ready for what he implied I was due..

surely your attempt to fan the flames, saying I was going off topic, when it was he and you who replied with irrelevant comments?

So back on topic..... Roy's post match comments, the performance... the players attitude - everything we witnessed backs up my opinion that a change is needed.

He doesn't ignite the fans, the players... parish is happy to coast as it's the cheapest option... roy doesn't put up a fight... it's all wrong and well, if you can't see that... stick on topic.

This was once a quality forum....

It's not just Roy ... it's all his coaching staff who are clearly below par. I wouldn't know where to start with my 'new broom' but it needs to be a big one.

Denial is not just a river in Egypt

The problem for me is that Palace fans have suddenly adopted a set of very misplaced expectations, on the back of what was a deceptively poor transfer window. We signed a very good young player and brought Bats back, granted. But all of a sudden people were waxing lyrical about how great the squad is - and how we should now push on - as if we were signing world beaters left right & centre or something.

Truthfully, the squad still still had a significant lack of investment for years prior to that & is still inferior to the vast majority of clubs in the Premier League. At no other Premier League club will you find Jeffrey Schlupp starting as centre forward. Even in the very worst teams, there is more potential to build than at Palace. Just look at the squads of the clubs most tipped for relegation and you'll see a small selection of young talent at the very least that just needs nurturing & put together properly.

So where does that leave us in the context of Roy? Well, he frustrates the life out of me at times & I don't have confidence he will nurture young players. And, sure, we can get rid of the guy. But generally, I'd suggest he's actually quite underrated & we should all be careful what we wish for.

The fact of the matter is, in Roy we have a manager who maximises what he has at his disposal. That is evidenced in his entire tenure at the club. Arguably, he had a stronger squad when he first joined (Cabaye, RLC, AWB, Sakho at his best etc etc) than what he has now & contrary to popular sentiment, we actually played some very decent, attacking football under Roy in his first season.

I hate to break it to a few of you lot, but there are very few managers available in English or World Football that would keep the squad of players we have at the moment in the Premier League consistently. And, yet, despite all of the hysteria that follows a couple of bad results, we are absolutely not going down under Roy. That's why he's still at the club despite how frustrating he can be.

Fans are also probably misplaced in directing all of their grievances towards Parish. However you feel personally about the guy, he deeply cares about the club & he has the immense responsibility of ensuring we maintain our status & stability in the Premier League. Going down is not an option for the long term future of Crystal Palace.

I think everyone really has to start asking what they're expecting from the club at this stage. I'd love us to integrate more young & attacking players & push for Europe as much as any Palace fan. But whilst your best centre half is a 34 year old, your most expensive striker scores 1 goal every 2 years & your owners lack the buying power of your competition - progress really isn't as straightforward as some make out online & make no mistake about it, that progress will be stalled drastically if we go down.

Whilst all the above remains true, Roy probably isn't going anywhere. And in fairness, it's probably right that he isn't, too. He's still leagues ahead of the old school British managers we've had in the past & I suspect there are a number of clubs in and around us who'd be far more grateful to have him than some of us are at times.

Roy has brought a certain level of stability & longevity that we were desperately crying out for prior to his arrival. What's more, he's done it on very little. Managers were backed financially to the hilt prior to him - just look at Pardew & Allardyce. He hasn't received that level of support in the transfer market at any point but he's quietly gone about the business of maintaining our status as a Premier League club. Whatever the future holds, I will personally always be grateful to him for that.

As I said earlier in the post, be careful what you wish for.

Edited by Mstrobez (28 Nov 2020 8.58am)

We're the Arthur over ere!

Agree with virtually all of the above. The vast majority of the players we’re fielding are on the way down and the misplaced positivity around the transfer window was staggering.

Consistently fielding a team with an average age over thirty at the top level of elite football can only end one way. Especially when many of them were fairly moderate players even in their prime.

Interesting to see how many have now twisted their logic to describe Benteke as a £30m centre forward. At one point I thought I’d rather see us field ten men than use him.

