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Reply | Odd fact but it does pose a good question....
at 10:56 3 May 2024
Think this came up on here a while ago didn't it. I find it mad that anyone in our fanbase would envy Palace's position.
For clubs of their or our size, there are basically three options: spend what you can afford based on matchday and other income, which would see us sitting somewhere in the middle of League One; get your owners to fund your losses indefinitely (our current business model); or establish yourself in the Premier League, use the TV money to stay competitive, and work towards being financially self-sufficient (which is what Palace are doing).
They're not quite there yet, but they're not far off balancing the books rather than relying on their owners to fund them. They've got an exciting young team and manager, playing very decent football and occasionally giving the big clubs a bloody nose, and largely staying clear of anxieties around whether their club's going to collapse into non-existence if they get relegated. If they get the sales of Eze / Olise /Wharton right (or had done the same with Zaha) they could be in a position to push on towards Europe.
Each to their own, but I find that miles more exciting than whatever we've been up to over the last 11 seasons. |
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Reply | Are we capable of going up next season.
at 15:55 30 Apr 2024
He currently seems destined for bigger things than a lower-half Championship team, but it's all about gradually building a reputation.
I think Beale offers a very handy warning about trying to run before you can walk: Marti's got a great opportunity here to build an ethos and team alongside a new CEO, and really showcase his abilities in an environment where everyone's bought into his approach and is 100% behind him.
Best case scenario for both us and him is that we get three or four seasons of gradual improvement before he moves on, by which point hopefully we'll be competing more consistently at the top of the table, and he'll have made a serious name for himself. |
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Reply | Are we capable of going up next season.
at 11:56 30 Apr 2024
We're 10th in the form table since Marti took over - it's impossible to know how that'll translate to next season, but there's clearly been a massive improvement since he came in.
I think our target should be to finish in the top half of the table next season, with half an eye on challenging for the playoff spots. Anything more than that feels optimistic. |
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Reply | Marti-His Part in our Victory-match thread vs Weeds
at 21:49 26 Apr 2024
Sam Field you beautiful man. Also *what* a ball from Ilias Chair, absolutely incredible delivery given he's spent the last two years whacking it into the first man every time we've had a corner. |
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Reply | Marti-His Part in our Victory-match thread vs Weeds
at 21:38 26 Apr 2024
Really smart finish from Dykes, who's been very good tonight just as he was against Preston. Looks like a completely different player.
We've absolutely dominated the last 20 minutes and deserve to be three up. Who on earth saw this happening? Please just don't do anything stupid, Rangers. |
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Reply | Marti-His Part in our Victory-match thread vs Weeds
at 21:24 26 Apr 2024
Honestly, I know it's cheap but I don't mind it in the slightest. We've been a soft touch for far too long, if there's one game where we need to embrace the dark arts and show a bit of game management, it's this one.
Colback getting his usual braindead yellow card, this time for kicking the ball away. Why does he always do something idiotic and get himself booked? [Post edited 26 Apr 21:26]
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Reply | Marti-His Part in our Victory-match thread vs Weeds
at 20:58 26 Apr 2024
Great first half - we've looked sharp and positive on the ball, and really solid in defence. Totally deserve to be two up, and have put ourselves in the perfect position to see out the second half and put this season to bed. Lots of great performances across the pitch, but I've been particularly impressed with Paal, who's having his best game for us in ages.
Leeds have been so poor, though - they'll surely approach the second half with a ton more intensity, given what's at stake for them. Just need to match them, stay switched on and keep doing what we're doing. |
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Reply | Wednesday's third goal
at 19:42 24 Apr 2024
Does anyone remember an own goal at Loftus Road that was a bit like this? Would have been early 90s, a defender on the opposing team tried to clear the ball, but it hit a bobble so he sliced it just like this one. I can vividly remember the ball curving round the goalie then turning into the net, almost like a spin bowler in cricket, but I would have only been 9 or 10 at the time so can’t remember the details. Am I going mad? |
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Reply | Chris Ramsey
at 18:04 24 Apr 2024
We might not agree on everything (anything) else, but I have you right on this one.
Players and managers opening up on podcasts can sometimes be a really good thing, particularly when it's bringing transparency to issues which don't get talked about enough - I thought Dele's interview with Gary Neville was really powerful, for instance, and Les' podcast with Simon Jordan was fascinating whatever your views on whether he was any good as a DoF.
