester who won the Premier League and sold 3 of their key players in that win - Mahrez, Kante and Drinkwater.
They were subsequently relegated.

I am not suggesting that there are easy answers when players are ambitious and are agitating for moves.
However, this doesn't seem to be the case at Palace and would a move e g to Newcastle for Guehi or Eze for Spurs really be a move to an elite club?

Some on here seem to think we can sell our best players at high prices now and buy cheaper players who in time will be better than those that they replaced.
Just like that.
I'm at a loss to explain the foundation for this belief, but of course I hope that they are right.

You wouldn't call them elite, but if we are honest, it is a step up.

 

[Eaglecoops]

Wasn't sure where to put this but apparently Eduoard signed a three year deal before going to Leicester so IF they want to keep him it won't be on the cheap.

Leicester City learn what they'll have to do to sign Odsonne Edouard permanently after 'shock' decision

We didn't expect this...

www.leicestercity.news

I read that his contract has been extended by one year otherwise his contract would have ended at the end of this season. I’m guessing it’s been done to make sure he doesn’t go on a free after his loan ends.

 

[ASCPFC]

The problem is the wages, the cheaper bargains we get start on 35/40k, when they have made a name for themselves, and obviously they want more more, and we cant afford more than 2 or 3 players of 100k or over, Aston Villa have 10, West Ham have 6, Brentfords top salary is 55k, its just the way it is, if you were to write a list of how big a club you thought they were, where would we be among the 92?

No. 1.

 

[PatrickA]

For me the buying into the policy, is partly due to there not really being other viable options. (e.g. hold players against their will, or until they have very little/no transfer value).

And re another example. There probably aren't any perfect examples out there. Lille sold Pepe to Arsenal for about £80m, and bought Jonathan David, Sanches and Botman and a few others, immediately won their first Ligue 1 title for a decade.

Everton sold Rooney (after finishing 18th) replaced him with 3 strikers, Beattie, Bent and Cahill finished 4th the next season.

Brighton and Brentford are probably the closest proxy's for our new model. But they aren't 'finished' examples, and the progress isn't always completely linear. Brighton for example first 4 seasons in the Pl finished, 15,17,15,16th. Then 9, 6, 11th. So certainly trending upwards. But it would be easy to point towards last season and say that its not working as they have dropped from 6th -11th. But... they go to the last 16 of the Europa league. And they have just spent c.200m in the transfer window. You wouldn't bet against them having a good season this year.

I get your marco point that its not a safe strategy, and of course there is inherent risk. There are lots of examples of clubs wasting the big transfer fees (e.g. Spurs and Bale).

Interesting response and it will be interesting to see where Brighton end up.
In spending nearly £200 million it would appear that they're not aiming for mid table.

On the wider subject of transfer policy Nixon has apparently reported that Edouard signed a new 3 year contract prior to departing on loan to Leicester.
He doesn't seem to have a future at the club so this can only be about protecting our investment.
Which provides more evidence of my ignorance on the subject of transfer policy.
If it was my decision I would have got shot of him once and for all in the summer with no further financial exposure.
Nothing against the bloke, but if it hasn't happened for him at Palace by now it's very unlikely it ever will.

 

[DenTyler]

I don’t think Parish was touting Eze or MG in his interview. For me it was a big surprise that nobody other the sandcastle came in for MG, especially after his Euro performances, he is as nailed on an assured centre back that somebody could want so it was surprising. Sandcastle also f***ed about with the price and tried to get him on the cheap.
Eze, Parish was surprised in the lack of interest, I think that was stated as a Palace fan, like the rest of us on his day Eze is amazing but I’m not 100% convinced he is as highly rated as we palace fans think. I’ve previously said that Olise brought the best out of him but he goes missing for chunks of games. He is crazy skilled and complete class when he turns it on but is a city or Liverpool or Arsenal going to go all in on him? I think not. There are just too many other players that may not be as silky as him but can do the other side of things better. He is so good for us because OG works with what he has and hopefully he finds a way to get Sarr or Eddie to take some heat of Eze and then he will really shine again. As for Parish, I saw nothing that made me think anything other than he was surprised a bid of any worth came in. On that you would think somebody would have tried something cheeky.

 

[ASCPFC]

I don’t think Parish was touting Eze or MG in his interview. For me it was a big surprise that nobody other the sandcastle came in for MG, especially after his Euro performances, he is as nailed on an assured centre back that somebody could want so it was surprising. Sandcastle also f***ed about with the price and tried to get him on the cheap.
Eze, Parish was surprised in the lack of interest, I think that was stated as a Palace fan, like the rest of us on his day Eze is amazing but I’m not 100% convinced he is as highly rated as we palace fans think. I’ve previously said that Olise brought the best out of him but he goes missing for chunks of games. He is crazy skilled and complete class when he turns it on but is a city or Liverpool or Arsenal going to go all in on him? I think not. There are just too many other players that may not be as silky as him but can do the other side of things better. He is so good for us because OG works with what he has and hopefully he finds a way to get Sarr or Eddie to take some heat of Eze and then he will really shine again. As for Parish, I saw nothing that made me think anything other than he was surprised a bid of any worth came in. On that you would think somebody would have tried something cheeky.

He might have been taking a sideways pop at Spurs - who probably bid 9 mil or something.