Edited by Rachid Rachid Rachid (28 Nov 2020 9.04am)

Finishing 9 points clear of relegation and never really being in trouble at any point of the season with the squad we had last year is actually some achievement that would take some doing to replicate IMO. People would cite someone like Big Sam. But let's not ignore the fact that we were sinking fast under him prior to very big investment in the January transfer window under him.

Roy really isn't a bad manager at all.

We're the Arthur over ere!

As I said, be careful what you wish for. There aren't many clubs in the Premier League where Scott Dann would be playing week in, week out. Let alone making the bench. The football is pretty dire. And, yes, we are probably worse now than when Roy first joined. But he has had little to no investment when you compare him to managers who have gone before him & managers of other clubs in the league. I reckon you're seriously overestimating what he actually has at his disposal. Although he really should've done more to integrate Max Meyer & Jairo Riedewald (earlier). I also openly accept Roy can be frustrating as hell at times. But for me he is still massively underappreciated/rated by a growing set of fans.

As for taking a gamble, the simple fact is that we don't need to take one. And therefore I find it highly unlikely that we will. It's one thing wanting the club to play attacking football - it's another being the owner of a club responsible for the the long term future of it. Roy isn't going to be here forever - he's 73 & therefore Parish doesn't need to jump the gun. We have to maintain stability if we are to push on.

Edited by Mstrobez (28 Nov 2020 9.26am)

We're the Arthur over ere!

Yet when Schlupp was offered a decent ball on the centre/left he immediately shot and the keeper was forced to make a good save.
The same exact ball in the same exact position happened to Benteke and he clumsily shot it out wide.

I'm sure they wouldn't, at least Benteke for sure.

It looks to me that Andros plays as an inverted wing so that he more often goes towards the middle rather than crossing, plus when he crosses is with his right foot and they are not very good crosses.
Plus, when Benteke came in he got to the end of a cross and seemed more like a seal with the ball rather than a striker...

Edited by Ian-VI (28 Nov 2020 9.31am)

The best footie management game: [Link]

Belgium are ranked world no1 by FIFA and as a club we have two of their strikers on our books and Uncle Roy sticks 'em on the bench to play three wingers...baffling.

I wanted Roy to leave at the end of last season .
This was not a knee jerk reaction to the terrible form in the last few games, but was based on his overly defensive approach over the whole season where we were at or near the bottom for goals scored, chances created, efforts on goal etc.
This season he has changed his approach and we have looked more threatening and are creating more chances.
The last two defeats are largely due to player errors.
Personally I was not happy with the selection of Schlupp and Ayew up front last night when he had Benteke and Batshuayi on the bench, but on the other hand they have not pulled up any trees when they have started games.
There is little likelihood of Roy leaving this season unless we are in danger of relegation or if a manager becomes available that we don’t want to miss out on.
Neither situation looks likely at present.

Hodgson inherited a decent side, but over time his negativity combined with an increasingly ageing squad, lack of transfer activity, and injuries to key players has led to the situation we find ourselves in. Looking at it calmly it seems to me that stable door is open and the horse has bolted; the warning signs were there at the end of last season and some truly abysmal performances this season continue the trend.
Perhaps Parish has calculated that if we are relegated and with a number of contracts due to expire we can draft in players from the academy and relieve ourselves of the financial burden that has stopped us from having any transfer window of significance.
Of course, if we survive then the same scenario exists, ageing players out of contract and a whole new squad to build, which would mean using academy players as the funds are not there to buy 5/6 new players. Unfortunately Hodgson seems adverse to using youngsters unless circumstance forces him to; I fully expect him to retire at the end of the season as the rebuild required is beyond his ability, but we may well be relegated by then and I doubt he would want one final challenge in the Championship.
Parish should have seen the writing on the wall last season and made the change for this in preparation for the next; we are one of the worst sides in the league with the stats to match and we have a very tough schedule of games coming up that will most likely reflect negatively on our league position.
On the positive side the Academy is looking good

Edited by southnorwoodhill (28 Nov 2020 11.37am)