SAKA, ANTONY AND 10 PREMIER LEAGUE STARS HEADING TO THEIR FIRST WORLD CUP
As a Crystal Palace fan, watching yesterday’s shambolic display against Burnley provoked a strong sense of déjà vu.
It was reminiscent of the 4-1 defeat to Fulham in 2013, which saw Ian Holloway resign just hours later.
It also evoked memories of the 3-1 defeat to Southampton back in 2014, which saw Neil Warnock booed out of Selhurst Park and sacked not long after.
It was a display of nothingness. Nobody in red and blue showed an ounce of effort, but that’s merely stating the obvious.
Instead of trawling through the negatives, we need to explain why Steve Parish must make a decision on Roy Hodgson – immediately.
With 16 players out of contract on June 30th, it is imperative that the managerial situation is decided before the summer.
Transfermarkt names these men as Christian Benteke, Mamadou Sakho, James McCarthy, Nathaniel Clyne, Tyrick Mitchell, Patrick van Aanholt, Andros Townsend, Martin Kelly, Joel Ward, Scott Dann, Gary Cahill, Wayne Hennessey, Connor Wickham, Stephen Henderson and Jeffrey Schlupp.
If Parish is planning to hire a new manager, that man will need time to assess the squad before deciding who he wants to keep, and who he wants to let go from that bunch.
It would be extremely dangerous to sort out new contracts before hiring a new boss, and it would be equally risky to hire one too soon to June 30th.
In what sense?
Well, to give an example, let’s just say Parish hired Eddie Howe on June 15th. That would give the ex-Bournemouth boss just days to decide who he wants to keep, and who he doesn’t.
In that scenario, underperforming players like Dann and van Aanholt could have a few good training sessions, convince Howe to keep them, before then going on to deliver more mediocrity.
Contrastingly, Parish and Dougie Freedman can’t sort the contracts out themselves.
It would be a huge waste of money to keep a player, before finding out any new manager isn’t actually a fan of them.
It will take time for a new boss to make these decisions, especially when we’re talking about as many as 16 players.
Parish must decide if he wants to keep Hodgson, or appoint someone else, as soon as possible.
The longer he leaves it, the harder Palace’s already daunting summer rebuild will become.
