I'm not clear why people say this, because they make it sound like Textor somehow benevolently rode in on a white horse and donated £90 million to the listing charity that is CPFC.

He didn't "donate" any money to the club. He simply bought £90 million pounds worth of shares at their market value, and the club's board decided it would use the sum he invested to buy players. What Textor did was nothing more and nothing less than execute an investment or trade. He spent some money in order to buy a percentage shareholding in the club.

Why, thus, would anyone give credit to an investor for doing what investors do?

Again, Neillo, we're generally on the same page. The one fly in the appointment that is a little worrying is the emergence of the SPAC stories which, if that is the road Textor is going down with Eagle Football, doesn't prove that his long-term intentions are worrying but does suggest we ought to be more alert than we have been to date because there's lots of evidence that SPACS tend to be the preferred vehicles of get rich quick merchants who don't much care about their underlying investments but, rather, are after a quick profit. That makes me a little more cautious about giving Textor the benefit of the doubt than I have been up to this point.

For those who aren't versed in financial instruments and WITHOUT wanting to be condescending, it's probably worth spelling out what a SPAC is, because it's a term you might be hearing more often in the future in reference to Palace. So...

SPAC is an acronym for Special Purpose Acquisition Company. Broadly, it works like this:

Traditionally, when a private company wants to raise funds (usually to support expansion, such as buying more or better players if the company is a football club) it goes public which means becoming a listed company on the stock market, via a share sale. The money it raises by selling its shares is then invested back into the business freeing up cash to support expanded operations. In theory, this investment is attractive to investors because it increases the value of the business, thus increasing how much the shares are worth.

The company goes public through a lengthy and difficult process known as an Initial Public Offering (IPO). This involves things like exposing its books to scrutiny, etc. and generally lifting the kimono so prospective investors can fully understand what they're buying into. The IPO process costs the company money, takes time, and does not always result in success. You could be rejected for a variety of reasons before the listing even takes place. So what if you could find a way to go public, but avoid an IPO? That's where SPACs come in.

SPACs (sometimes known as "blank cheque companies" are essentially listed shell companies formed only to create a vehicle that can then subsequently merge with a private company enabling the private (target) company to go public without a traditional IPO or direct listing. As such, the private company can be taken into public ownership without any of the IPO processes noted in the preceding paragraph, and therefore it can go public quickly and cheaply compared to an IPO, getting its hands on the money it wants with extremely limited due diligence.

The issue with SPACS is thus that the knowledge available to investors at the time of investment is very, very limited (for the reasons above - there's been minimal due diligence prior to the listing, making SPACs an easy vehicle for canny or even unscrupulous investors to exploit and abuse. IPO investors know all about the company in which they have invested, whereas SPAC investors have almost no knowledge of the company they are going to invest in; they are more or less investing only in the founders’ ability (in this case, the founder is John Textor) to find a profitable acquisition (in this case, the football clubs he buys via Eagle Football group).

As Neillo has said before, and I've agreed with him, on balance I'm inclined to cautiously support Textor's interest in Palace based on what we've known about him to date. But I have to say the SPAC stories do make me a little more wary about his intentions. It would be wrong to say that "all SPACS are bad and the fact that Textor appears to be interested in going down that road guarantees doom for Palace". But it would also be foolhardy not to take note, and be aware that his approach does hold the possibility of blowing up in our faces.

It will go where it will go, but I’m not convinced of the benefits of multi club ownership. Although it may work from a business perspective, football is way too emotional for it ever to run smooth. Why should Botafogo give a toss about Lyon or us?

And if Lyon get into Europe (unlikely thsi year - but next?) where does that leave us?

I find it absurd that if should any promising youngster come through the CPFC Academy then there is a possibility that he could be loaned to one of Textor's other clubs, rather than be given the opportunity at the club that brought him through.

It would be ridiculous for a Premier League side to be a feeder side to anyone.

PL sides are feeder clubs to everyone, and that's no bad thing. A tiny minority of players from any academy end up in the PL, but if you don't develop them then you deprive them of their careers, if not at your club then elsewhere in the game. Thus, PL academies really exist to prepare youngsters for careers in football and that's a valuable thing. It doesn't have to be at the PL club, though it's great when it is.

We are already a feeder club. We have Philips and Street at Shrewsbury. Gordon at Carlisle. Ebiowei at Hull. Rak Sakyi at Charlton. Plange at Lincoln. O'Brien off somewhere today. At best, one of those may have a career at Palace but all will likely have a career of some sort in football as a result our developing them. Who cares if they're scattered around the lower divisions or playing for one of Textor's clubs; it's the same difference.

PL clubs are a selfish, self-interested group motivated by very little other than money. Developing young players in world-class academies is one of the very few things PL clubs do that actually benefits the game itself. Anyone who thinks developing young players isn't worthwhile unless it directly helps the parent club all of the time is very myopic indeed.

In breaking news the Telegraph has just announced the formation of a new Super League, bringing back what was supposedly never to happen.
The huge investment from American owners and oil rich states means this is an area that won't go away.
I only mention it because we have in the main American owners and it will be illuminating to see which way they jump.
Somehow I doubt they'll be putting too much into Palace.