How can you call him a "big gamble" when you have no idea what he'll cost? If we get him for a small fee, he's not going to be a gamble at all, is he?

Damo made his debut for us on October 4th 2012 against Burnley. The win took us to fourth place in the table. Is that "near the bottom" of the Championship these days?

Caulker is a former international and once very high quality prospect whose career has been derailed by playing for two simply awful clubs under clueless owners and managers. Yes, he hasn't shone. Want to name a single Cardiff or QPR player who has recently? The worst that can be said of him is that he's made some pretty poor decisions about who to join. Plus, he's still young. OK, he hasn't displaced Van Dijk or Fonte at Southampton but they're both quality players; that doesn't tell us he's not any good.

There is everything to like here. Experienced, talented, the right age but career a bit off track. He has exactly the sort of profile that often succeeds at Palace and he's really not likely to cost an awful lot.

I think when you sign a player, you look at his ceiling more than anything else. You assume you have competent coaches who can improve a player so you look more at the raw materials than actual form. Does he have speed? Does he head the ball well? Is he strong physically? Does he put himself about? Does he give something you can work with.

This is particularly true for a centre half. Centre halves play in pairs, one covering the other so even a great centre half will struggle with a poor partner and a weak midfield in front of him. It's not always easy to say a centre half who struggles at one club won't succeed at another with better players around him (Damo being the obvious example but Dann equally so.)

In the case of Caulker, I suspect we see a player with a very high ceiling. He's got the raw materials in abundance and, even better, his value is significantly diminished in relation to those raw materials because he's had a couple of poor seasons, or a couple of seasons with poor teams.

If we think Pardew is a good manager, then this makes him a very, very attractive prospect. He's got bags of ability; the price will almost certainly be right and we have one of the best coaching teams in the game. If all you can see is how he played at Cardiff and QPR then you are really not judging players the right way.

I think when you sign a player, you look at his ceiling more than anything else. You assume you have competent coaches who can improve a player so you look more at the raw materials than actual form. Does he have speed? Does he head the ball well? Is he strong physically? Does he put himself about? Does he give something you can work with.

This is particularly true for a centre half. Centre halves play in pairs, one covering the other so even a great centre half will struggle with a poor partner and a weak midfield in front of him. It's not always easy to say a centre half who struggles at one club won't succeed at another with better players around him (Damo being the obvious example but Dann equally so.)

In the case of Caulker, I suspect we see a player with a very high ceiling. He's got the raw materials in abundance and, even better, his value is significantly diminished in relation to those raw materials because he's had a couple of poor seasons, or a couple of seasons with poor teams.

If we think Pardew is a good manager, then this makes him a very, very attractive prospect. He's got bags of ability; the price will almost certainly be right and we have one of the best coaching teams in the game. If all you can see is how he played at Cardiff and QPR then you are really not judging players the right way.