Comedian and host of Palace's FYP podcast Jim Daly is in the chair for our opposition interview this week — written before the collapse against Southampton and subsequent Neil Warnock sacking.
Has any real light ever been shed on why Tony Pulis left when he did? Seemed like a really odd summer at Palace to an outsider looking in. What on earth went on?
JD: No-one is really sure but some of the players have since hinted that Pulis wasn’t particularly serious about hanging around after the end of the last season. Quite why he waited until 48 hours before the start of the season isn’t clear but it left Palace in a bit of a state. I guess he saw it as job done after keeping the Eagles up against the odds, shame really because it could have been oh so beautiful but you can’t keep an old, Welsh bird caged or whatever the saying is.
Talk a bit about the extraordinary season you had in 2013/14. How did Pulis turn it around as he did? Has his departure tainted the job he did last season, or has it provoked anger against Steve Parish, or anything else in between?
JD: He quite simply got the players believing in themselves again. it was pretty much the same bunch that kept Palace up, with two key additions in Scott Dann and Joe Ledley, but they went from sheepish lads to bullish legends when Pulis came in. He also got the whole club thinking big, acting like a Premier league club off the pitch. A lot of that is still here today so we have to be thankful I guess but it does feel like he ran out on us and although the team is better this season it isn’t quite as good as it could have been with Pulis in charge.Â
What did you think about Neil Warnock returning at the time, and how has he done so far? Was he universally welcomed given that he walked out to join QPR a few years back?
JD: The QPR thing tends to divide fans; a few think he ditched the Eagles in their time of need as the club was plunged into administration while some acknowledge it was a tough time for everyone at the club and the Hoops offered secure employment. it wasn’t an easy one. He had been a good manager for Palace and worked hard right up until the last minute to help earn points, that eventually saw Palace stay up despite a ten point deduction. That summer Steve Parish and co came in to save the club and the rest is history. I’ve always found Warnock likeable; honest and open like a crazy uncle. He’s not the more forward thinking coach and frustrates with substitutions and selections sometimes but in the wake of Pulis leaving and the whole Malky Mackay thing, I’m not sure what the other option was.
Are the recent takeover rumours likely to amount to anything? Is it a case of needing big money to progress further, or better the devil you know and fearing another potentially reckless foreign owner?
JD: The current crop (Parish and three other owners known collectively as CPFC2010) have promised they would never sell to anyone they suspected of being a fraud or who could ruin the club with yet another administration, so I don’t think that is a worry. I guess it’s just a case of when you’re in the Premier League people want to invest. Parish told my podcast this week that they have had chats with all sorts of people who want to buy the club in the last few years; this most recent one (suspected to being American businessman Josh Harris) sounds like it’s just a bit more solid than previous. But it doesn’t mean anything for sure. I think it will be a while until we hear any progress.
Where is the team strong and where is it weak?
JD: Strong in midfield; Ledley and Mile Jedinak are formidable and on the wings Yannick Bolasie and Wilf Zaha have the skills to terrorise most defenders but unfortunately there isn’t an in-form striker to stick it in the net at the moment. How I’d love a Charlie Austin up there. Left-back is another worry - currently our best right-back Joel Ward plays there - but that should be corrected pretty soon we’re being told.
What or who do you need in January? Any names being mentioned? Any danger of not hanging onto players like Bolasie who seem to be tearing it up.
JD: No chance of Bolasie leaving. He’s said he wants to stay and it would take bids of £10m+ to tempt Palace to let him leave, which he definitely isn’t worth and I’m not sure anyone will pay. He also won’t even be here in January as he’ll be playing for Congo in the African Nations Cup so will be otherwise occupied. Palace will undoubtedly sign a left-back and a striker (potentially Gomis from Swansea who would be great). Other than that probably not much.
Short medium and long term aims for the club?
JD: Staying up. Simple as that. Anything else we can deal with later. Losing Pulis set the club back a bit and now they need to correct that but remaining in the top flight. Do that and they can really kick on the season after and perhaps, finally, lose that annoying yo-yo club tag.
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