David Mankellow

Neil Danns

I have a soft spot for Crystal Palace and in the wake of their crucial 3-1 victory over Watford last night I thought i’d take some time to look at the club and discuss their situation.

I was born in Dulwich and then spent the first stages of my life living in Denmark Road, Croydon. If I were to support a team based on geography I should be supporting Palace. I don’t, I support Chelsea (much to the despair to some sections of my family) but this is a different story all together. I always look out for Palace as a second team and It’s horrible to see them in the plight that they’re in.

Looking at it from an impartial point of view (well nearly) it really seems to me as though Palace have been shat on from a high height! Obviously, mistakes must have been made – They must have for the club to go into administration but I can’t help but feel sorry for them. When I think of Leeds a few years ago I have no sympathy. They overspent, gambled on the fact that they’d be in the Champions League and then it all came tumbling down around them and Peter Ridsdale’s fat face. At Palace it doesn’t seem to be so cut-and-dry.

After doing some research into the financial plight of Palace it’s fairly hard to see what’s happened in order for the club to be in the reported £30m debt. It seems to be the issue of the club being a yo-yo club over the last 15 years. During that period there wasn’t always proper parachute payment system and it would seem that the continual strive to go up, stay up and then reduce costs has taken its toll. Additionally it would seem that the final nail in the coffin was brought on by a company called Agilo. They are a company that “specialises” in ploughing money into businesses that are in a “distressed” state. The idea then is that when the business gets itself back on the straight and narrow they get their money back with a tidy sum on top. It is reported that Palace owe them £4.5m. When it became apparent that HR Revenue and Customs were due to get £2m from the Eagles BEFORE Agilo, they called in the administrators, ensuring that they were at the top of the list to get their money back. I don’t know of Agilo and i’m certainly no expert in the financial sector but that move is a bit rich (excuse the pun) coming from a company that seeks to make a profit from businesses that are in trouble. Surely in that line of business patience has to be a virtue. I’m not saying that they are the real bad guys in all of this. After all they have helped pay wages and save jobs in the short term but to do such a thing when the club is looking good in the league, openly looking for investors/buyers, has a fantastic academy and IS a club that profit can be made from is very short sighted. If Palace get relegated the club is worth less, they will find it harder to get a buyer and Agilo will have to wait longer to get their money. It seems very short-sighted to me.

Aside from this, Palace are so unlucky. The club is in a fantastic catchment area. They have one of the best academies around. It is demoralising to see a youth player, born and bred in South London, brought through the academy at Palace to then be stolen for a fraction of their eventual worth by a bigger club under a contractual technicality. Then Palace are the ones that go into administration. That seems unfair. I know that there more systems in place to get fairer compensation but I think John Bostock is proof that this system is damaging to the player as well as the original club. Bostock was a promising starlet at Palace and was “obtained” by Spurs. He then blended into the background, didn’t develop as he might have at Palace and now he’s wowing no-one on loan at Brentford. I think if he would have stayed put, gotten first team experience at a young age and then looked to move on, everybody wins. England have another promising player, Palace get the money they deserve for the time and effort put in and Spurs get the player they want.

I really feel sorry for Simon Jordan. He’s like the Mourinho of Chairmen, like a young Ken Bates in many ways. He is a self made man and Palace fan. He wears his heart on his sleeve and will stand up for what he believes is right. An example of this is the stand against agents. They are sucking money from the game and we all know it. Until proper rules are put into place and are adhered to they will continue to lie and blackmail clubs for their OWN benefit, not the club or their client. I also don’t blame Warnock for jumping ship either. I genuinely don’t think he had much choice in the matter. QPR probably offered a tidy sum of money by way of compensation that the administrators immediately gobbled up and sent him packing. They then got in a manager that was free. It’s a no brainer. Even if Warnock wanted to stay he probably wouldn’t have been allowed to.

I think Crystal Palace will be fine in the mid to long term. I don’t see a Bradford or Luton situation happening to them. Whatever happens this season, sooner or later a buyer will come in and set things back on the right track, just like at Leeds, Charlton, Southampton and Leicester. It could even be a blessing in disguise. If Palace sell more players I have every confidence that some more talent will be thrust into the first team and will shine. There’s nothing sweeter than a club doing well based on a spine of home-grown talent.