It’s simply a media wet dream. But you cannot deny the excitement this day brings with a large dose of hilarity to go with it.
Who can forget West Brom’s Peter Odemwingie driving to Loftus Road without permission and waiting outside QPR’s ground waiting to speak with Harry Redknapp who denied all knowledge.
The day is one for the Premier League teams mainly and this season that means us. It was perhaps our most productive summer in the transfer market as new recruits were needed so that our assault on the top division is to be worthwhile. But Holloway and Parish both confirmed that we should expect more after the Sunderland game.
And how true they were. The usual rumours were abound and all football fans were ensuring that they were in constant contact with all media sources throughout the day. But I have to say, Twitter was the place to be. However much Sky Sports News claimed that they had breaking news, not once did they tell us something that we had not already learnt from the king of social media.
There were several medical’s scheduled to take place at the training ground in Beckenham. It was a busy day for physio Alex Manos but he is the kind of guy that thrives on such pressure. It was going to be a late night but he, and his hair, were ready for everything and anything that was to be thrown at them.
The first signing of the day confirmed for Palace was midfielder Barry Bannan who signed a three year deal for an undisclosed fee from Aston Villa. The Holloway effect was again key as Bannan played for him at Blackpool. It was not long before our second signing was over the line with defender Adrian Mariappa joining us from Reading in a three year deal, also for an undisclosed fee. He joins former Reading team-mate Jimmy Kebe at Selhurst who signed at the weekend.
“Barry Bannan started his youth career at Celtic before moving on to Aston Villa. He has had loan spells at Derby, Blackpool and Leicester. Total appearances 98 and 2 goals. He also has 12 international caps playing for Scotland caps.”
During the madness Nikolas Bendtner arrived at the training ground but was it was a short stop as he soon left. Was he not impressed by the facilities or laughed at the offer on the table? Who knew. As it turned out he wanted to join but it was dependent on Arsenal signing another striker to replace him. But the North London outfit seemed to take so long with the Ozil deal that they were not able to help us out and get another player in. So Bendtner was not to join Palace although there is a rumour that he may be released allowing him to join on a free.
“Adrian Mariappa started his career at Watford and came through the youth ranks before moving on to Reading. Total appearances 245 and 5 goals. He also has 12 international caps playing for Jamaica.”
The night was still young and the rumours continued throughout. It was not all about players joining as there had to be players going the other way. The only one to be confirmed on the night was Peter Ramage joining Barnsley on a season long loan. A shame to see a player with such strong feelings for the club leave but he might be back. To see him tweet ‘once an Eagle, always an Eagle’ was simply fantastic.
“Jimmy Kebe began his career at French club Lens including loan spells at Chateauroux and Boulogne before joining Reading. Total appearances 264 and 41 goals. He also has 3 international caps playing for Mali.”
Palace were still trying to do deals and it was confirmed that an overseas player was to arrive for a medical at 9pm. That sent the rumour mill into overdrive with the likes of Ayew, Sissoko and Sow all linked. But none were correct, it was Forest and Algerian international midfielder Adlene Guedioura and it went to the wire. Even during Tuesday morning the deal was still questioned but it finally went through with the help of a deadline extension. Yet again it was an undisclosed fee but he signed a three year deal with the club.
“Adlene Guedioura began his career at Sedan before moving on to Noisy-le-Sec, L’Entente, Creteil, Kortrijk, Charleroi, Wolves and Forest. Total appearances 204 and 18 goals. He also has 27 international caps playing for Algeria.”
Right under the radar was to be our final signing of the summer in the shape of Stoke City striker Cameron Jerome. He joined on a season long loan which was only confirmed very late on and after the transfer window had been slammed shut. The biggest surprise of the night however was the attempt by Holloway and Parish to bring back Andrew ‘AJ’ Johnson from QPR. There has been claim and counter claim but it appears that he was a little too late arriving for the deal to go through although Palace are claiming QPR stalled the deal. It would have been fantastic to see AJ play again in the red and blue but I am an advocate of not going back. Leave the memories exactly as they are and move forward although I cannot deny it was an exciting thought even if we were thwarted at the last minute.
“Cameron Jerome began his career at Hudderfield Town and moved on to Grimsby Town and Sheffield Wednesday youth teams. He then moved on to Middlesborough, Cardiff City, Birmingham City and Stoke City at senior level. Total appearances 304 and 68 goals. He has also represented England at under 21 level.”
All in all, some very good business over the summer and late on. Plenty of new faces for us fans to get acquainted with but this does ultimately mean that there is likely to be some departures in the form of loans announced once the 25 man Premier League squad has been confirmed.
“New signings in squad number order – 6. Jose Campana, 9. Kevin Phillips, 11. Stephen Dobbie, 13. Jason Puncheon, 14. Jerome Thomas, 16. Dwight Gayle, 23. Florian Marange, 24. Elliot Grandin, 25. Neil Alexander, 29. Marouane Chamakh – TBC Barry Bannan, Jimmy Kebe, Adrian Mariappa, Jack Hunt, Cameron Jerome, Adlene Geudioula “
