“Look how far we have come!”
“We could have been playing in League One”
“We nearly did not have a club”
“You cannot criticise Parish, he saved the club”
I read these phrases and different variations of them on social media on a daily basis. I am not going to lie, I have tweeted these words myself.
There is no doubt Crystal Palace Football Club and its fans have been through some very testing times in the last few years. We have been from administration to the Premier League in a very short period of time.
We should always remember where we have come from, history is what makes us and defines us. With that said, the past is in the past. Nothing will change the catastrophic moments that occurred in 2010 when our club nearly went out of existence.
I am grateful for everything CPFC2010 have done for Crystal Palace, I personally love Steve Parish. I think he is a good character and great for our club. I do not however think he is exempt from criticism, in some peoples eyes he is untouchable because of what he did for the club. No person is bigger than the club, even its owners.
We are a Premier League team, by merit and determination. Better than we give ourselves credit for. We should be able to be annoyed by our shortcomings without having to retort back to our previous turmoil.
Last week we lost to Southampton, the attitude of some was ‘oh well they’re doing well this season, was expecting anything from that game.’ This is true to an extent, however, I personally was gutted.
I think we can beat anyone in this league. We can beat teams like Southampton, we already have in the cup so why not in the league? I believe our squad is capable. We should be striving to finish as high as we can in the league even with the limited resources we have.
The Premier League is a ruthless league with little room for sentiment. As a club we need to start thinking more like a Premier League team. We must stop using our clubs near demise as an excuse every time we underachieve.
It seems like the get out clause for some Palace fans myself included, almost like we should be grateful even if the team is playing terribly and the management is in a state because we might not have been playing at all.
I do not buy this excuse anymore.
I am by no means digging at any of our fans, I am just as guilty. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. That is what I love about social media, you get so many people that share the same passion for something but perceive it in such a different way. I just think we need to start looking to the future rather than staring back at the past.
We have the potential to become an established top flight club. The last three seasons have taught us we can achieve anything we want to if we put our minds to it and work as a team.
I would like to leave you with a quote from the late great Johnny Cash who sums up how I feel about our club and moving on from our darker days.
You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space – Johnny Cash
With talk of a possible takeover happening in the next few weeks, it has never been so important to focus on what the future may hold.
C’MON You Palace!
