Memphis

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Simple as.

I do feel for anyone who paid for this. Competing interests at work here. Club was involved in setting this up but I'm certain Howe wanted no part of it. And it doesn't make sense for him to. So you get this, which doesn't really make anyone happy. 

As I understand it, in the UK you have the right as an employer to monitor emails as long as the intrusion is minimised, justifiable and has been documented. I would say that the fear of sharing proprietary information is a justified reason to keep an eye on things. And now that it's been proven that he's not to be trusted, I think the monitoring becomes even more justifiable. It's interesting that Eddie Howe talked about how it wasn't ideal for Ashworth to still have access to club information while his position was unclear, that would have happened a week after Ashworth sent himself the Berrada email. I wonder how long the club has known about all of this - and how much that's played into us refusing to budge in negotiations with Manchester United.

I don't really think you can adequately judge a keeper's passing and sweeping absent the context of their team's style and players. I think we'd buy Mamardashvili because we think he'd be capable of whatever we need from the position, but more because you don't often see keepers available who are this young, this big, and this capable who have already proven themselves in an elite league. The timing isn't ideal but this would be an opportunistic move and I like the way we act when given an opportunity.

There's a lot of water under the bridge between Dougie/Parish and it only makes sense that Palace would want to be seen as doing all they can to keep him. And I'm sure it's hard for him to leave.

BUT you don't interview twice for a job you don't actually want. And we're not daft enough to play along with someone wasting everyone's time. It would be bad for his reputation and for ours. If he's already interviewed, he's comfortable leaving. So to me, this is all a facade to make it look as if Palace have done all they can to keep him when in reality he will have already decided it's time to go. 

Lloyd Kelly: Priority Target sounds like a bargain-basement Jason Statham movie

Ultimately as others have said we don't have the quality in depth to consistently perform at a high level. Today we were missing quality in all three phases and it cost us 2 points. It's unfortunate but also not surprising. I think Howe has earned more than the benefit of the doubt, so his taking Isak off - while I was as surprised as anyone - must have been for a decent reason. Howe's not Bruce. He's not an imbecile.

Just now, KaKa said:

 

I appreciate this post, because I hear this sort of thing about the more serious footballers out there, and there's more of them than people think.

 

Too many times on this forum people think all of these guys just go after the money and living in some flash city.

I think this is absolutely true. And I would add that we have typically only signed players who are of that mentality. Howe has certainly done a great job helping players improve but those players have to be of that ambitious, professional mentality for our plan to work.

34 minutes ago, Palace fan said:

Interesting one this.

 

Freedman has been personally involved in persuading all these players to come to Palace. With Wharton part of the draw with Dougie was apparently he'd been tracking Wharton since well before he broke into their first team. Personal touch.

 

But.... Palace slowly, slowly have been on a buy to sell model. It's taken time because when he came there was no money, serious FFP issues and no one to sell. Part of the pitch has been come to Palace and you play first team football. That's why Guehi, Eze, Olise and Wharton chose us. There comes a time, though when you do in fact need to sell.

 

It's all very well holding Zaha to ransom - that was a very special relationship - but to attract new blood you need to show that Palace isn't a prison but a pathway to glory. Yep, one more season with this team and European football is more than plausible but there's an obvious ceiling and we have too many players that would enhance any CL squad (note squad!!). We need to sell to get the next gen. The trick will be -and Parish is smart - not to do a Southampton or possibly a Brighton and lose them all at once. One a season - tops two.

 

Our assets are 

 

Eze - right age for a move 

Olise - by consent generally considered the best player we've ever had 

Guehi - has that young English leader home grown thing - most likely to leave

Andersen - the underrated one but actually the match if Guehi and wrong age bracket

Doucoure - the forgotten one - our season fell apart when he was injured not when Olise and Eze were out

Wharton - early days but just wow 

Richards - may look odd on this list but pedigree and only held back by the two ahead of him. Expect his tock to rise next year (sick note alert)

Mateta - carefully left off the list

 

Next note is that 10 years' later we're about to build our mainstand - obvious money pit and obvious scepticism about ring-fenced funding.

 

Someone needs to go this season to avoid 4 leaving next!