 

[HKOwen]

Chairmen should be not seen and not heard

 

[ASCPFC]

Chairmen should be not seen and not heard

Similarly, so should new stands.

 

[Plaistow Eagle]

My take is simple - why did SP feel the need to say anything at all..??

Surely you just simply say - we’re very happy to have kept Guehi, Eze, Wharton etc.. Then added to and improved the squad with additional and comparable quality with the signings of Nketiah, Lacroix and Chalobah - those added to Kamada, Riad and Sarr, whom we added earlier in the window mean we’ve had a very good transfer window and assembled a very good squad..!!

We are pleased to have been able to bring in these players and now under Ollie we are very confident we can have a good season and we will see where that takes us..!!

Just don’t understand why SP felt the need to get into / say anything else - oops yes I do he’s a massive self publicist and has a huge ego as the “big I am” as Crystal Palace Chairman despite although not having the personal wealth to back it up..!!

Either way and probably by default as I’m sure SP was angling to sell either Guehi or Eze - hence his comments - we’ve ended up with the best squad we’ve ever had - certainly in terms of quality in depth..!!

So COYP..!!

 

[Teddy Eagle]

Chairmen should be not seen and not heard

They don't need to be seen either. When Liverpool were stuffing everyone in the league and in Europe did anyone ever care who the chairman was?

 

[ASCPFC]

They don't need to be seen either. When Liverpool were stuffing everyone in the league and in Europe did anyone ever care who the chairman was?

There was a time where largely no one knew about boardrooms except the odd interested fan. Then there seems to have come a time of celebrity owners - I suppose the pinnacle being the reality show type of thing like Wrexham these days. But we seem to know most of them these days.
In fairness, we all knew Uncle Ron and I wonder was Simon Jordan almost at the beginning of these owners being in the limelight? As you say, I knew almost none except ours back in the day - although I seem to remember the odd Chelsea and Villa boardroom figures. As I've totally forgotten their names but can just about see their faces, they can't have had much impact on me. And Elton John, of course.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

There was a time where largely no one knew about boardrooms except the odd interested fan. Then there seems to have come a time of celebrity owners - I suppose the pinnacle being the reality show type of thing like Wrexham these days. But we seem to know most of them these days.
In fairness, we all knew Uncle Ron and I wonder was Simon Jordan almost at the beginning of these owners being in the limelight? As you say, I knew almost none except ours back in the day - although I seem to remember the odd Chelsea and Villa boardroom figures. As I've totally forgotten their names but can just about see their faces, they can't have had much impact on me. And Elton John, of course.

There were others before but they were, almost without exception, dicks. Bob Lord, Peter Swales, Doug Ellis, Manny Cousins, Ken Bates, etc.

 

[ASCPFC]

There were others before but they were, almost without exception, dicks. Bob Lord, Peter Swales, Doug Ellis, Manny Cousins, etc.

Doug Ellis was one I was thinking of alright. There's another big one - grey, balding, was at Chelsea - sold high to Abrahmovic or whatever his name was. But was at a few clubs. May still be somewhere like Tottenham but could have passed away.

 

[Davepalace707]

The problem is the wages, the cheaper bargains we get start on 35/40k, when they have made a name for themselves, and obviously they want more more, and we cant afford more than 2 or 3 players of 100k or over, Aston Villa have 10, West Ham have 6, Brentfords top salary is 55k, its just the way it is, if you were to write a list of how big a club you thought they were, where would we be among the 92?

This is of course the truth and where we are in reality. The problem is the last two months of 23/24 messed with our minds. We were shown a glimpse of what it could be like if we could keep all this talent. In reality it was just a big shop window to tout our best players. In hindsight fun thought it was, it was pretty cruel and now we are back to the usual grinding out 40 points. It’s where we are.

 

[Dubai Eagle]

Doug Ellis was one I was thinking of alright. There's another big one - grey, balding, was at Chelsea - sold high to Abrahmovic or whatever his name was. But was at a few clubs. May still be somewhere like Tottenham but could have passed away.

I thought it was Ken Bates who sold Chelsea to Abramovich -

 

[Teddy Eagle]

Let's not forget our own dear Ron Noades who was known to divide opinion between those that didn't like him and those that really didn't like him.

 

[PatrickA]

This is of course the truth and where we are in reality. The problem is the last two months of 23/24 messed with our minds. We were shown a glimpse of what it could be like if we could keep all this talent. In reality it was just a big shop window to tout our best players. In hindsight fun thought it was, it was pretty cruel and now we are back to the usual grinding out 40 points. It’s where we are.

Your depiction of that period last season as 'one big shop window' is an excellent description.
Sadly Wharton looks to be the next to have been propelled into the spotlight with supposedly Liverpool and City tussling over his services.
We could turn into a modern day Southampton, acting as a feeder to the entitled big clubs.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

Your depiction of that period last season as 'one big shop window' is an excellent description.
Sadly Wharton looks to be the next to have been propelled into the spotlight with supposedly Liverpool and City tussling over his services.
We could turn into a modern day Southampton, acting as a feeder to the entitled big clubs.

This is my concern as well. For half the clubs being in the Best League in the World is either about mere survival or the vague possibility of the Europa League whilst acting as an extended scouting system for the big boys.
Is that enough in the long term? Regrettably it will probably have to be.