I am not really sure it is a good thing but for the first time in years I am not anticipating a summer of worry. As a Palace supporter I am conditioned to a mixture of anticipation, boredom and dread during the months between the end of one season and the start of the next.
Since the panicked but ultimately successful January 2017 transfer window, Palace’s close season dealings have generally been low key and often low impact. The exception of course was last summer’s “big bang” with a wholesale clear out of the old guard of Scott Dann, Gary Cahill, Patrick Van Aanholt etc and the recruitment of the new guard in Olise, Guehi, Andersen etc. Having navigated that transition exceptionally well I am hoping for a smoother ride again in the build up to the upcoming season.
In true typical Palace fashion, our Premier League summers started with Tony Pulis’s sudden resignation right before the beginning of the 2014 season and although things have improved since that low point, there have only been a couple of transfer windows, ironically under the stewardship of Alan Pardew where we recruited heavily with the likes of Yohan Cabaye, Andros Townsend, Christian Benteke and James Tomkins joining.
Sadly the serene progress off the pitch during this period was not matched on the pitch and by the end of 2016 the wheels were well and truly off the Pardew bandwagon. After the January 2017 splurge under Sam Allardyce which almost certainly saved us from relegation, the said period of anticipation, boredom and dread commenced. I can’t leave the Pardew era however without an acknowledgment of the recruitment of Jordon Mutch and Lee Chung-Yong as testament to this not being necessarily a golden era of player recruitment.
Post Pardew/Allardyce we endured four seasons where our recruitment consisted of cheap or free transfers. Although there were some good acquisitions during this period – Vincente Guaita and Chieckhou Kouyate immediately spring to mind – there were some flops as well – Max Meyer and Jaroslav Jach. Overall, the feeling during this period was an awareness that we needed to bring in new faces into the team but there seemed to be very little money to do so. Unfortunately, as night follows day the boredom of the lack of transfer activity transformed into the dread (and boredom) of a playing style and quality which reflected the increasing age and staleness within the squad.
I suspect Roy Hodgson will, when he reflects on his managerial career, consider his four years at Palace as some of his best work, keeping a deteriorating squad well away from relegation trouble throughout his time with us.
The glimmers of a new Palace recruitment era started with Nathan Ferguson and Eberechi Eze. Whilst the former has been hampered by injury, Eze, despite his own injury issues, heralded the new Palace recruitment approach.
So after a successful summer in 2021 and some new names signed already, I have contemplated this summer with a greater degree of equanimity than for many years.
We have the nucleus of a very good squad and although the loss of Conor Gallagher will be definitely felt, Patrick Vieira and the recruitment team are well aware of the gaps that need to be filled. The critical thing for me is that Steve Parish and Dougie Freedman have now got a formula of finding young Championship players with the right mixture of talent and attitude.
Eze, Olise, Guehi and hopefully now Plange and Ebiowei all fit into the Crystal Palace mould which I hope will bring success on the pitch and off the pitch in terms of judicious and lucrative players sales to recycle transfer funding. When you mix in the recruitment of talented more experienced players like Andersen, Hughes and Eduard the future looks very promising.
The life of a Palace supporter (indeed any football supporter) will always have some angst over the the comings and goings (or not) between seasons. What if we don’t sign the players we want (and I can guarantee there will be some rumoured targets which we miss out on)? What if the players we sign do not perform as expected (another one that is guaranteed to happen with some signings)? What if Wilf or one of other key players leave?
The list of uncertainties here are endless and always will be. The key for me is that Parish and Freedman are building a track record of some exceptional signings and astute transfer dealings generally. Unless and until they are shown to have lost their touch or there are other significant changes in the management team, I am going to have faith in their work and not get thrown into joy or despair day to day as the transfer season plays out over the next couple of months.
Of course, I may be eating my words in September but I certainly hope not!