I always appreciate level-headed and intelligent insight from other clubs' supporters coming here, thank you for adding to the discussion.

Felt like Neville would start a question and his brain was about 5 seconds behind his mouth, so he'd introduce a thought and then have to delay while his brain came up with a question. "You know, FFP, Eddie, it's like, I mean, in terms of, you know, money and things like that, like how'dya decide how to sign in terms of, you know, like a player who cost a lot, but you don't really have a lot in terms of money to actually spend, do ya? How's that like?"

We have got to get the quality control sorted in this thread before summer. Givemesport? Caughtoffside? Come on guys. 

And who gives a fuck if some Arsenal fan says they swear that we're gonna sell Isak? That's not even a rumour. Not even worthy of being thought about. Bruno has a clause and a month. If he wants to go, he will. If he doesn't, we're not selling him. 

Best I can tell, Spors was heading the football side alone, which included several clubs - and had no connection with the seemingly very dodgy financial practices of their ownership people. I don't think it's fair to lump him in with the rest of them, I wouldn't have thought he'd know anything about that.

Both of them seem to fit the bill. I'm fine with either. 

9 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

Don’t know anything about him but this is exactly the kind of signing I love.

Could be world class, could be shit.

There is a segment of fan that seems to thrive on negativity towards the manager, and I get it - we have had more than our share of absolute chancers, idiots, and assholes running things. It's hard to accept that we actually have not only a decent man, not only a very competent man, but perhaps our best manager in decades running things. It's hard to let go of the spite and the cynicism, especially with this club. But it's time.

I don't think I would swap him for anyone in the world. Feels weird to say that but considering how well we play, our style, the way he improves players, the way he communicates with staff and supporters, I genuinely don't think there's a better fit for us. 

It's a long-winded way of saying - individual results can be criticised, as they can with any manager, but if anyone is seriously questioning his ability or his fit here, it says far more about them than it does about Howe.

Reading the report, he comes across as well as anyone could given what he did. They repeatedly note that there is no way they would have ever learned about any of his bets without him providing all the evidence and a confession. They also note his admitted gambling addiction, though all of that is redacted. Considering all of that, and with him taking a reduced wage, somehow he comes out of this looking like a very sound guy whose demons got the best of him. I hope he's gotten the help he needs because this could end up being the making of him here - lots of time to settle, learn the language, get acclimated, experience the club and fan support through a very tough time. 

I am so glad to have finally drawn a line under this whole saga. Cannot wait to see him back.

It's so silly to hear shit like "leading the race for his signature". Like 5 teams put contracts down on the ground and Tosin is closer to ours than everyone else's? 

That said, he would be a smart signing and an excellent way to start the summer. I hope we, uh, win the race.

1 minute ago, tgarve said:

Does the deadline coincide with this seasons ffp deadline also? 

It does. Again, none of this is an accident. This was clever from Ashworth or whoever put it in there. It's designed to smoke out any potential clubs who want to buy Bruno early in the summer while also ensuring all the proceeds go towards this season's FFP calculations, allowing us the most possible flexibility in restructuring the squad. It works well for everyone imo.

Obviously someone could try to buy him after the deadline but at that point there is no incentive for us to sell or for them to buy at an inflated price. 

This one is all on Bruno. If he wants to go, he will go for 100m next month. He'd go with my best wishes. If he doesn't want to go, that's fantastic, and he won't be going. I think the club has drawn a line under the interest by saying essentially - "Put up or shut up". Clubs have a month to make the move. If they don't, that's that. To me, it's an ideal way to handle a situation like this. 

You run out of superlatives. The finishing ability, the composure, the demeanor, the way he blends into the team and provides more than just pure finishing, the fact that he seems to love it here, there's not a better fit for us on the planet. No point in debating whether he's a top (x) striker in the world, he's 1 of 1 for us right now. 

And he's not Shearer, but that's OK. No reason to ever compare the two.

Ange and Maddison both sounded completely despondent post match. Like they'd been through a disaster, which, well...

He genuinely looks like Thierry Henry out there. On a different planet than everyone else. His composure is unreal. His first touch, his control, he's intelligence, I wouldn't take 150m for him, he is irreplaceable.

Imagine not believing in this guy... couldn't be me

Perfectly phrased