welcome to Brennan Johnson

[Seagles]

Franca cost c.£22m
Nketia c.£25m
Johnson c. £35m
Larson c.£45m

That is c. £130m. What would we get back on them if we went to sell them tomorrow.
My guess is we would be lucky to see £60m all in.
That tells me whoever is involved in finding and securing new players needs to be moved aside.
There are plenty of people on here who could do a better job.

johnson and strand larsson it is too early to judge but agree nketiah and franca have been quite pricey. But apart from that we do pretty well i think.

How much would we get for Sarr, Lacroix, Munoz, Mateta, Wharton compared to what we paid? Even Henderson, Hughes, Lerma, Richards, Kamada, Mitchell, Canvot, Devenny, Benitez, would bring in profits if sold (before they run down their contracts in some cases)

You can't win them all but theres an argument that we get pretty close recently?

 

[palace99]

This kinda is a thread of everyone writing him off! Not many voices calling for patience.

What he isn't is a wide 10 or whatever Glasner calls it.

Look at Forrest and Spurs goals and assists. Almost every assist comes from beating a man on he outside and whipping a ball in from wide. Most of the goals are him coming in at the back post to get onto a cross from the opposite side.

Its not going to work at present because our wide 10's are told to stay narrow, and let the WBs provide the width, and we put so few crossed in. OG is completely nullifying his pace by pulling him inside.

you love the final word don't you.

I've included a link with his Forest goals and very few are as you describe. I think you are focused on his Spurs days. At Forest he had licence to roam and was far more effective.

He is unable to beat a man, and doesn't appear to have any 'tricks'. He can do a Beckham and just whip in an early cross but he is not an out and out winger.

 

[DANGERCLOSE]

Think he will shine under a new manager 👍

 

[BromleyMonkey]

ANDY Johnson got the early nickname of ‘fast but useless’ until he suddenly scored about 10 goals in 6 games and the rest is history…………Although I doubt we’ll be getting the same amount of goals from Brennan, let’s hope he has just had a slow start and things will improve🙏🏽

 

[PatrickA]

If Sarr goes, and there are rumours to that effect, perhaps more sense can be made of the Johnson deal.
For the avoidance of doubt I don't want Sarr sold, but figures of £50 m plus are being quoted.

 

[Charles]

If Sarr goes, and there are rumours to that effect, perhaps more sense can be made of the Johnson deal.
For the avoidance of doubt I don't want Sarr sold, but figures of £50 m plus are being quoted.

The clickbait I saw gave that sort of figure for what Palace would want but Everton's rumoured bid was only £26m (and only rumoured).

 

[MrRobbo]

you love the final word don't you.

I've included a link with his Forest goals and very few are as you describe. I think you are focused on his Spurs days. At Forest he had licence to roam and was far more effective.

He is unable to beat a man, and doesn't appear to have any 'tricks'. He can do a Beckham and just whip in an early cross but he is not an out and out winger.

I just hate people writing players off. Acting like its completely binary, and they are either good or sh1t.

He's got pace to burn, a good crosser and a good finisher.

Team isn't really set up to get the best of him at present. Keep the faith

 

[TheBigToePunt]

This kinda is a thread of everyone writing him off! Not many voices calling for patience.

What he isn't is a wide 10 or whatever Glasner calls it.

Look at Forrest and Spurs goals and assists. Almost every assist comes from beating a man on he outside and whipping a ball in from wide. Most of the goals are him coming in at the back post to get onto a cross from the opposite side.

Its not going to work at present because our wide 10's are told to stay narrow, and let the WBs provide the width, and we put so few crossed in. OG is completely nullifying his pace by pulling him inside.

That is very much the hope, that the current system is constraining him and that a different one will unlock him. I looked at his goals and assists online a month or so ago and formed a very similar view to yours: stick him wide right on the wing.

It is still really striking though, and concerning, to see any player so utterly bypassed by so many games, whatever position they have been asked to play.

 

[StandbyPalace]

So looking forward to Johnson coming good for us.

 

[cryrst]

So looking forward to Johnson coming good for us.

Andy did 💁

 

[DANGERCLOSE]

I just hate people writing players off. Acting like its completely binary, and they are either good or sh1t.

He's got pace to burn, a good crosser and a good finisher.

Team isn't really set up to get the best of him at present. Keep the faith

Agreed...keep the faith

 

[BromleyMonkey]

Andy did 💁

Not sure about Jeff though

 

[Linford]

Johnson is emblematic of the issues we face whenever trying to strengthen the side by buying big 'proven' EPL top flight players, rather than by developing unproven players from lower leagues, the academy, or aboard.

