Let me preface what I'm about to say by recognising the outstanding progress we have made since CPFC2010 saved the club. Without their intervention we wouldn't have a club to support so we all owe them a debt of gratitude for that.

However, that gratitude does not and should not make our owners, CPFC2010 and the Americans, immune from criticism over what is currently going on at the club.

I have been extremely critical of Roy Hodgson over the last year for his negative tactics, substitutions and relentlessly predictable team selections. Not to mention our continued inability to come up with any sort of Plan B for the games which Zaha can't play.

However, I actually feel an element of sympathy for him because, although his tactics are unquestionably archaic, there's very little alternative for him given the almost negligent underinvestment in the first team in recent seasons, culminating in a ridiculous scenario where 16 players are out of contract at once this summer. More on that later.

I actually think that we are probably a nightmare to manage. In an age when most clubs sack managers at the drop of a hat, we seem to have a disproportionately high number who leave of their own free will.

Of the nine permanent managers who have taken charge of the club since CPFC2010 took over, only four of the eight who left have been fired. Freedman, supposedly a club legend, jumped ship with us 4th in the league because he thought 16th placed Bolton were a better bet. Pulis and Holloway left by mutual consent. Sam Allardyce resigned.

If managing in the Premier League is regarded as the pinnacle of the profession, why are managers willingly jumping ship? It's not even like Dowie where they have an alternative lined up, they're just leaving to do nothing.

My suspicion is that they soon realise that the lack of investment will make progression impossible. It's like asking a chef to make a Michelin standard meal from scraps salvaged from the Wimpy bins.

Roy has to go and he's got to go now. We are facing a unique contract crisis of our own making this summer with a vast number of high earning, aging players all becoming free agents at once.

Unless we are genuinely entertaining the prospect of signing him up to a new long term deal, which would be madness, he should not be man in charge of deciding which of those players stay and go, especially given his blinkered loyalty to many of them. We need someone new to come in and oversee the rejuvenation of this squad, having had a few months to see it up close.

Although Roy will be the fall guy for this mess, the owners need to take a long look in the mirror and question exactly which direction they want the club to go in and act on it.

As supporters we should no longer just be happy with mundane, grinding survival year after year to balance the books. That is not what supporting a football team should be about. With the stadiums and pubs closed we can't even enjoy the matchday experience at the moment, so there has to be something more on the pitch than this dross every week.

There has to be a plan, there has to be at attempt at progression and, although I commend the work done on the academy, it can't come at the expense of the current first team squad which could be in serious trouble next season.

If the owners aren't willing to invest in the playing squad and continue with our current transfer strategy, just to achieve the bare minimum each season, perhaps it is time they started actively trying to sell.

I don't mind us losing but going down like we have against Burnley and Leeds is unacceptable. There was no heart, no leadership and no passion. Our owners need to take responsibility for a situation which they have manufactured.

Leaving by mutual consent is simply getting sacked in a polite way. If Pulis hadn't resigned, Wilfried Zaha wouldn't currently be at the club. Allardyce resigned due
to the transfer budget - after spending over £40m in January. Not sure how Freedman was Parish's fault.

As for the owners & the "bare minimum" - they've just upgraded the academy to CAT 1 & the bare minimum would be scraping for survival every season & eventually going down. The Roy period will go down as far more significant for the club in the long term than you realise.

Let me preface what I'm about to say by recognising the outstanding progress we have made since CPFC2010 saved the club. Without their intervention we wouldn't have a club to support so we all owe them a debt of gratitude for that.

However, that gratitude does not and should not make our owners, CPFC2010 and the Americans, immune from criticism over what is currently going on at the club.

I have been extremely critical of Roy Hodgson over the last year for his negative tactics, substitutions and relentlessly predictable team selections. Not to mention our continued inability to come up with any sort of Plan B for the games which Zaha can't play.

However, I actually feel an element of sympathy for him because, although his tactics are unquestionably archaic, there's very little alternative for him given the almost negligent underinvestment in the first team in recent seasons, culminating in a ridiculous scenario where 16 players are out of contract at once this summer. More on that later.

I actually think that we are probably a nightmare to manage. In an age when most clubs sack managers at the drop of a hat, we seem to have a disproportionately high number who leave of their own free will.

Of the nine permanent managers who have taken charge of the club since CPFC2010 took over, only four of the eight who left have been fired. Freedman, supposedly a club legend, jumped ship with us 4th in the league because he thought 16th placed Bolton were a better bet. Pulis and Holloway left by mutual consent. Sam Allardyce resigned.

If managing in the Premier League is regarded as the pinnacle of the profession, why are managers willingly jumping ship? It's not even like Dowie where they have an alternative lined up, they're just leaving to do nothing.

My suspicion is that they soon realise that the lack of investment will make progression impossible. It's like asking a chef to make a Michelin standard meal from scraps salvaged from the Wimpy bins.

Roy has to go and he's got to go now. We are facing a unique contract crisis of our own making this summer with a vast number of high earning, aging players all becoming free agents at once.

Unless we are genuinely entertaining the prospect of signing him up to a new long term deal, which would be madness, he should not be man in charge of deciding which of those players stay and go, especially given his blinkered loyalty to many of them. We need someone new to come in and oversee the rejuvenation of this squad, having had a few months to see it up close.

Although Roy will be the fall guy for this mess, the owners need to take a long look in the mirror and question exactly which direction they want the club to go in and act on it.

As supporters we should no longer just be happy with mundane, grinding survival year after year to balance the books. That is not what supporting a football team should be about. With the stadiums and pubs closed we can't even enjoy the matchday experience at the moment, so there has to be something more on the pitch than this dross every week.

There has to be a plan, there has to be at attempt at progression and, although I commend the work done on the academy, it can't come at the expense of the current first team squad which could be in serious trouble next season.

If the owners aren't willing to invest in the playing squad and continue with our current transfer strategy, just to achieve the bare minimum each season, perhaps it is time they started actively trying to sell.

I don't mind us losing but going down like we have against Burnley and Leeds is unacceptable. There was no heart, no leadership and no passion. Our owners need to take responsibility for a situation which they have manufactured.

I mentioned the academy, which will undoubtedly prove a terrific asset. Unless there are 6 or 7 academy players ready to step up to the Premier League this summer, though, it's a long term advantage for us. Ironic, given that everything else we are doing seems to be extremely short term.

Whether it's the manager, the squad or our goals, none of it suggests long term thinking. We have the oldest manager and squad in the league, who are seemingly tasked with nothing more than staying up at all costs.

Last season we threw the towel in with eight games to go because we were safe. Based on the last two games, this season we've done it even earlier.

The difference in hunger between us and Burnley was stark. They looked doomed a couple of months ago but if they win their game in hand they'll go above us.

You say that the Roy period will go down as being far more significant for the club than I realise but that suggests to me that you think there is some sort of long term plan.

As far as I can tell we don't subscribe to the Leicester strategy of buying low, selling high and reinvesting. We haven't taken Brighton's path of bringing in a highly rated young manager and sporting director combination to implement a decent playing style. So what is the end goal?

Edited by Canterbury Palace (14 Feb 2021 6.44am)

If you checked out some of the Brighton fans online comments about Potter, tactics, the way their club is run etc., it's not dissimilar to what we read on here about Palace.

While we are craving good football but getting results enough to stay competitive, they have been playing expansively without getting the results. Until last few games.

As I've written so many times before, Hodgson's appointment on a rolling 12 month deal tells you all you need to know about the short termism approach by our owners.

Sooner or later that has to change. I believe - and hope - it will be this summer.