But things like this, airing stuff from the dressing room which you'd previously have expected people to keep private, just feels like settling old scores without any risk of pushback. Cheap, self-interested and extremely unedifying for everyone involved. [Post edited 24 Apr 18:05]
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Reply | Next season - 4 key players for us to keep
at 21:38 21 Apr 2024
“Keep” Hayden? He’s not even our player! He’s got another two years left on his Newcastle contract, on Premier League wages. Where exactly are we finding the money for his contract and transfer fee, if the only players we’re selling are Paal and Dykes? Who’s buying those two anyway, after the seasons they’ve had? You’re living in a daydream, sorry. |
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Reply | Next season - 4 key players for us to keep
at 21:31 21 Apr 2024
It’s not a question of choice or ambition though, it’s financial reality. We’re losing £2m a month and barely able to meet FFP rules as it is. Even if the owners were happy to dump yet more of their money on a new striker without selling anyone first, the rules wouldn’t let them.
We’ve *just* done what you and others are saying we should do - kept a core group of players together rather than sell & reinvest - and it’s completely fcked us, bringing us to the brink of relegation and FFP breaches, with a squad of players who’ve been consistently godawful for all but the last four months. Meanwhile clubs like Brentford, Coventry, Brighton and countless others have left us in the dust by… scouting really well, selling players for big money, then reinvesting sensibly.
Of course it’s depressing to see good players leave, and of course for this model to work we have to make sure our scouting, coaching and development are working as well. But it’s the only way a club like us can ever properly punch above our weight. |
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Reply | Next season - 4 key players for us to keep
at 13:04 21 Apr 2024
If we don't receive any serious offers for Chair, JCS etc (and certainly in Chair's case it seems that the market tends to value our players far less generously than we do) then they'll stay. If offers do come in, then anyone who can be sold will (and should) be sold
Absolute worst case scenario is that JCS, Chair and others end up like Dickie, Dieng, Bright, Manning and countless others (potentially including Willock depending on his contract) who could and should have been sold for profit, but ended up making a loss because we held onto them too long or otherwise mismanaged things.
I know it's tempting to say that we have to prioritise keeping certain players, but that's exactly the mistake we made under Warburton. We should welcome selling JCS or Chair or whoever else, as long as it's for the right amount and with the money reinvested properly. |
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Reply | Complacency.....
at 11:05 7 Apr 2024
Yesterday really hammered home that despite all the improvements we’ve seen, this squad still has massive issues with mentality and consistency.
Relegation six-pointer against a niggly, physical team, in front of a packed Loftus Road, with expectations high and the pressure on? They just don’t want to know. As this group of players have shown us time and time again, they’re not brave enough when things get tough, and always far too willing to let someone else shoulder the responsibility.
How many times over the last few years have we sat through that exact match? No tempo, no movement, nobody willing to risk anything, nobody prepared to match our opponents physically, get in the ref’s ear, make something happen, and ultimately outfought by a team more willing and able than us to get their hands dirty. |
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Reply | Armstrong New Contract ?
at 10:01 7 Apr 2024
It’s painfully clear that he’s not up to Championship standard yet, but we’ve messed up his development by having to rely on him too much this season because there are no other strikers at the club.
He’s still young, with excellent raw attributes and potentially a very high ceiling, but he’s skipped several stages in his development. He should have been on a L2 loan this season, L1 next, then try to make the step up to Championship.
Hopefully we stay up, FFP headroom allows us to bring in a striker or two so Sincs and Kolli can go on loan. But I wouldn’t be giving up on him yet, or judging him too harshly given what a basket case we’ve been as a club. |
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Reply | The referee was bloody awful.
at 09:51 7 Apr 2024
It was clear from the off that he was willing to let stuff go, so we should have got wise to that and matched Wednesday physically. As much as we’ve improved we’re still a bit soft and meek, I think.
But he also wasn’t entirely consistent: there was a moment when Sinclair went into someone from behind but led with his shoulder: whistle goes, foul, fair enough. Two minutes later one of their players does exactly the same thing and it’s waved on.
I thought we had a number of borderline free kicks go against us, but that they probably should have had a penalty, so I guess it evens out, and we were far from good enough regardless, but yeah he contributed to making an already poor spectacle even less enjoyable. |
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Reply | Hayden Article
at 20:12 2 Apr 2024
From his first interview, where he talked about players taking responsibility and being up for a relegation scrap, it feels like he's brought exactly the right energy to everything he's done, as well as delivering some very solid performances. The right sort, as they say.
I don't think bringing him back in the summer sounds particularly realistic - he's already taken a pay cut to be here, has two years left on his contract, will be on Premier League wages, is approaching 30 so will have zero sell-on value even if it works out, and we've already had our fingers burned in exactly the same situation with Johansen - but the approach he's shown over the last couple of months is exactly what we've needed.
Whoever's playing for us next season, and whatever league we're in, the example set by Hayden (and others like Cook) should be a marker from the club for for every other player in the squad. |
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