Previous examples of big money buys who were either supposed to take us to the 'next level' or at least provide a quality-for-quality replacement for an outgoing star man include Benteke, Sakho, Cabeye, Nketiah, Andersen, and Townsend. How many of them get in your all-time XI? Or even your best XI from the last ten years?

1. Any such player is almost bound to be too expensive, in terms of the actual sum and also value. The 'next level' looks like where we are now, a cup win and a lesser European competition. Neither brings in very much money, at least not compared to the cost of tyring to build a 'next level' side. If buying these players is to get us to that level, then the numbers simply do not add up.

2. Any such player is very often stepping down to Palace from a bigger club. I always thought a lot of the players listed above seemed demotivated by a move that probably signals the end of their personal rise. I'm sure they are all very professional, but that's not the same as being hungry. Human beings are what they are, whatever you pay them.

3. Often they can't be sold on for even the same fee we paid, let alone for a profit. Not only are we stuck with them if they underperform, we have often spent so much that we have very little left to play with in seeking an alternative player for their position. Usually buying 'proven' means less of a gamble. In this context, though, its a huge risk for us.

Turning to Johnson, not only has he not scored, he has been very poor in general play, in that he has been completely anonymous. If he was a kid from the youth team or a lower-league prospect, he would have been jettisoned to the reserves months ago, with the verdict that it was plainly all too much for him.

It's getting harder and harder to see that there might be a good player in there. If he gets a run in a different position and system next season, perhaps we will get something back from him, but it would increasingly be a big old surprise.

I've said it a few times now so I'm sorry for repeating myself, but to my mind the new managers first task, and the thing he should be grilled on at interview, is how he plans to get value out of the players we have spent big on, because we are very much stuck with them.

It’s hard for anyone to get into the best XI of the last ten years, because it’s simply the XI from the cup win, or the current XI.

So unfair to judge any players against that standard.

Looking at the list you gave;

Cabaye was well received during his time at the club and still gets remembered fondly. He had plenty of good performances for us and generally was above the level of those before him. I.e. an upgrade.

Pretty much the exact same can be said for Townsend, copy and paste.

Andersen was really class and we were pretty much all upset when he left. As it turns out none more-so than Oli.

Nketiah has had good spells, but been interrupted by injuries. That can happen.

Benteke obviously didn’t live up to expectations, but nobody in their right minds would have called it a bad signing at the time it was signed off on. Sometimes things don’t work out the way they should, hindsight is 20:20, that doesn’t make the initial move into a poor judgement.

 

[TheBigToePunt]

It’s hard for anyone to get into the best XI of the last ten years, because it’s simply the XI from the cup win, or the current XI.

So unfair to judge any players against that standard.

Looking at the list you gave;

Cabaye was well received during his time at the club and still gets remembered fondly. He had plenty of good performances for us and generally was above the level of those before him. I.e. an upgrade.

Pretty much the exact same can be said for Townsend, copy and paste.

Andersen was really class and we were pretty much all upset when he left. As it turns out none more-so than Oli.

Nketiah has had good spells, but been interrupted by injuries. That can happen.

Benteke obviously didn’t live up to expectations, but nobody in their right minds would have called it a bad signing at the time it was signed off on. Sometimes things don’t work out the way they should, hindsight is 20:20, that doesn’t make the initial move into a poor judgement.

I'd agree to disagree with you on a few of those players. Cabeye was tidy, but struggled physically, rarely completing 90mins and often getting bullied. Townsend put in a great shift and scored some crackers, but he went from an England player only robbed of his squad place by injury to one not even remotely in the conversation, mostly whilst with us. Andersen never punched his weight defensively, and had never threatened to go on to higher things.

I'm not saying they were hopeless, but were they value for money and did they give their personal best at palace? I'm not so sure. Moreover, were they clearly better than say McArthur, or Bolasie, or Murray? I'm not at all sure they were. It's not obvious that Sakho was better for us than Delaney or Tompkins. And so on. I feel like we spent a lot to be no better off, player by player.

Even if those most expensive signings had been a clear level above other, cheaper players in their positions, overall the team was still no better off having spent big money than when we didn't.

The more expensive sides Pardew or Allardyce got the club to assemble didn't really achieve anything that the promotion side, as bolstered under Pulis, or the cut price budget sides Hodgson worked with, also achieved.

The teams that Vierra and Glasner had (and Hodgson in that spell) were based on investment in talent that would be sold on, and were not more expensive than previous squads. They achieved the cup win, but we were pretty close to that under Pardew and Vierra too.

And that's my point, too. A very expensive palace squad, built around big signings from big clubs, has never achieved more than a cheaper squad, or one based on potential.

I totally understand the instinct to buy more proven, expensive players, especially when we've sold at a profit. Not sure it ever really works though. Johnson seems typical of a negative trend.