So, here we are, in the last week of the transfer window. As usual the panic is building.
We need, depending on who you listen to and your levels of panic, a striker (or two), an attacking midfielder (or two), a goalkeeper, a left back, and a right back.
I can confidently assert, actually guarantee, that we will not get all of those positions filled. What I am more confident of is that we will get some of those positions filled. I hope.
Welcome to the Crystal Palace transfer window.
Over the years I have learned to try to be a ‘disinterested observer’ when it comes to Palace’s transfer dealings, at least until the window shuts. I can have absolutely no influence on what the club does, unless I happen to find a spare billion down the back of the sofa.
In the modern social media world it is easy to spend the period between July and September either getting excited about the potential world beaters coming in, and/or fretting about the world beaters slipping through our fingers, and/or the complete no hopers we are being linked with. Even better, all of this can be happening at the same time!
As a result, I ignore Sky Sports News and social media (it’s not difficult as I do not use Twitter/X/Instagram anyway!) and wait until I see the official photo with the relevant new squad member holding up the shirt before getting excited/disappointed/bored (delete as applicable).
With the exception of the summer 2021 transfer window, what I can also be confident of is that we will not sign the number and quality of new players that the fan base believes we need. The only reason 2021 was an exception was that there was a huge clear out of older players and without that level of recruitment we would have been in real trouble.
Fortunately Dougie and Steve did exceptionally well and the recruitment of Michael Olise, Marc Guehi, Joachim Andersen, Will Hughes, and Odsonne Edouard were either excellent or at the very least, useful additions.
What I can also be confident about is that no Premier League’s fan base will ever be satisfied with their recruitment. Even the likes of Manchester City or Arsenal will have supporters who will have complaints about either the quality or quantity of the players coming in.
For a club like Palace, and where we are in the pecking order of football finance, it is always going to be an element of making the most of what we have and in Steve and Dougie we have a management/recruitment team which has definitely had more hits than misses and for extremely good value.
What is new is the worry about our best players being picked off by bigger clubs. Our history is littered with stories of the loss of key players leading to relegation and/or years in the wilderness – Kenny Samson, Ian Wright, Andy Johnson are just some of the names that spring to mind.
Theses departures have left a collective scar on the memory of Palace supporters, which the annual ‘will Zaha leave or stay’ question has not helped. Unfortunately, this is something Palace supporters are going to have to get used to and it is actually something to celebrate.
Excluding Zaha and Aaron Wan-Bissaka we have not had a player that a top club has wanted for many years. Now, Zaha has finally gone (with all of our thanks and best wishes of course) and the list of players being chased by top six Premier League clubs includes Eberechi Eze, Andersen, Guehi, Olise and Cheick Doucoure. That is nearly half our starting eleven. Whilst this is terrifying, at the same time it shows how well we have recruited.
As a fan base we are now being presented with the challenges that many Premier League clubs have been faced with. Tottenham and Gareth Bale, West Ham and Declan Rice, Southampton and Virgil Van Dijk and Leicester City with Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante are all examples of clubs who have lost key world class players to bigger clubs.
The idea is that these deals, whilst a blow, will allow the selling club to reinvest the funds in improving the squad and/or infrastructure. This list of clubs and players sold speaks to the risks (or rewards) once a club gets to this level. Will we follow Spurs trajectory and develop the resources to become a top six club, albeit with no trophy to show for it, or gradually sink like Leicester City and Southampton and end up relegated?
The development of a sustainable Premier League squad which can turn over and still maintain Premier League status, and maybe even enhance that status with a new Main Stand, higher finishes or even cup runs/ European places is clearly Steve Parish’s ambition now.
The new(ish) Academy is all part of this strategy. It is a strategy with some risks as Southampton and Leicester City supporters will attest, but it was equally clear that the reliance on experienced Premier League players had its own risks and was certainly not sustainable for a club of Palace’s resources.
Steve and Dougie’s track record has been exceptional and from 2010 there has been a clear and steady upward trajectory for the club. I am happy to take the risk and put up with the half full glasses we get served every transfer window. So far we have made the most of those half measures and long may it continue!
3 comments
Palace will never be regarded a tier one club until it develops a quality team with depth and with the facilities (stadium) to match. Success breeds success, and good players want to be part of it. If you are constantly selling your best players, then you’ll always only be an average team.
Comments are closed.